Clarence Peck Bradley has since 1885 been connected with the affairs of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co., of which he is now the president. He was in that year elected one of its directors and has since had active voice in its management. He is now bending his energies to administrative direction and executive control in this connection, and experience covering a third of a century well qualifies him for his onerous duties and responsibilities. 
     The only son and child of Nathaniel L. Bradley, he was born in Meriden and comes of New England ancestry. His father and his grandfather were natives of Connecticut, while his great-grandfather, Daniel Bradley, was a Vermont farmer who was driven from his home at the time of the military operations of the British in that section during the Revolutionary war. He removed to Hamden, Connecticut, and afterward became a resident of Cheshire, where his son, Levi Bradley, was born on the llth of November, 1792. The latter devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and maintained the highest standards in farm work, being a man of great energy and keen business discernment. He passed away March 18, 1877. His wife bore the maiden name of Abigail Ann Atwater and they were the parents of three sons and two daughters: Samuel; William L.; Nathaniel L.; Emeline Amelia, who became the wife of Alfred P. Curtis; and Abby Ann, who became the wife of Walter Hubbard, at one time president of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co. Her death occurred in 1852.
     Of this family Nathaniel Lyman Bradley was born in Cheshire, December 27, 1829, and supplemented his educational training received in the Cheshire schools by study in the Meriden Academy, from which in due time he was graduated. At the age of fifteen he entered the employ of E. B. M. Hughes, a hardware merchant of New Haven, but after a year he was obliged to return to the farm, as his father needed his assistance, and he there worked in the fields until he attained his majority. He did not find the pursuit congenial, however, and after reaching man's estate he eagerly availed himself of the opportunity to become one of the stockholders in a clock manufacturing concern at Southington, Connecticut. After six months' experience in the factory he was offered a contract of making three hundred clocks per day and accepted it. The company, however, soon became overstocked and Mr. Bradley was sent to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wash-ington to push the sale of the product. It was at this time that he proved his ability in salesmanship. He not only disposed of the stock on hand but secured orders for more, and in 1854 he became one of the organizers of the business which has since figured so prominently in the industrial and commercial life of Meriden under the name of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co. Mr. Bradley was made its treasurer and contributed in marked measure to the success of the undertaking. He was also one of the directors of the first street railway company of Meriden, became a director of the First National Bank, of the City Savings Bank, the Meriden Trust & Safe Deposit Company and the Meriden Republican Publishing Company, together with other business enterprises which have been dominant factors in the upbuilding of the city.
     In the midst of business interests which would have taxed to the utmost many a man of no inconsiderable power and resourcefulness, Mr. Bradley yet found time to devote to public interests and served as alderman of his city and as acting mayor, giving stanch support at all times to the principles of the republican party. He was also a helpful mem-ber of the First Congregational church and for several decades served as chairman of the society's committee. He was ever most generous in his contribution to the work of the church and its kindred interests and was a helpful advocate of the Young Men's Christian Association and gave liberally toward the erection of the Association building. He was also a liberal contributor toward the Curtis Memorial Public Library and manifested the same spirit of aid and helpfulness toward the Meriden Boys' Club. For a long period he was one of the trustees of the Connecticut School for Boys and in July, 1899, was elected president of its board, but other urgent demands upon his time and attention caused him to resign. He was deeply concerned in those matters which have to do with civic virtue and civic pride and his aid and influence were always given on the side of improvement in the way of streets, parks, cemeteries, etc. In 1905 he gave to Meriden several acres for park pur-poses. He was a director of the Walnut Grove Cemetery Association and he was president of the Meriden Hospital. He was also president of the Meriden Trotting Park Association. He belonged to the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and his interest in public affairs was deep, effective and beneficial. On the 25th of October, 1859, he wedded Harriet F. Peck, a daughter of Selden and Lucy Hooker (Hart) Peck, of Kensington, Connecticut, and they became the parents of one only son, Clarence Peck.
     The closest business as well as personal relations existed between father and son and it was but natural that Clarence P. Bradley should continue in the line of business with which his father had so long been identified. He had been well qualified for life's practical and re-sponsible duties by thorough educational training. After attending the schools of Meriden he continued his studies in the Russell Military School at New Haven and afterward went abroad, being given the choice of a college education or of extensive foreign travel. One of the modern philosophical writers has said that a year's travel abroad is equivalent to a four years' college education—a point upon which Mr. Bradley was thoroughly agreed. After months spent in travel through the different European countries, in which he gained much knowledge of things ancient and modern, he returned to the new world and entered the office of the Bradley & Hubbard Mfg. Co. to acquaint himself with the business. Parental authority did not intervene to secure him promotion until he had proven his ability. He was then made assistant treasurer and more and more he took over the management of his father's private affairs, also relieving him of the cares in connection with the Bradley & Hub-bard Mfg. Co. He was elected to the directorate in 1885 and with the passing of the older generation of men who controlled the interests of the concern he was called to the presidency and is now chief executive of the company, which was organized January 1, 1873, to take over the business that had been conducted by Nathaniel L. Bradley and Walter Hubbard as a partnership concern since 1854.
     The output of the plant includes gas and electric light fixtures of all kinds, including some of the most elaborate and artistic designs for residences, churches and other public buildings. They are also the manufacturers of the celebrated "B & H" lamps, together with fireplace furniture and a large variety of miscellaneous metal goods, which are sold extensively through the United States. Salesrooms are maintained in a number of the leading cities and the trade interests of the house reach out over a most extended territory, adding to the reputation of Meriden as a great manufacturing center.
     In his political views Mr. Bradley has ever been a republican but never an office seeker. His cooperation, however, is given to many well defined plans and measures for the general good and his aid can be counted upon to further any enterprise which seeks the upbuilding of Meriden. He did splendid committee work in connection with the Centennial celebration and many tangible evidences of his public spirit can be given. In Masonic circles Mr. Bradley has attained high rank. He belongs to Meridian Lodge, No. 77, F. & A. M.; Keystone Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M.; Hamilton Council, No. 22, R. & S. M.; St. Elmo Commandery, No. 9, K. T.; and the various Scottish Rite bodies of New Haven, together with Lafayette Consistory of Bridgeport. He is likewise a member of Pyramid Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Bridgeport. He is also a prominent figure in club circles and in 1905 was elected to the presidency of the Home Club and was one of the most active workers in bringing about the erection of its present handsome club house. He has membership with the Sons of the American Revolution and has been an earnest supporter of the Curtis Memorial Library.
     He is charitable, his generous impulses and broad views prompting him to give freely to worthy objects. He has lent vigor to the era of manufacturing development and has thus stamped his intensely practical ideas upon the welfare of his city and state. As the years have passed he has secured almost everything that men covet as of value and it is well that so successful a life should also have found time for the finer things which some men are so prone to overlook—aid in money and personal attention to schools and churches, collection of rare objects of beauty from all over the world and the artistic adornment of his city and of his home.