Date Original
1846-1931
Description
This collection contains the personal and business papers of Harry (Henry) Percy Bradford and other members of his family.
Biographical/Historical Note
H.P. Bradford was an internationally known electrical engineer. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 29, 1856, the son of Simon Bradford and [Isabel Anderson]. On April 5, 1882, he married Mildred Eliza Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. In Arkansas, he originated the mule-drawn streetcar system in Pine Bluff and managed Little Rock’s first electric street railway system. After leaving Arkansas, Bradford lived in Cincinnati, Ohio; Mexico City, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Geneva, Switzerland; and London, England. He was decorated with the King Albert Medal for his service as one of the commissioners for the relief of Belgium. H.P. Bradford died in New York City on December 3, 1931. Mildred Eliza “Minnie” Taylor Bradford was born on September 14, 1859, in Mauvilla, Oldham County, Kentucky, the daughter of Dr. John Martin Taylor (July 23, 1819-October 30, 1884) and Mary Elizabeth Robertson (August 9, 1824-February 25, 1868). Minnie Taylor was a graduate of Professor Barton’s School for Young Ladies. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the National Society United States Daughters of 1812. H.P. and Minnie Taylor Bradford had one child, Mildred Taylor Bradford, born December 1, 1886, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. On June 1, 1905, she married Dillard Houston Saunders (born November 8, 1887), the son of John Dillard and Betty Houston Saunders. At the time of their marriage, Saunders was employed by the Southern Grocery Company. Dillard Saunders was a well-known planter and businessman of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He died in March, 1941. Mildred Saunders held membership in the Hawthorne Book Club, the Arkansas Society of Colonial Dames of America, in which she served as president for several years, and was a charter member of the Mathontes Club. She died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on January 29, 1971. Mildred “Millie” Percy Saunders, daughter of Dillard and Mildred Bradford Saunders, was born on October 22, 1906. After studying abroad, Millie Saunders performed on the Broadway stage as a singer, dancer, and comedienne. She became an assistant buyer for a New York dress shop in 1929. Later she was a buyer for Bonwit Teller and worked in New York and Philadelphia. In 1934, Millie Saunders married Robert Clatham Woods. Although their marriage ended in divorce, it produced two daughters, Hannah Wallace Houston Woods and Mildred Robertson Chatham “Robin” Woods. Millie Woods is probably best known as food, home and garden editor of the Arkansas Gazette from 1949 to 1965. She died on May 23, 1968. Hannah Woods was killed on November 3, 1968, in an automobile accident in Yugoslavia where she was serving as second secretary of the Consular Section at the United States Embassy at Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Robin Woods married George F. Bartsch.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000033
Resource Type
Text
Collection
H.P. Bradford family papers, MS.000033
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
H.P. Bradford family papers, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
