Fred A. Bradley

Fred A. Bradley, a young officer of good report, resides at No. 125 Swan street, Buffalo. He was born December 21, 1861, in Innisville, Canada, and in 1864 removed with his parents to Au Gres, Mich., where he lived for twenty-six years. He has since been a resident of Buffalo.

During his boyhood Mr. Bradley attended the public schools, and in the spring of 1882, soon after leaving school, he commenced sailing. He was deckhand on the tug Emerald ten days, on the steamer Siberia four days, and then commenced wheeling on the tug Williams, receiving $1.50 per day; later in the same season he was on the river tug P. Smith. In 1883 he shipped as wheelsman on the tug Mockingbird, finishing the season as lookout and wheelsman on the propeller Philadelphia. In 1884 he was engaged in wheeling on the steamers W. R. Stafford, D. C. Whitney and C. F. Curtis, and in 1885 he served in the same capacity on the steamers P. H. Birckhead, J. F. Eddy and Hecla. During 1886 he was wheelsman on the steamer W. A. Avery, tug E. M. Smith and steamer Roumania, respectively. In the following season (1887) he was employed as watchman on the steamers Kalyuga, R. P. Flower and J. C. Gilchrist. In 1888 and 1889 he remained ashore as agent for John McLennon & Son, of Bay City, Mich., looking after logs, and in 1890 again became wheelsman, spending the season on the tug Seagull and the steamers John Mitchell and Matoa. During 1891 he was acting second mate, in the early part of the season, on the steamer F. R. Buell, afterward worked for a time as wheelsman on the steamer Helena, and in the latter part of the season got out his papers and became second mate of the steamer Oceanica. In 1892 he was second mate on the steamers Oceanica, Saranac and Tom Adams, finishing the season as mate of the Saranac. He was engaged as such until 1897. In 1893 he was on the steamer M. T. Green; in 1894 on the steamers Idlehour, Caledonia, and Mahoning; in 1895 on the Mahoning, closing the season as pilot of the steam yacht Sapphire; in 1896 he went as mate of the steamers Sacramento and Pasadena. In 1897 he was captain of the steamer St. Joseph, from Oswego to Toronto, until the 30th of June, and then took position of mate of steamer Henry Chisholm, finishing the season. A more temperate man than Mr. Bradley would be hard to find. He has never drunk a drop of liquor, nor used tobacco in any form, and it is needless to dwell upon the value of such habits, especially for one in his vocation.

Mr. Bradley is a member of Hiram Lodge No. 105, F. & A. M., of Buffalo, and of Buffalo Chapter No. 71, R. A. M., and of Buffalo Council No. 17, R. S. M..

Return to Home Port

Volume I

This version of Volume II is based, with permission, on the work of the great volunteers at the Marine Captains Biographies site. To them goes the credit for reorganizing the content into some coherent order. The biographies in the original volume are in essentially random order.

Some of the transcription work was also done by Brendon Baillod, who maintains an excellent guide to Great Lakes Shipwreck Research.