The Heart of Bradford Woods: Celebrating a Legacy of Charitable Giving
CFMC has a long relationship with Bradford Woods, and last month I was fortunate to visit with Director Clay Goble Chafin and his staff and tour the grounds. Pulling into the gorgeous nature preserve flooded me with memories from my 5th grade camping experience more than 60 years ago. Like most locals, I have strong, nostalgic memories of that experience that I hadn’t tapped into for years.
The full impact of Bradford Woods’ rich history was lost on me as a 10-year-old but not now. Joseph and Martha Bradford settled here from Ohio in 1855 along with Joseph’s sister Marcea and husband Joseph Campbell. The Campbells settled in modern day Bradford Woods while Joseph and Martha in Green Township where they had 5 children between 1859 and 1865, three sons and two daughters. (They are all buried in a family plot in a small cemetery at the southeast corner of the Henderson Ford Road Exit.) After Joseph died in the late 1870s, Martha moved her family to “Campbell’s Junction” with Marcia and Joseph’s family. It was here in late 1887 or 1888 that the oldest son, Perry, was tracking a fox that burrowed into a hole. While trying to dig him out, Perry noticed the sand was unusual. He sent a sample to a casting company in Indianapolis. They found it to be a very fine, high-grade quality sand good for molding in the production of brass, iron, and steel. The casting company offered to pay the Bradfords for each wagon of sand delivered. It only took a few loads before, M.E. Bradford Sand Mining Company out of Centerton was incorporated.
In 1894, Perry purchased land from the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railway Company, bought a small train engine, and installed a narrow railway system that was used to ship the sand to the steel mills in Gary, Indiana. The family’s wealth amassed, and in 1907 they purchased a white Buick, the first car in Morgan County. In 1912, they built a lavish home, Bradford Manor, where it was to be conspicuously seen by all who traveled on Old Highway 67 South. The Manor House remains on the property today and can be rented as an event venue. They recently hosted a wedding.
So committed were the brothers to the family business that none of them married, leaving no direct heirs to the estate. Surviving brother John Bradford was the sole executor after sister Clara was killed in a car wreck in 1937. Bradford gifted the majority of the property to avoid splitting it into small farms. He first offered it to Riley Children’s Hospital, but they refused the gift, lacking vision of how to use it.
In 1938, John Bradford deeded his home and 900 wooded acres to Indiana University with the stipulation that the property be used for charitable, educational, and recreational purposes for the children of Indiana in perpetuity. A monument stands today near the Manor House with this language for all to see. Fortunately, IU had vision and almost immediately partnered with Riley to start Riley Camp for Kids.
John Bradford’s spirit of charitable giving is exactly what Lilly Endowment had in mind when creating Community Foundations across our great state. How many of us have been the beneficiaries of John Bradford’s gift? He left a family legacy gift that not only continues today but will live on forever. Few people have a fortune like the Bradfords, but charitable giving is a mindfulness of doing for others. Please consider opening a family legacy fund with CFMC to improve the lives of those in our county today and tomorrow.
