Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

way, and the money appropriated was
then spent on the channel, and subsequently
additional appropriations were
made for the same purpose. The remain-
der of the waterway, however, is still
controlled by the canal company. In the
launching of this colossal enterprise, in
the financing of it, and in the subsequent
work of placing it on a firm business basis,
Mr. Bradley was one of the leaders. To
his consummate genius as a business or-
ganizer, executive and financier, a great
part of the success of the Florida Coast
Line Canal and Transportation Company
is due. As one of the founders of this
company he had no small part in the in-
fluential place it holds in the growth and
development of the interest of Eastern
Florida. In the difficulties which beset
the establishment of so phenomenal an
enterprise, he was ever the wise counselor,
the keen, sagacious, foresighted man of
business, and his own belief in the future
greatness of the gigantic scheme infused
into all engaged in it the courage which
carried it through to completion.
Mr. Bradley possessed the calm, judi-
cial type of mentality, was essentially an
individualist and an original thinker. Although
an idealist, he was endowed with
a genius for the practical which made him
a farsighted but dependable leader, a man
whose vision might be relied upon, for it
was tempered always with a regard for
the practical. The broad understanding
and tolerance of the cosmopolite, the cul-
ture which comes with wide travel, con-
stant association with men of influence in
the world of finance, business and the
professions, was his in a marked degree.
He was a linguist of no mean ability, a
fine conversationalist, a forceful and com-
pelling speaker. He was deeply inter-
ested in literature and the arts, and his
home was the center of a thoughtful and
brilliant society. He was essentially a
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
224
diplomat, a man of affairs, of large visions.
Nothing of a mean nature entered into
his life ; he was above the petty disagree-
ments. Mr. Bradley was a lover of na-
ture and outdoor life, and took an es-
pecial pride in his estate, comprising over
eight hundred acres of land, in Pomfret,
Connecticut, an ideal spot, commanding
a magnificent view of the surrounding
country. He was one of the founders of
the Pomfret School for Boys, and main-
tained a deep interest in it until the time
of his death, serving as a member of the
board of trustees.
Mr. Bradley was prominent in social
and club circles in New York and in
Washington, D. C. He was a member of
the Metropolitan, Cosmos, Elite, Chevy
Chase, and Country clubs of Washington ;
of the Reform and the Players' clubs of
New York City ; and also of the National
Geographical and various other societies.
He was a man's man, generous, chival-
rous and upright in every detail of his
life, surrounding himself with none of
the barriers which men who have attained
the place of distinction which was his
are apt to erect about themselves. In con-
sequence, he was not only honored and re-
spected but loved by a vast number of
friends and acquaintances.
On June 12, 1878, Mr. Bradley married
Helen McHenry Chambers, daughter of
Dr. John Mason Duncan Chambers, a
prominent physician of Virginia, and his
wife, Emma Pendleton Ward. Mrs. Brad-
ley, who survives her husband and resides
on the Bradley estate at Pomfret, Con-
necticut, is a descendant from some of the
earliest Virginia families. She is well
known in social circles in Rhode Island
and in Washington, D. C. Mr. and Mrs.
Bradley were the parents of a daughter,
Emma Pendleton Bradley.
George Lothrop Bradley died at his
home in Washington, D. C, on March 26,