James B. Bradley Biography


	This biography appears on pages 692-693 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JAMES B. BRADLEY, of Hudson, Lincoln county, is numbered among 
the sterling pioneers and captains of industry who have aided in laying 
so broad and deep the foundations of our great commonwealth, and he 
stands today as a representative citizen of the county and state in 
which he took up his residence as a young man! thirty-five years ago, 
at which time the great undivided territory of Dakota was considered on 
the very frontier of civilization. It is well that the life records of 
these members of the "old guard" be perpetuated in connection with this 
generic history of the state.  

	A son of John and Sarah Bradley, both of whom are now deceased, 
the subject of this sketch was born in Morgan county, Indiana, on the 
12th of January 1849, and there he passed his early childhood, 
accompanying his parents on their removal to Iowa, in 1854. His father 
became one of the pioneer farmers of Appanoose county, that state, and 
thus the early educational opportunities of our subject were limited, 
owing to the exigencies and conditions then in evidence. He continued 
to assist in the work of the home farm until 1868, when, at the age of 
nineteen years, he came as a youthful pioneer to the territory of 
Dakota, locating in Lincoln county, where he has ever since maintained 
his home. With the growth and development of the county his fortunes 
have kept pace and he has no reason to regret the choice which led him 
to cast in his lot with its early settlers. In 1870 he took up a 
homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Marion county, and 
this figured as the nucleus of his prosperity. He is now the owner of 
valuable farming lands in addition to his real estate holdings in the 
own of Hudson. In 1882 he left his farm and took up his residence in 
Hudson, which then bore the name of Eden, and here he engaged in the 
general merchandise business. In November of the same year, under the 
administration of President Garfield, he received the appointment of 
postmaster in the village, and he continued to serve in this capacity 
for the long period of twelve years. In 1883 he established himself in 
the grocery business, having the post office in his store, and in 1886 
he associated himself with P. H. B. Clement, under the firm name of 
Bradley & Clement, in the purchase of the general merchandise business 
of S. B. Culbertson, the firm continuing to conduct the enterprise 
until 1897, when they disposed of the same. In 1899 Mr. Bradley engaged 
in the retail drug business, becoming the silent partner in the firm of 
W. M. Pigott & Company, and with this enterprise he is still 
identified. In politics Mr. Bradley has been a stalwart supporter of 
the Republican party from the time of attaining his legal majority, and 
he served six years as mayor of Hudson, though he has never been 
ambitious for public office. He holds the esteem of the entire 
community and is one of the best known citizens of the same.