David Bradley

David Bradley (November 8, 1811 – February 19, 1899) was an American businessman and a pioneer plowman. Biography David Bradley was born in Groton, New York on November 8, 1811. After working with his brother, C. C. Bradley, for several years in Syracuse, he relocated to Chicago in 1835. Initially he was in the employ of Jones, King & Co. and helped to build the first foundry in Chicago, known as the "Chicago Furnace". From the late 1830s until the 1850s David Bradley farmed in Lake County, Illinois, made bricks, and later farm machinery, in Racine, Wisconsin, and was a lumberman in Michigan. In 1854, he returned to Chicago. Company In 1884, he purchased a plow company from his brother in law, and soon partnered with Conrad Furst to create Furst and Bradley. Furst and Bradley eventually grew to occupy an entire city block at Fulton and Desplaines Streets in Chicago. In 1884 David Bradley and his sons purchased Furst's share of the business, and the company was renamed the David Bradley Manufacturing Company.