Looking for Information on Dr William Henry Bradley (1862-1924)
Hi
I'm wondering if anyone reading this would be able to help me to find information on my wife's great grandfather: Dr William Henry Bradley.
I've been trying for months to find information on my own (via internet) and have come to the conclusion that any additional records for Dr Bradley must only be available for paper archives or cemetary records.
I would truly appreciate any information that you can find (or if you can put me in touch with someone who could help find this) and anything else that you can suggest
At this point, I would even be willing to pay someone for any information of value that they could provide to me
Here is what I know:
Dr Bradley was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana USA in January 1862 and emigrated to Dutch Guiana in 1901 to work as physician to railroad / gold mining crews managed by Howard Ashley Pedrick. Pedrick wrote a book called "Jungle Gold" about this project and apparently more than 20 Americans and Europeans and 1000 maroons died as a result of this project.
It seems that Dr Bradley must have bought the assets from this construction because he is recorded elsewhere (Journal of Locomotive Engineers, 1929) as the man responsible for building the first 61 miles of railroad in Dutch Guiana. From what I understand, this started in Paramaribo and stretch up into the bush to a dam of some kind.
Dr Bradley also served as US Consular Agent, Paramaribo from 1905-1909 and is recorded in dozens of US consular reports from this period (see Google Books).
He owned a plantation called "Mon Sort" -- mentioned in an article by Charles Wellington Furlong in February 1914 edition of Harper's Monthly Magazine -- and he is pictured in William Boyce's book "Illustrated South America" with caption "Dr W H Bradley at his mine in the bush."
Served as director / owner? of a gold placer mining concern called the "Marowijne Company" and owned several gold mines, railroad, and several plantations.
Died about 1924 -- exactly when and how unknown.
Married or "married" to Mary Josephine Massiah (born Georgetown, Demerara / British Guiana circa 1884).
Had 4 children in Paramaribo:
Alice E Bradley (born 17 Dec 1910)
Marie Eileen Bradley (born 1910)
Cecil William Bradley (born 14 Aug 1912)
Vivian Lyster Bradley (born 30 Aug 1916).
His family all emigrated to Canada after his death -- apparently having inherited none or little of Dr Bradley's estate. Arrived St John, New Brunswick, Canada on Oct 5, 1925.
Marriage, birth, death records would most likely be Catholic.
I would really like to find Dr Bradley's birth family, exactly when and how he died, and to find out what happened to his estate after his death (ie. his will).
I'm guessing that his estate either went to the Dutch government or stayed with his business partners or went to some unknown relative or friend.
Thanks very much for your time and attention to this request
Ian George
Hi brad2376
Wow. That's a lot of great information. Can I ask how you know these things please? I know that I've been searching for information like this for a few months now and I have posted a few enquiries online -- both here and elsewhere -- but I don't think I included all of the details that you have above. I also have a lot of documentation that I've posted on Ancestry -- including the Barbados passport part. However, you seem also to be including details that I haven't posted elsewhere. Are you perhaps related to this family too? Some new things that I learned recently are that Dr Bradley had an office in Ellicott Square in Buffalo, NY in 1914 and that he listed his residential address as 60 Oxford Ave (though the only family that I could find living at that address was one with last name Stephan -- so that's kind of a dead end). He also had a business at Ellicott Square in 1913 Buffalo Directory -- called the Cottica Rubber and Coffee Co (Wm H Bradley prop). Since his plantation Mon Sort was on the Cottica, this could be no one other than him. I also found an article from Washington Post 1909 describing a man named Eugene Henry Teats' involvement with the Eddie Guerin escape. In the article, Teats mentions that he had been working in Dutch Guiana for the past 16 years with a Dr W. H Bradley -- formerly of Colorado -- and that they together held more than 100 000 acres of mining concessions both in Dutch and French Guiana. This last bit of information leads me to search for records of Dr Bradley in Colorado -- though I have not found anything definite there yet (and it conflicts with the 1900 census record for Schuyler Cty, NY that I found previously. The two pieces of corroborating evidence that I have for this are the facts that there is a man named Teats mentioned in "Jungle Gold" and that I was able to obtain a record from the American Medical Association for a man named William Henry Bradley (born in 1862) who was recorded as practicing medicine in Colorado 1881, Michigan 1881, Illinois 1894 and Buffalo 1914. Do you happen to know anything more about these 2 pieces of information? I'd love to know who you are and how you happen to know so much about Dr Bradley -- and I'm really hoping that you haven't just found this stuff out from other work that I have posted online. I think you know too many details for you to have gathered these things up from my own postings though, but I am baffled how you could know so much about the family unless you're actually part of it. I'd love for you to email me directly so that we can discuss this more privately. Please send a note to ian_george_ab@yahoo.ca . I'm truly fascinated by this connection we've made.
Ian
1)
422030
BRADLEY AISHEL NANCY D
ARRONSTR HENCK 129
2)
422777
BRADLEY AISHEL NANCY D
ARRONSTR HENCK 129
3)
322328
BRADLEY RADJINDRE FRANKLIN
ROBLESWG COMM 98
4)
462868
BRADLEY S J S
ANTHONIELN WILLEM 16
5)
322314
BRADLEY-RAGHOE D
ROBLESWG COMM 88
6)
498404
BRADLEY-RAHMAN C E
BIRAMBIESTR 44
7)
403451
BRADLEY-SLUISDOM LOANITA JOHANNA
CATTLEYASTR 7
8)
484814
LELIENDAL IVAN BRADLEY
LATOURWG 6
Syndicate
Hi Ian,
I read with interest the information you've found on WH Bradley. I may be able to add some parts to the puzzle. There were 5 children: Alice, Eileen, William, Lyster, and Enid who did
not survive childhood and is buried at Parmaribo. William was the last to survive, and he passed away in 2003 in
Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Mary was actually born in Portugal, and was one of the servants on Dr. Bradley's estate.
Dr. Bradley's wife (don't know her name) was legally insane, and at that time he was
unable to divorce her, and he therefore just carried on an affair of several years with Mary. It is believed that after his death, that she convinced someone in authority that they had been married, and she and the children all assumed his last name. She also managed to convince someone that she was born in British Guyana, so she could get a British passport. For reason's I haven't been able to ascertain, she entered Canada on a passport from Barbados, which both countries at the time being British colonies would have allowed her access to Canada.
Dr. Bradley had always promised her that he would take her back to the US, but it is
believed that he got himself in some trouble with the US Government and was unable to return to the US. He was involved in some form of racketeering, and was somehow involved with Eddie Guerin and the escape from
Devil's Island prison.
In terms of the estate of WH Bradley -- I have no idea what became of his holdings. Mary (who went by the name "May), left with her 4 surviving children under a veil of secrecy with many forged documents. It is unlikely that she or any of the children were entitled to any of WH Bradley's holdings. They ended up in Canada because they had relatives who could care for them, and help them become established, and because they were unable to go to the US. I don't know if they had any contact with WH Bradley's family in Indiana.
Alice married an American, and lived most of her life in the NorthEast of the US. Eileen lived in British Columbia and Alberta. Lyster became a mountie, and spent most of his life in Western Canada. William worked for the Canadian National Railway and lived just about everywhere in Canada. He raised his family first in Edmonton, and then in Vancouver. Mary lived with William in Edmonton until she passed away sometime in the 1950s.
Hope this helps...