Hephen or Bradley

THE brothers Bradley, six or seven in number, came to this country from England about the year 1650, having previously served among Cromwell's Ironsides, in which corps William

Bradley, the first settler of North Haven, Connecticut, and one of the brothers, was an officer.* Stephen Bradley, another of the brothers, became a resident of New Haven, where he labored at his calling, which was that of a silversmith. On the behavior of the Protector's troops when disbanded, Macaulay has passed the highest encomium. "Fifty thousand men, accustomed to the profession of arms, were at once thrown on the world: and experience seemed to warrant the belief that this change would produce much misery and crime, that the discharged veterans would be seen begging in every street, or that they would be driven by hunger to pillage. But no such result followed. In a few months there remained not a trace indicating that the most formidable army in the world had just been absorbed into the mass of the community. The Royalists themselves confessed that, in every department of honest industry, the discarded warriors prospered beyond other men, that none was charged with any theft or robbery, that none was heard to ask an alms, and that, if a baker, a mason, or a waggoner attracted notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was in all probability one of Oliver's old soldiers." Wholly consonant with this description of the scarred and war-worn veterans of the Protectorate was the conduct of the Bradleys.

Moses Bradley of Cheshire, Connecticut, the second son of Stephen, married Mary Row, only daughter and heiress of Daniel Row of Mount Carmel, now Hamden. Their son, Stephen Row Bradley,† the subject of this notice, was born in that part of Wallingford which is now comprised in the town of Cheshire, on the 20th of February, 1754. Having entered Yale College, he was graduated at that institution a Bachelor of Arts on the 25th of July, 1775. Three years later, on the 9th of September, 1778, he received from his Alma Mater the degree of M. A. Of his early tastes, some idea may be formed from the fact, that, while a student in college, he prepared an almanac for the year 1775, an edition of which, numbering two

"The first settler in North Haven appears to have been William Bradley, who had been an officer in Cromwell's army. He lived here soon after the year 1650, on the land belonging to Governor Eaton, who owned a large tract on the west side of the [Wallingford or Quinnipiac] river.”—Barber's Conn. Hist. Coll., p. 241.

Whenever Mr. Bradley wrote his name at full length, which was but seldom, he, until past middle life, put it down "Stephen Row Bradley." It was so spelt in the record of his baptism in Wallingford, and also on the title-page of an almanac which he published in 1775. "Rowe" and "Roe" are the other forms in which the middle name sometimes appears.

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thousand copies, was published by Ebenezer Watson of Hartford, printer, on the 1st of November, 1774.

Soon after graduating he entered the American service, and as early as the 4th of January, 1776, was captain of a company called the "Cheshire Volunteers." During that month he was ordered to march his men to New York, and his pay rolls, which were presented to Congress on the 26th of June, 1776, show that he and his company were employed in the continental service from January 25th to February 25th of that year. It would appear that he soon after relinquished the captaincy of this company. On the 17th of December, 1776, with the rank of adjutant, he was appointed to the stations of vendue master and quarter master. He afterwards served as aid-de-camp to General David Wooster, and was engaged in that capacity when that noble officer fell mortally wounded on the 27th of April, 1777, during the attack on Danbury. In 1778 Bradley was employed as a commissary, and during the summer of 1779 served as a major at New Haven. The time which he could spare from military avocations was occupied in more peaceful pursuits. It appears from a letter written by Richard Sill, dated January 27th, 1778, that Bradley was at that time teaching a school at Cheshire. His law studies, in the meantime, were directed by Tapping Reeve, afterwards the founder of the Litchfield law school. The precise date of his removal to Vermont is not known. It is probable that even after his removal he not unfrequently visited Connecticut, until he resigned his place in the militia of that state.

His first appearance in public, in Vermont, was at an adjourned session of the Superior court, held at Westminster on the 26th of May, 1779. On this occasion he was commissioned as an attorney-at-law, and received a license to plead at the bar within that "independent" state. At the same time he was appointed clerk of the court. His knowledge of the law and the ability which he displayed in the practice of his profession, raised him at once to a high position in the estimation of the community. On the 16th of June, 1780, he was made state's attorney for the county of Cumberland. At this period the controversy respect ing the title of the New Hampshire Grants was attracting the attention, not only of the states which laid claim to that district, but of Congress. "Having popular manners, and a keen insight into society, he became a prominent political leader, and exercised a large influence in laying the foundation of the state

of Vermont, then the Texas of this country. Ethan Allen, Ira Allen, Seth Warner, and Thomas Chittenden, all from Connecticut, being the Austins and Houstons of its early history." On the 24th of September, 1779, Congress, by an act, resolved to adjudicate upon the claims of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New York, on the 1st of February, 1780. To Mr. Bradley was assigned the task of presenting, for the consideration of Congress, the views held by Vermont on this important question.

With but little knowledge, at the time, of the extent of the subject, the young lawyer commenced his investigations, and in less than two months, had completed a faithful and wellwritten account of the state of the controversy. This was read before the Council of Vermont, at Arlington, on the 10th of December, 1779, and, having been approved of by them, was ordered to be published. It appeared early in the year 1780, under the title of "Vermont's Appeal to the Candid and Impartial World," and aided essentially in supporting the claims of Vermont to a separate and independent government. It was written with vigor, and did not want those flowers of rhetoric which adorn, and, not unfrequently, strengthen argument. Few copies of this production are now extant, but among those pamphlets written at this period upon the controversy, "Vermont's Appeal" stands pre-eminent, not only on account of the force with which it is composed, but also by reason of the manner in which the topics of which it treats are presented. It was laid before Congress early in February, 1780, by its author, who had been previously selected to advocate the claims of Vermont at Philadelphia. Copies of the publication were also presented to many of the members, but no opportunity was granted to Mr. Bradley to appear in person before a committee of Congress, in consequence of the postponement of the consideration of the controversy question. In the month of September following, Mr. Bradley again visited Philadelphia, as a commissioner in behalf of Vermont. At the end of two weeks, he and his colleague, Ira Allen, became convinced that Congress were determined to decide upon the controversy without considering Vermont as a party, and deemed it their duty to withdraw. Before leaving, they presented a remonstrance to Congress, dated the 22d of September, 1780, in which they set forth their views with reference to the course which had been adopted towards Vermont, and deprecated the

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policy which would divide that state between New Hampshire and New York, or annex it to the latter.

Owing to his thorough acquaintance with the views entertained by a majority of the people of Vermont, on the merits of the controversy question, the counsels of Mr. Bradley were highly esteemed and readily followed, on all occasions. An examination of his papers affords conclusive evidence, that at this period, and for many years after, he was, in many respects, the ablest man in the state. Nor did his qualifications for military service escape the observation of the citizens of his adopted state. By commission, dated August 27th, 1781, he was appointed a lieutenant in the first regiment of the Vermont militia, and on the 15th of October, in the same year, was raised to the rank of colonel. During the troubles which disturbed the peace of the southern part of Windham county, Colonel Bradley was indefatigable in his endeavors to restore order, and seldom failed to accomplish his purpose. The resignation of his colonelcy was accepted on the 2d of March, 1787, and for four years he does not appear to have engaged at all in military avocations. A curious letter, written to him by William Page, of Charlestown, New Hampshire, dated May 1st, 1789, is still preserved, in which some allusions are made to the measures which were adopted to subdue the supporters of New York residing at Guilford, and in that neighborhood. "You doubtless remember," the writer observed, "of once calling on me for a sword. You then was in pursuit of honor and cash. I think you desired to cut, slay, and destroy the Yorkers. Having accomplished all this, and having not only changed your manner and mode of attack, but your weapon also, you will please send to me the sword by the bearer, for, as all other weapons fail me, it is time to take the sword." The military career of Colonel Bradley did not, however, end here, for he was appointed brigadier general of the eighth brigade of the militia of the state, by a commission dated January 26th, 1791.

Of the offices held by Mr. Bradley, the following list embraces a partial account. In 1782, he was a select man of Westminster, and served as clerk of that town from October 6th, 1787, to October 9th, 1788. He was register of probate for Windham county from December, 1781, to March, 1791, and, on the 21st of February, 1783, was appointed a judge of the court of the county, in the place of Samuel Fletcher, who had refused to serve. From October, 1788, to October, 1789, he sat as a side