PEORIA MAGAZINE December 2022

Tobias and Williamworked together on a number of projects, including Moss-Bradley & Company, a successful distillery. Unfortunately, at the height of their success, tragedy struck the family once more. Lydia lost another daughter, Mary, and her second son, William, before either had reached the age of 2. Her last surviving child, Laura, would later die from illness at age 14. Lydia Moss Bradley outlived all six of her children. Tobias, meanwhile, deeply invested himself in his professional affairs to cope with the loss of his last child. The Civil War was coming to an end, but President Lincoln’s assassination hit the family hard. In 1867, Tobias was in a carriage accident and, after sustaining severe brain injuries, he too died. Lydia was completely alone. Remarkably, Lydia Moss Bradley stayed strong, dedicating the remainder of her life to using her immense resources for good. In 1997, she created Bradley Polytechnic Institute – now Bradley University, of course — as a memorial to her husband and children, working withmany people tomake that dream come to life. "Lydia Moss Bradley has had a remarkable influence on Peoria. She founded Bradley University to serve the needs and interests of students at the time, and 125 years later, that is still our mission today,” said BU President Stephen Standifird, Ph.D. “She also gave generously to the Peoria area, including land that helped establish the first park district in Illinois, as well as land to build the hospital that would become OSF Saint Francis Medical Center. Those are just two of the many gifts Lydia gave to benefit the citizens of Peoria." Indeed, LydiaMoss Bradleywas utterly dedicated to her adopted hometown, in addition to being a pioneer for women nationwide. She was the first female in America to sit on a national bank board, at the First National Bank of Peoria. She built Peoria’s Home for Aged Women, which cared for the community’s widows. Her gifts helped construct Peoria’s Universalist Church. Remarrying after her first husband’s

death, she was among the first women in the nation to draw up what is now known as a prenuptial agreement to protect her personal assets. "Decades before Illinois women could participate fully in the political process, Lydia Moss Bradley was carefully managing a multi-million dollar real estate and banking empire in central Illinois,” said Amy Scott, Ph.D., associate professor of history and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program at BU. “Working from her home on Moss Avenue, Mrs. Bradley oversaw the development of significant rural acreage in central Illinois for agricultural production. She also grew her wealth by subdividing portions of her property on Peoria’s West Bluff into some of the city’s first prominent neighborhoods. “As a major stockholder in Peoria’s First National Bank, she gained a seat on the Board of Directors and actively participated in guiding the bank’s investments. Managing her capitalist ventures was Mrs. Bradley’s forte; community development through philanthropy was her passion. Mrs. Bradley was Peoria’s most generous benefactor. She gained the respect and admiration of her contemporaries and built a formidable legacy.” LydiaMoss Bradley died in 1908 at age 91. She is buried in Peoria’s Springdale

Cemetery alongside her first husband and all six children, among other family members. For all that and more, Lydia Moss Bradleywould be elected to theNational Women’s Hall of Fame, 90 years after her death. All in all, Lydia Moss Bradley was an amazing woman who persevered through incredible tragedy tobring forth an institution that would shape Peoria’s future, and continues to. In so many ways, she has proved an inspiration, to Bradley students and beyond, to keep going no matter the odds. The information for this story was gleaned from Forgotten Angel: The Story of Lydia Moss Bradley by Allen A. Upton; from the National Women’s Hall of Fame (https://www.womenofthehall. org/inductee/lydia-moss-bradley/); and from the History of American Women, LydiaMoss Bradley, April 18, 2013 (https:// www.womenhistoryblog.com/2013/04/ lydia-moss-bradley.html).

Madeleine Trolinger is a senior at Bradley University, majoring in English with a Creative Writing concentration. She hails from Marseilles, Illinois

DECEMBER 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE 49