G. C. BRADFORD, proprietor of the Clarence House at Manchester,
Delaware county, is a man whose residence in Iowa dates back to the early
"fifties," and one who knows from experience a good deal of the ups
and downs of life in the Hawkeye State, such as it was thirty and thirty-five
years ago. Mr. Bradford settled in Dubuque county in 1855, and he has been a
resident of the state since, spending the first fifteen years in Dubuque county, then nineteen years near Liberty Center, in Warren county, and the last year in Manchester, Delaware county. He is a native of Somersetshire, England, and was born August
1, 1825.
When ten years old he was brought to the United States by his parents, and was reared
where they settled, near Skaneateles,
Onondaga county, N. Y. He grew
up on the farm, and has followed farming most of his life. He married in Onondaga county, N.Y., on the
fourteenth of February, 1848, taking, as he
thought, to share his life's
fortunes Miss Olive M. Curtis, then of New York city.
He settled to farming in Onondaga county, and resided there until 1855,
when he came to Iowa, locating
near Dyersville, in Dubuque county where he purchased land and
again engaged in agricultural
pursuits. The country was but sparsely settled in the vicinity of
Dyersville, when Mr. Bradford settled there, and the land which he purchased
was raw prairie. He laid out and
improved two farms in the vicinity of Dyersville, and did much towards developing
the material resources of the community where he resided. He was also engaged
in farming in Warren county, and still owns a good farm
in that county. Mr. Bradford had the misfortune to lose his wife in May, 1887,
after a married life extending over nearly thirty years. She left surviving
her, besides her husband, only one child to mourn her loss, this a son, Curtis,
now residing in Warren county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford's only other
child, a daughter, Fannie M., died at the age of fifteen. The son is married,
having united his fortunes with a young lady of Dubuque county, whom he had known many
years, Miss Henrietta Cummings; and one son, Harry, a young man now grown, has
been the fruit of this union.
Quitting
the farm in April, 1889, Mr. Bradford returned to his old home at Dyersville,
Dubuque county, from which, after a brief visit, he went to Manchester,
Delaware county, and on the first of May, that year, married Mrs. Mary A.
Babcock, of that place, widow of Albert Babcook, and a sister of Thomas
Toogood, a sketch of whom, together with some facts pertaining to the
family history, will be found elsewhere in this work. The summer of 1889 was spent by Mr. and Mrs. Bradford visiting friends and
relatives in New York, where they were both reared, and
in other Eastern states. Returning to Manchester in August they took charge of the Clarence Hotel on the first of September and have
since remained in control of that popular hostelry. Mrs. Bradford was in the hotel for many
years prior to her second marriage, having been associated with
her brother, Mr. Toogood, who was one of its originators and
for more than thirty years its popular landlord. As proprietors of this house,
both Mr. Bradford and his excellent wife have become well known to the
traveling public, and their place of entertainment has become firmly
established in popular favor. Those unfortunate individuals who are compelled
by their business to spend the greater part of their lives on the road, who
know not or seldom enjoy the comforts and pleasures of a home, find at the
Clarence, from its ever genial and hospitable landlord and landlady, a most
kindly welcome and receive at their hands an amount of courteous attention
which goes far towards removing many of the rude asperities of the professional
road life and compensating its followers for what they are forced to abandon in
the way of friends, pleasant social relations, the peace and quiet of home when
they enter on such a life. Of a naturally kind and accommodating disposition,
Mr. and Mrs. Bradford exert themselves to their utmost to see that their guests
want for nothing, and inasmuch as they give their personal attention to. every
detail connected with the running of the house, it always happens that that
which should be done is done, and is done in a thorough, business-like way.
Concerning Mrs. Bradford, the reference already made to her brother's sketch,
if perused, will give some facts worth reading in this connection respecting
her ancestral history as well as a glimpse of her own personal experiences in
Iowa, at an early day. For those of his descendants who may later on be
interested in preserving a connecting link between themselves and other members
of the family the following may be recorded in this place touching Mr.
Bradford's side of the house. His parents, Robert and Ann (Cox) Bradford, were
natives of Somersetshire, England, and immigrated to this country
about 1835, settling in Onondaga county, N Y., where they subsequently resided
and where they both died after having passed reasonably long lives which were
marked throughout by industry and usefulness. They had six children, five sons
and one daughter. The daughter, Amelia, died unmarried. The sons are all still
living and are prosperous men of affairs; the eldest, Thomas C., residing in
Onondaga county, N. Y., a successful farmer; Egbert and Clement, residing in
Detroit, Mich., being lumber dealers and manufacturers, and Gilbert, residing
in Cuyahoga county, N. Y., a farmer and dairyman.
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