C.C. Bradley & Sons: Workers of Wood and Metal

Christopher Columbus (C.C.) Bradley (1800-1872) moved to Syracuse (then known as Cossitt’s Corners) in 1822. The area was not much to write home about, but Bradley quickly saw the potential for economic success. By 1825, the Erie Canal came through the new village of Syracuse and reached all the way to Buffalo. Bradley and his business partner, William H. Alexander, started Alexander, Bradley & Co. on West Water St. in Syracuse in 1832, 10 years after Bradley moved from the family farm in nearby Groton.

There they operated a foundry that made plows, as well as salt kettles for that burgeoning industry. In 1855, C.C. Bradley became the sole proprietor of the company, and with his two sons, C.C. Bradley, Jr. and Waterman Chapman Bradley, changed the name to C.C. Bradley & Sons (by the early 1860s, Waterman left the company and the name was truncated to C.C. Bradley & Son).

That same year, Bradley moved the foundry to Wyoming and Marcellus Streets on the near-west side of the city, at that time considered by some locals to be “out in the country.” The new plant occupied an entire block with 1,200 feet of frontage on four streets and employed about 150 workers. The business soon expanded its inventory to include window sash weights, sinks, cauldrons, lamp and hitching posts, gas pipe, iron railings, bolts, and stove parts. Evidently, the company also was an early recycler, for an 1855 ad stated, “Cash paid for old metals.”

During the 1850s, C.C. Bradley & Sons began to manufacture harvesting machines. The company made reapers to cut grain and mowers to cut Timothy and clover. Public interest in agricultural machinery intensified during the 1850s and 1860s. Agricultural associations, scientific societies, even national governments tested harvesting machines to determine which brands were superior. The agricultural machine field trial assessed the strengths and flaws of harvesters, reapers, and mowers. In reports of the reaper trials of the 1850s, sponsored by the U.S. Agricultural Society, the Bradley reaper was recognized as an excellent machine.

Perhaps the most famous agricultural machinery trial sponsored by the U.S. Agricultural Society was held in Auburn between July 16 and July 19, 1866. At the trial, the Bradley reaper was given high honors among 20 tested reapers. C.C. Bradley & Son named its machines the Syracuse Self-Raking Reaper and the Bradley All-American Reaper.

The company also manufactured the Hubbard Harvester for mowing or reaping, patented by Moses G. Hubbard of Syracuse, in the early 1860s. In 1863, a Hubbard Light Mower, made with a wood frame, and pulled by one or two horses, cost a farmer $120 ($2,200 in 2013); one with an iron frame cost $10 more. The reaping attachment was another $25. A farmer could also buy a machine and accessories on credit, paying off his debt in four months, with interest, of course. The prices were non-negotiable, but the company offered to ship the machine for free to the nearest railroad depot or canal port.

C.C. Bradley & Son sold harvesting machines throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, and South America. The company had sales offices in New York City; Boston; Chicago; St. Louis; Indianapolis; Council Bluff, Iowa; and Minneapolis, as well as Brussels, Belgium. A Bradley reaper was the first American reaper shipped to Russia. Pulled by two Bactrian camels (see accompanying photograph), the reaper harvested grain near the Black Sea. For many years, a photograph of the camel-drawn reaper hung in the company’s main office.

Christopher Columbus Bradley, Sr. died in 1872, and that same year the company first manufactured Bradley’s Cushioned Trip Hammer, an industrial forging machine that hammered multiple iron parts used in other machines. By the later 1880s, along with making agricultural implements, the firm began to make road carts, as well as carriages and buggies, including buckboards, phaetons, and surreys. However, by the early 1890s, it appears that the company focused more and more on manufacturing their forging hammers.

An 1893 advertisement affirms the company’s commitment to making agricultural implements and horse-drawn vehicles but also states, “…the principal specialty, however, is the famous Bradley Cushioned Helve Hammer, which for its durability, excellent design and simplicity, has given this company a world wide reputation. The volume of trade, transacted by this great enterprise, reaches into all parts of the civilized globe, its productions being as much in use in foreign countries as at home.”

C.C. Bradley & Son continued to make its world-renown forging hammers well into the 20th century. The forging hammers helped to build everything from the Panama Canal to the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The company merged with the Edlund Corporation of Cortland in 1951. Edlund was acquired by Monarch Machine Tool Co., also of Cortland, in 1963.

 Thomas Hunter is the curator of collections at the Onondaga Historical Association (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.

Christopher Columbus (C.C.) Bradley (1800-1872) moved to Syracuse (then known as Cossitt’s Corners) in 1822. The area was not much to write home about, but Bradley quickly saw the potential for economic success. By 1825, the Erie Canal came through the new village of Syracuse and reached all the way to Buffalo. Bradley and his business partner, William H. Alexander, started Alexander, Bradley & Co. on West Water St. in Syracuse in 1832, 10 years after Bradley moved from the family farm in nearby Groton.

There they operated a foundry that made plows, as well as salt kettles for that burgeoning industry. In 1855, C.C. Bradley became the sole proprietor of the company, and with his two sons, C.C. Bradley, Jr. and Waterman Chapman Bradley, changed the name to C.C. Bradley & Sons (by the early 1860s, Waterman left the company and the name was truncated to C.C. Bradley & Son).

That same year, Bradley moved the foundry to Wyoming and Marcellus Streets on the near-west side of the city, at that time considered by some locals to be “out in the country.” The new plant occupied an entire block with 1,200 feet of frontage on four streets and employed about 150 workers. The business soon expanded its inventory to include window sash weights, sinks, cauldrons, lamp and hitching posts, gas pipe, iron railings, bolts, and stove parts. Evidently, the company also was an early recycler, for an 1855 ad stated, “Cash paid for old metals.”

During the 1850s, C.C. Bradley & Sons began to manufacture harvesting machines. The company made reapers to cut grain and mowers to cut Timothy and clover. Public interest in agricultural machinery intensified during the 1850s and 1860s. Agricultural associations, scientific societies, even national governments tested harvesting machines to determine which brands were superior. The agricultural machine field trial assessed the strengths and flaws of harvesters, reapers, and mowers. In reports of the reaper trials of the 1850s, sponsored by the U.S. Agricultural Society, the Bradley reaper was recognized as an excellent machine.

Perhaps the most famous agricultural machinery trial sponsored by the U.S. Agricultural Society was held in Auburn between July 16 and July 19, 1866. At the trial, the Bradley reaper was given high honors among 20 tested reapers. C.C. Bradley & Son named its machines the Syracuse Self-Raking Reaper and the Bradley All-American Reaper.

The company also manufactured the Hubbard Harvester for mowing or reaping, patented by Moses G. Hubbard of Syracuse, in the early 1860s. In 1863, a Hubbard Light Mower, made with a wood frame, and pulled by one or two horses, cost a farmer $120 ($2,200 in 2013); one with an iron frame cost $10 more. The reaping attachment was another $25. A farmer could also buy a machine and accessories on credit, paying off his debt in four months, with interest, of course. The prices were non-negotiable, but the company offered to ship the machine for free to the nearest railroad depot or canal port.

C.C. Bradley & Son sold harvesting machines throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, and South America. The company had sales offices in New York City; Boston; Chicago; St. Louis; Indianapolis; Council Bluff, Iowa; and Minneapolis, as well as Brussels, Belgium. A Bradley reaper was the first American reaper shipped to Russia. Pulled by two Bactrian camels (see accompanying photograph), the reaper harvested grain near the Black Sea. For many years, a photograph of the camel-drawn reaper hung in the company’s main office.

Christopher Columbus Bradley, Sr. died in 1872, and that same year the company first manufactured Bradley’s Cushioned Trip Hammer, an industrial forging machine that hammered multiple iron parts used in other machines. By the later 1880s, along with making agricultural implements, the firm began to make road carts, as well as carriages and buggies, including buckboards, phaetons, and surreys. However, by the early 1890s, it appears that the company focused more and more on manufacturing their forging hammers.

An 1893 advertisement affirms the company’s commitment to making agricultural implements and horse-drawn vehicles but also states, “…the principal specialty, however, is the famous Bradley Cushioned Helve Hammer, which for its durability, excellent design and simplicity, has given this company a world wide reputation. The volume of trade, transacted by this great enterprise, reaches into all parts of the civilized globe, its productions being as much in use in foreign countries as at home.”

C.C. Bradley & Son continued to make its world-renown forging hammers well into the 20th century. The forging hammers helped to build everything from the Panama Canal to the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The company merged with the Edlund Corporation of Cortland in 1951. Edlund was acquired by Monarch Machine Tool Co., also of Cortland, in 1963.

 Thomas Hunter is the curator of collections at the Onondaga Historical Association (www.cnyhistory.org), located at 321 Montgomery St. in Syracuse.