|
 "General" Alexander Bradley - Union Miners Cemetery - Mount Olive, IL Posted by:  YoSam.
N 39° 04.843 W 089° 43.943
16S E 263648 N 4329288
The "General" tag was acquired when he lead a large group of men across country to a march on Washington D.C. in 1894.
Waymark Code: WMJJKQ
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/25/2013
Views: 4
County of Site: Macoupin County
Location of Site: Old US 66 & IL 24, Union Miners Cemetery, Mt. Olive
On His Grave Marker: "The fittest way for man to die is to give his life for man, for to live in the hearts we leave behind - is not to die" - Alexander Bradley
More can be read here: Macoupin Genealogy Common Dreams Illinois Route 66
Description:
The best known was Alexander Bradley, a 32-years-old mule driver who worked in the Mt. Olive mines. Born in England in 1866, Bradley came to Illinois at age seven and within two years was already working as a slate picker in a Collinsville mine called "Devil's Hole." By the mid-1890's, Bradley had traveled widely throughout the Midwest, tramping with other unemployed miners to Chicago and taking part in the famous march to Washington, DC of Coxey's Army of the unemployed of 1894. Now living in Mt. Olive, Bradley led the march which stepped off in July, 1897. In the course of the strike, "General" Bradley, as he became known, developed a well-earned reputation as a colorful and charismatic figure. Arriving with his "troops" in Collinsville, for instance, Bradley sported "corduroy trousers, a light blue coat, white shirt, brown straw hat, toothpick (narrow and pointed) shoes, at least three emblems of secret societies and several rings on his fingers...[as well as] a light cane or a furled umbrella" - Illinois Labor History Society
Date of birth: 11/29/1866
Date of death: 04/01/1918
Area of notoriety: Other
Marker Type: Headstone
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Normal respectful cemetery visitation
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.
We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. However, only respectful photographs are allowed. Logs which include photographs representing any form of disrespectful behavior (including those showing personal items placed on or near the grave location) will be subject to deletion.
|