ATLAS

Podcast #3 – Lydia Moss Bradley

Posted on 27. Jun, 2009 by ATLAS in Famous Women, Higher Education, Peoria

If you turned an estate worth half a million dollars into a fortune of over two million you would be prosperous. If you were the director of a bank for twenty-five years you would be a leader. If you donated a city park and endowed a private college, and if you gave money and land to many community projects, you would be a great philanthropist. If you accomplished all of this as woman in the 19th century, you would be the amazing Lydia Moss Bradley.

Lydia Moss was born in Vevay, Indiana on July 30, 1816 the youngest child of Zeally Moss and Jenny Glasscock.

Zeally Moss had an adventurous spirit which was passed on to his children, particularly Lydia and her brother, William. Zeally first settled in the state of Kentucky where his parcel of land included slaves. He did not favor the institution of slavery and freed them before moving his family to Indiana.

Life in the early 1800s in America was challenging. Lydia was up early in the morning, making butter, preserving meat, and making clothes. Many years later as a wealthy woman, she continued to live a life of thrift, churning her own butter and keeping chickens in the yard of her beautiful home on Moss Avenue, one of Peoria’s finest neighborhoods.

Lydia’s father was a successful trader and landowner and she learned from his example. She traded a horse for a piece of wooded land that she cleared herself.  She made a tidy profit when she sold the logs to the local sawmill and got a husband in the bargain as well. Tobias Bradley owned the mill and he and Lydia were married on May 11, 1837, in Vevay.

By the early 1840s, Tobias felt that there were more opportunities in Kentucky but Lydia did not want to live in a slave-holding state. Lydia’s brother was living in Peoria and he encouraged them to move to the non-slave state of Illinois. Lydia won this argument and they arrived in 1847.

The Bradleys found Peoria, a small settlement of 4000 people, quite different from the rolling countryside of Indiana.  Its location on the Illinois River along with vast woods and level prairie made it a land of opportunity for those who were willing to work hard.

William had been one of the first settlers, establishing a trading business along the river. He owned several boats and with Tobias, they established many successful business ventures.

Meanwhile the first of many tragedies that were to haunt Lydia’s life occurred just before they left Vevay. Their first child, Rebecca, died in 1845. They came to Peoria with their surviving child, Clarissa, and shortly thereafter, their son Tobias, Jr. was born. Unfortunately, he died on December 3, 1847 and sixteen days, their daughter Clarissa died.  Lydia gave birth to another daughter, Laura in April 1848.

Eventually the Bradleys owned over 700 acres in and around Peoria and they built a large brick residence on Moss Avenue. In light of Lydia’s distaste for slavery, it was always rumored that one of their properties was a relay station on the infamous Underground Railroad.

Tragedy continued to stalk the Bradleys. Their daughter, Mary, born in 1851, died at the age of ten months and their son William died at the age of two. They doted on their only surviving child, Laura, who also sadly died at the age of 15 in 1864. The Bradleys had buried all six of their children.

In their sorrow, they decided to create a memorial to their children and Tobias began planning the building of an orphanage.  However, he was not able to see his plan carried out. Tobias was killed in a carriage accident in 1867.

Lydia was at a crossroads in her life. With Tobias’ death and the loss of her daughter she felt the need to continue with the building of an orphanage. However, she soon realized that even her large estate was not enough fulfill this plan.

Perhaps because she was at a crossroads or perhaps because she felt the need for companionship, Lydia made a decision she would soon regret. She married Edward Clark in 1869. Lydia was about 100 years ahead of her time when she insisted on prenuptial agreement. Whatever her reasons, it seemed that a marriage based on a financial document was indeed doomed. A divorce, rare in 1873 Peoria, was granted.

Tobias had been one of the founders and the president of the First National Bank. Upon his death, Lydia inherited his stocks. Was she invited to serve on the Board of Directors or did she demand that she participate in the direction of the bank? Either way, Lydia became a member of the Board in 1875. She was the first woman member of a bank board in the state of Illinois and possibly in the United States.

Lydia hired a lawyer, W.W. Hammond, in 1884 to draw up her will. She had decided to provide an endowment for an institute of learning as a memorial to her children. W.W. Hammond devoted himself to managing Lydia’s business affairs exclusively. Lydia maintained no offices and did not appear personally in most business transactions. Every day he visited Lydia in her home for the “morning consultation”, presenting checks and papers for her to sign. No business decision or investment was ever made without her input. The collections of the previous day were placed in a cigar box until they could be deposited. No one ever knew where Lydia kept that box.

Her growing wealth allowed her to donate money to many worthy institutions in the city of Peoria and her reputation as a philanthropist grew. One of her most enduring donations was a plot of 130 acres to the city for the creation of a beautiful park as a memorial to her daughter Laura.

Meanwhile, Lydia began to set the wheels in motion to establish an educational institution. She visited Rose Polytechnic Institute in Indiana, a school where young people could learn how to do practical things in the course of living in a modern world. She decided that this was the type of school she wished to endow.

Although no one is quite sure how Lydia became aware of it, she purchased J.R. Parson’s School of Horology and moved it to Peoria. It became the foundation of her educational institution.

It was always Lydia’s plan that her institute of learning be established after her death. However, upon meeting William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, plans began to change. Lydia had sent W.W. Hammond on a mission to research some technical schools in Chicago and there Hammond struck up a conversation with Harper. With his persuasive and forceful personality, Harper came to Peoria to convince Lydia that she should not wait to establish her school. He soon convinced her that she had sufficient funds to begin building immediately.

Meeting in Lydia’s living room, plans were laid for Bradley Polytechnic Institute and a petition for incorporation was filed in October 1896. Lydia handpicked her trustees and met with architects. She decreed that the buildings should be made of limestone and decided on the courses that should be offered. They included languages, the sciences, philosophy, history, home economics and the practical arts.  An auditorium to seat 900 was planned and 18 faculty were hired.

Enrollment began at the same time as construction and Lydia specified that the only cost to students would be for books and supplies. Edward O. Sisson was hired as the first director. He was not yet 30 and a brilliant student who had been a highly successful director of the South Side Academy in Chicago.

The first day of school was October 4, 1897. One hundred and five students met in the auditorium. Dedication took place on October 8 with Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury, as speaker. It was a major event for Peoria. A special train carrying 75 dignitaries rolled into town. Spectators crowded everywhere and the dust in the street was ankle deep.

At age 81, Lydia lived a quiet life visiting friends and tending her gardens. She was astonished at the storm of applause that greeted her as she reached the platform on dedication day. Eleven hundred people jammed all of the seats and the aisles of the auditorium with many more standing outside. Lydia was quite overwhelmed.

Bradley Polytechnic stood debt-free, blessed with the largest initial endowment of any private school ever and Lydia Moss Bradley had the pleasure of seeing her goal completed during her lifetime. She lived ten years after the Institute opened and was very involved and intensely interested in the lives of the students.

Lydia’s estate was now worth well over two million dollars. Once again, she was 100 years ahead of her time when in May 1899, she transferred her entire estate to Bradley Polytechnic Institute in the shape of a warranty deed. She reserved the use, rents, and profits of her estate during her natural lifetime. Lydia felt it would save considerable trouble and expense in settling her estate if it were done now.

In the summer of 1907, Lydia planned to observe her 91st birthday with a customary trip to one of her farms. However, she was ailing and the trip was cancelled. By December, she was quite ill and confined to her home. Lydia Moss Bradley died on January 16, 1908.

Lydia’s legacy lives on. Laura Bradley Park, located near her beloved school, endures today as a place of beauty with many trees and picnic areas. The name of the Institute was changed to Bradley University in 1946 when the Graduate School was established. Founder’s Day is celebrated each year at the University and a life-size bronze statue of Lydia stands in Founder’s Circle at the very heart of the campus. Thousands of young people have passed through the halls at Bradley. Each of them has carried some small part of Lydia Moss Bradley’s dream for a better world.