The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-04-17
LOCAL
WILLIAM G. BRADLEY.
One of Vermonf's Most Distinguished
Citizens of a former Generation-A
Letter of His War Times

Letter of His War Times.
William c. Bradley, born in West
minister, in 1852, was the son OF
Stephen Rowe Bradley, who was one
of the pioneers of Vermont. In the
year 1879 he wrote and published Il
mastery pamphlet, asserting the
claims of Vermont to Independence en-
titled Nermont's Appeal to the Can
did and Impartial World. y He
(Stephen Il. was one of the first two
United States senators elected from
Vermont after the admission of the
state to the Union; was president pro
tcmpore of the United States senate
during the presidency of Aaron Burr !;
and was again president pro tempore
in 1908, in the absence of Vice Presi
dent George Clinton, who had been ali
old adversary in the controversy with
New York and had been won't TO de
nounce Bradley 'rioter.
His son. William Gear Bradley, be
gan to write poetry at six years Of age,
published his first prose work, en-
titled THE Right of Youth, when he
was but - years old; was expelled from
Yale College for some alleged mischief
when he was lad of IA delivered the
Il
when he was IL was practicing law
yer and states attorney of Windham
county at 2l: member of the legis-
lature at q; and member of con
gress at 80. At the close OF the war OF
1912 he was selected as the agent of
the United States under the Treaty Of
Client to fix the North western bound
AIRY of the United States. He subse
quentIy had two terms in congress.
His biographer, Pliny II. White, said
of him: "All things considered, he
was the greatest man Vermont has yet
produced. Williams may have equalled
him as lawyer, Collamer as a reason
er, Phelps as an orator, and Marsh in
multifarious learning but neither of
them nor any other Vermonter, living
or dead, has been at once lawyer,
logician, orator and scholar to so en-
inent degree.
A granddaughter of William G.
Bradley resides in Washington, d. G.,
in the person of Mrs. Sarah B. Willard
who is a daughter of the late Judge
Daniel Kellogg of Brattleboro, of hon
ored memory, and wife of Henry A.
Willard of that city, who is also
native Vermonter.
The Vermont veterans will remember
tiiat the camp of the 18th Vt. Vols.
at Brattleboro was designated as
Camp Brady, in honor of Hon. Will
liam G. Bradley, then an octoganarian,
but full of patriotic fire, and that he
acknowledged the compliment in let
ter, which is printed in the history of
the 18th regiment of Vermont in the
civil war, and was as follows:
Brattleboro, Vt, Aug 10, 1852.
Major z Burton, Commanding 18th regiment,
Dear Sir / have received at your hand the |
certificate of baptism of the camp of the llti |
regiment of Vermont volunteers favorite |
number-and beg through you to express my |
sense of the honor done me.
Although largely lncapacitated by my intirmi |
ty from taking any part in the pituitary service |
of my country, and although this is not the time |
to cherish mere state pride, yet cannot forget |
that in my childhood the fame which the Green |
Mountain boys had acquired and established in
the revolutionary war, then hardly closed, were
ringing in my ears; and afterwards the praise
of their vigilance, eoolness courage in the bat
tie of TippecanOe, which saved Gen Harrison
certainly from surprise and probably from de- I
feat, al Il then in the last with Great Britain
their exploits on the Niagara frontier. which
have often heard acknowledged by Lieut.. Gen
Scott, not forgetting the battle Of Cherubuecu,
where they were first to enter the breach and
would have had their full credit but tor the ia,
Of the gallant Ransom. With such anteceGents
troops pass out of your camp, into the scenes Of
conflict the old glory will go with them and
sheer them on to victory
have the honor to be your very humble ser.
want, VIC BRADLEY
The expression "a fayorite num-
per-, = in the above is noticeable.
With all his great mental powers Mr.. !
Bradley was a believer in signs, por-
tents lucky numbers. and various pop
/ lar fn rlyalt IL
.ent A full biography of Mr. Bradley
,r of Gen. Bradley, his distinguished
'ather. has never Vet been publishpd /
,ut such work is. we believe. in con-
and we trust may soon be
given to the public. II should. and
will contain number of Mr.. |
Bradley's poems, many Of which have -,
never been printed, and documents and