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by Dorr B. Carpenter (Author)
For the most part, the majority of historians draw no distinction between William Czar Bradley and his father, Stephen Rowe Bradley. One circumstance that contributes to the total lack of information on William Czar Bradley is that most of his contributions are attributed to his father. In January of 1813, Senator Stephen Rowe Bradley retired from the Senate and returned to Westminster, withdrawing completely from politics. Congressman William Czar Bradley made his appearance in Washington, D.C., at this same time to serve the first of three non-consecutive terms as a representative of Vermont. All of William's speeches in Congress are labeled in the Annals of Congress and all other publications as those of "Mr. Bradley." The correspondence and speeches preserved in this book are evidence of William Bradley's rightful place in our nation's history. The letters comprising The Bradley Family Papers date from 1774 to 1900 and are not all of the Bradley correspondence. They were assembled into a collection because the originals are scattered throughout numerous libraries. Ninety-six presidential letters and twenty letters between Secretary of State John Q. Adams and William Bradley are included in this collection. In addition to the letters, background and biographical information on William Czar Bradley is provided by Richards Merry Bradley's "Bradley Essay," with a postscript by Dorr B. Carpenter; Sara Bradley Kellogg Willard's "A Tribute to William C. Bradley;" and Bradley genealogy (1645-2005) based on Henry K. Willard's Willard-Bradley Memoirs. The genealogy section is enlivened by numerous vintage portraits. Appendices provide: a list of documents, "The Bradley-Key Connection and The Lineage of Stephen Rowe Bradley" by Scott Bradley, and a biographical sketch of Eleanor Bradley Carpenter. A bibliography and a full-name index add to the value of this work.
