Bradley Winslow – 1875

Bradley Winslow was born August 1, 1834 the son of John and Betsey Collins Winslow on the family farm two and a half miles from Watertown. He entered the Cazenovia Seminary at the age of 16 followed by the Falley Seminary, Fulton, and completed his studies at the Kingston (PA) Seminary. At the age of twenty-two, he began the study of law in the office of the Hon. James F. Starbuck of Watertown. In 1854 he entered the Poughkeepsie Law School and was admitted to the Bar in 1855, remaining with Mr. Starbuck until the following year, when he opened an office in Watertown. He was elected district attorney in 1859. 

At the start of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Union Army as a member of the Black River Corps. His military career was distinguished by being promoted to Colonel, leading a successful charge in the Siege of Petersburg and being wounded on the field. He was honored for gallant service to the Union by President Abraham Lincoln who brevetted him Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers (National Guard) on April 9, 1865. 

After the war, General Winslow resumed his legal profession. A stalwart Republican, he was elected Mayor of Watertown in 1875. He declined a re-nomination and returned to his work as district attorney. He was elected New York State Senator from his district in 1879, serving from 1880-1881.

He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and helped start the Joe Spratt Post Number 323 in Watertown.

He was married first to Geraldine M. Cooper, whose family were pioneer settlers in Jefferson county. Mrs. Winslow died August 24, 1896. General Winslow then married Poppie Holmes Burdick on January 22, 1901. 

General Winslow was the father of three children: John Cooper “J.C.” Winslow, Charlotte Winslow Johnston, and Florence Winslow Upham. 

He died of pneumonia in the City of Watertown on October 24, 1914 at the age of 83. He is buried at Brookside Cemetery.