Early Life
The son of Philo Bradley and his wife Mercy Gardner Bradley, Bradley was born to humble beginnings in Berne, New York, and attended local schools. He began teaching at the age of 16. In 1833, the Dutch Reformed Church of Berne advanced young Joseph Bradley $250 to study for the ministry at Rutgers University. While there, he decided to study law instead, graduating in 1836. After graduation he was made Principal of the Millstone Academy.
Not long afterward, he was persuaded by his Rutgers classmate Frederick T. Frelinghuysen to join him in Newark and pursue legal studies at the Office of the Collector of the Port of Newark. He was admitted to the bar in 1839.
Bradley began in private practice in New Jersey, specializing in patent and railroad law, and he became very prominent in these fields and quite wealthy. Bradley remained dedicated to self-study throughout his life and collected an extensive library. He married Mary Hornblower in Newark in 1844. (His ancestors and descendants are posted on the Berne Historical Project web site.)
Read more about this topic: Joseph P. Bradley
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“Franklin said once in one of his inspired flights of malignity—
Early to bed and early to rise
Make a man healthy and wealth and wise.
As if it were any object to a boy to be healthy and wealthy and wise on such terms.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?”
—Andy Warhol (c. 1928–1987)