This business was established in 1832 as C. C. Bradley by Christopher Columbus Bradley Sr. (1800-1872), and was the first foundry and machine shop in Syracuse. In 1855, sons Christopher Columbus Bradley Jr. (1834-1916) and Waterman Chapman (1832-1902) joined the business, the name changing to C. C. Bradley & Sons. In the 1860s Waterman left the business and the name changed to C. C. Bradley & Son. On the death of the patriarch in 1872 the name was changed to Bradley & Co. In 1894 the name became C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc., which had a primary focus on carriage shaft couplers; A separate firm, The Bradley Co., was created in 1894 to power hammers and forges; W. C. Bradley had rejoined the business by this time. When W. C. died in 1902, the Bradley Co. was merged back into C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc.

From 1881-01-29 American Machinist

In their early years the business performed general foundry and machine shop work. By the 1860s they were making a line of agricultural equipment. In the 1880s they phased out the agricultural machinery in favor of a line of patented drop hammers plus a line of carriages, traps, buckboards and the like. In addition the firm acquired the rights to the "Hannan" quick-connect carriage shaft coupling, which turned out to have some design shortcomings that C. C. the 2nd resolved in a series of patents. The company vigorously defended their shaft-coupling designs and came to dominate the market for carriage shaft couplings with their high quality products.

The company continued to manufacture its power hammers until at least the end of World War I. After the end of World War II the company was making soft drink vending machines. In 1949, C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc. merged with their former contract manufacturer, Edlund Machinery Co., Inc., and the merged business became the Bradley-Edlund Corp. See our Edlund page for the subsequent history.

Information Sources

• The 1866 Second National Trial of Mowers, Reapers, Horse Powers, Etc. at Auburn, by New York State Agricultural Society, included products from C. C. Bradley & Son of Syracuse, including a "Hubbard" mower, a "Syracuse" self-raking reaper, and a "Johnson" rake. They all acquitted themselves well though none won a top prize.
• March 1916 Machinery.

  Christopher C. Bradley, president of C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc., manufacturers of Bradley power hammers and forgers, died at his home in Syracuse, January 29, aged eighty-one years. Mr. Bradley was born in Syracuse. A few years previous to his birth his father established a foundry under the firm name of Alexander, Bradley & Co., where salt kettles were cast. Mr. Bradley became associated with his father In the foundry business, and as the salt business fell off the firm began the manufacture of farm implements and carriage hardware. In 1855 the firm of C. C. Bradley & Son was established. C. C. Bradley, Jr., entered the business in 1894, and since that time the firm has manufactured power hammers and carriage hardware. Mr. Bradley retired in 1911.

• From volume 4 of the 1916 work, Encyclopedia of Biography of New York.

  BRADLEY, Christopher Columbus, Jr., Manufacturer, Public Official.

  A man of serious aims, broad views on all questions, and shrewd business opinions, is to be found in the person of Christopher Columbus Bradley, of Syracuse, president of the firm of C. C. Bradley & Son, manufacturers of power hammers, forges and carriage shaft couplers. He is genial and courteous on all occasions, and his accurate estimate of men has enabled him to fill the many responsible branches of his business with assistants who thoroughly understand the nature of the work they are called upon to perform, and conduct in the most masterly manner the numerous details connected with it. Mr. Bradley gives his whole soul to whatever he undertakes, and allows none of the many interests entrusted to his care to suffer for want of close and able attention. As a citizen he is universally esteemed, and in every relation of life he has shown himself to be a man of the highest principles. In his private life as well as in his business capacity, Mr. Bradley is a man of indefatigable energy and ambition. In other words, he is a man whose power of concentration has been developed to a remarkable degree.

  [Detailed family family tree deleted]...Christopher Columbus Bradley, born December 6, 1800, died January 3, 1872. He was a resident of Groton, New York, and from that town removed to Syracuse, New York, in 1822. He established the first foundry in Syracuse. The business prospered, and was an important factor in the growth and development of the town, and Mr. Bradley became one of the most important figures in the community. In 1855 he removed from the "Old City Foundry" to the corner of Marcellus and Wyoming streets, and took his sons, Waterman Chapman and Christopher Columbus, Jr., into partnership with him under the firm name of C. C. Bradley & Sons. Among a number of public offices filled by him were those of village trustee and county treasurer. He married Huldah Gilbert, born December 28, 1802, died June 15, 1889, and their children were: 1. Daniel Carr, born August 12, 1827, died June 20, 1867. 2. George Willett, born April 8, 1830, died February 20, 1882; he was appointed captain and assistant quartermaster in a New York regiment in 1862, served until September, 1864, when he was made chief quartermaster of the Tenth Army Corps under General Birney; he earned recognition from General Grant and was soon promoted to the rank of colonel; he remained in the service until 1866, and was then transferred to the regular army, where he filled various important positions in military circles until his death. 3. Waterman Chapman, born January 9, 1832, who was a member of the firm of C. C. Bradley & Sons. 4. Christopher Columbus, mentioned below. 5. Sarah E., born February 23, 1841. 6. Rowland G., born April 28, 1843, died August 10, 1847.

  Christopher Columbus Bradley, Jr., was born in Syracuse, New York, March 6, 1834. The public schools of his native town furnished him with a substantial and practical education, and from his earliest years his spare time was spent in the foundry established by his father. In this manner he acquired a practical knowledge of the details of the industry, which was of great benefit to him when, at the age of seventeen years, he became associated with his father in the business. He and his brother, Waterman Chapman, were admitted to the firm as partners, the style of the firm being changed to C. C. Bradley & Sons. W. C. Bradley subsequently withdrew from the firm, and the business was continued as C. C. Bradley & Son, until the death of the elder Bradley, when it was again changed, this time to Bradley & Company, and continued thus until 1896, when the present firm of C. C. Bradley & Son was organized for the manufacture of carriage shaft couplers. The present members of the firm are: C. C. Bradley, Sr., president; Cora M. Bradley, vice-president; C. C. Bradley, Jr., secretary and treasurer. Another firm, for the manufacture of power hammers and forges, was organized in 1894 as the Bradley Company, with officers as follows: C. C. Bradley, Sr., president; C. C. Bradley, Jr., vice-president; W. C. Bradley, secretary and treasurer; Calvin S. Bunnell, assistant treasurer. When W. C. Bradley died in 1902, this second company was merged into the firm of C. C. Bradley & Son. ...

  Mr. Bradley married, January 28, 1857, Emma Pelton, daughter of Robert M. Pelton, a tanner of Syracuse. Mrs. Bradley is a charter member of the Fourth Presbyterian Church. Children: 1. Hattie L., who became the wife of Edward R. Woodle, of Chicago. 2. Cora M., member of the firm of Bradley Company. 3. Christopher Columbus, also member of Bradley & Company; he was born January 26, 1873; married, April 12, 1899, Elizabeth Goodwin, of Kane, Pennsylvania; children: Charles Goodwin, born July 5, 1901, and Christopher Columbus, born January 20, 1909.

• The May 1918 Steel Processing and Conversion has an ad from C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc., for their cushioned helve hammers.
A 1947-01-18 Billboard article reports on a new drink vending machine being put on the market by C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc.
• A 1947 report on the manufacture of artificial limbs mentions C C. Bradley & Son, Inc.
• A 1949 Billboard magazine article on a new drink vending machine mentions that the maker, C. C. Bradley & Son, Inc., was merging with its former contract manufacturer, Edlund Machinery Co., Inc., of Cortland, NY. The new business would be known as the Bradley-Edlund Corp.
• Carriage and Wagon Makers Machinery and Tools by Kenneth L. Cope, 2004 page 32