SAMUEL EDWARD BRADLEY

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 548-549
Boone

SAMUEL EDWARD BRADLEY, president of the Madison
National Bank, a former president of the Royal Block Coal
Company, county road engineer of Boone County, is one
of the most important men of his section, and one who
has traveled far on the road which leads to prosperity and
civic honors. He comes of a long line of honorable ances-
try, dating back in this country to four brothers by the
name of Bradley who were passsengers in one of the little
sailing vessels which almost immediately followed the
historic "Mayflower." One of these brothers remained in
New England; another traveled further West; one eventually
made his way into the wilderness which subsequently be-
came Kentucky; and Joshua Bradley took up his residence
in Virginia, and it is from the last named that Samuel Ed-
ward Bradley is directly descended. All of these Bradley
brothers and their descendants took a very active part in
the history of the American Colonies, the Bevolutionary
war, and the subsequent events down to the present day,
and they are to be found all over the country, in all the
professions and honorable trades and business enterprises.

The birth of Samuel Edward Bradley occurred January
9, 1862, and he is a son of John D. and Martha J. (Pauley)
Bradley, both of whom were born in West Virginia. John
D. Bradley was a fanner and blacksmith during his earlier
years, and during the war between the two sections of the
country he espoused the Union cause and served it as a
brave soldier. He lived to be nearly ninety years of age,
dying at Charleston, West Virginia, May 13, 1922.

Growing up in his native county of Raleigh, Samuel Ed-
ward Bradley attended its common schools, and pursued his
studies by himself to prepare for a normal training, it
being his youthful ambition to become a teacher. After
he had secured his certificate he taught in Baleigh, Boone
and Kanawha counties from 1881 to 1892, and during this
time studied surveying, for he is one of those men who
can never rest content with what he has accomplished, but
is always trying to further fit himself for other and more
important duties. In 1884 he was elected county surveyor
of Boone County, and in order to better discharge the obliga-
tions of this office took up the study of railroad construc-
tion and general engineering with the Scranton Corres-
pondence School, from which he secured his diploma in
both. A further recognition of his abilities was shown
when he was appointed deputy sheriff of Boone County,
and he served as such for four years, during which time
he proved his utter fearlessness and resourcefulness.

In 1897 Mr. Bradley was elected clerk of the Circuit
Court of his district, and served as such until 1903, since
which time he has devoted considerable attention to his pro-
fession and land. surveying. In 1919 he was elected county
road engineer, and still holds that office. He still gives a
general supervision to the construction and right of way
matters for the county in its road work. In 1915 Mr.
Bradley branched out in his activities, going at that time
into the coal business as an operator, and opened up the
mine of the Royal Block Coal Company on the Altman
Branch, of which concern he was president. He was one
of the original organizers of the Madison National Bank
in 1902, has continued on its directorate since its inception,
and became its president in 1916.

On April 13, 1885, Mr. Bradley married Nannie J.
Hunter, a daughter of Robert and Janett (Thompson)
Hunter, natives of West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley
have two children, Hattie and Ernest. Ernest Bradley is a
veteran of the World war, and after his return home be-
came Assistant Division engineer on the State Road Com-
mission of West Virginia. He enlisted in the aviation
branch of the service, but was transferred to the engineer-
ing corps, in which he held the rank of lieutenant. He
married Ada Davis, of Huntington, West Virginia.

Mr. Bradley and his family belong to the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. He is a Scottish-rite, Chapter,
Knight-Templar and Shriner Mason, and he belongs to the
Masonic Club of Wheeling, West Virginia. He also main-
tains membership with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and is a Past Grand Patriarch of the West Vir-
ginia Grand Encampment.   He is a certified member of
the American Association of Engineers. His rise has not
been spectacular, but it has been steady, and whatever he
has undertaken to do he has accomplished with painstaking
fidelity. Today if he voices his approval of an enterprise
or movement his associates know that it is because he has
taken it under consideration and carefully studied it from
all viewpoints before rendering his decision, and they are
usually guided by his opinion, for they realize that they
can rely upon his good judgment and innate fairness.


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