1811 - 1883
Hardware Dealer and Banker.
Thomas Bradley was born in Madison County during June 1811 and relocated to Lexington around 1829. Within the next three years, he opened a blacksmith shop and by 1845 branched into the hardware business. In 1856, he purchased a five hundred acre farm, adjacent to the Lexington Cemetery, and began raising cattle and trotting horses. During 1859, he was among the founders of the Phoenix Trotting Association, one of the forerunners of the Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders Association - the operators of the Red Mile.
In 1863, Mr. Bradley entered into a partnership with James A. Grinstead to form the private bank of Grinstead Bradley. In 1882, he was among the organizers of the Woodland Park Association (which created Woodland Park). After his retirement in 1883, his private banking firm was nationalized as the Third National Bank. He also died in 1883.
