Entrepreneur Charles Alexander ÒC. A.Ó Bradley (1864-1940) was one of 13 children of John Martin Bradley. As enterprising as he was industrious, C. A. sold real estate, developed land, served as president of a bank, and completed two terms as mayor of Longmont, Colorado, before devoting himself to his oil wells in Texas and California. Through it all he witnessed some of the most significant events of the early 20th centuryÑthe growth of AmericaÕs oil industry, World War I, the Spanish flu pandemic, and The Great Depression.
C. A. Bradley was a man who settled for nothing less than the best, and the automobiles he drove were some of the finest machines of their day: Pope-Toledo, Pierce-Arrow, Locomobile, Franklin, Jordan Playboy, Stutz. In 1911 he completed an ambitious 4400-mile tour of Europe in his new Pierce-Arrow, which accompanied him on the steamship from Boston to Italy. The journal he kept of that trip has been preserved along with photos of the Pierce stopped at popular spots along the route from Italy to Ireland.
Over 100 photographs, including C. A.Õs cars from 1905 to 1929, have been selected for this story of a remarkable self-made man and the times in which he lived. The authors have documented their great-grandfatherÕs life through news articles, diaries, letters, and family accounts. The genealogy section of the book contains information on the ancestors and descendants of C. A.Õs father, John Martin Bradley.