User:NatFee/"General" Alexander Bradley

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Early Life
Alexander Bradley was born in England on November 29, 1866. The Bradley family emigrated to Illinois when Alexander was four years old.

By 1873, nine-year-old "Alex" was picking slate at a mine called "Devil's Hole" near Collinsville, Illinois.

The Bradley family moved to Mount Olive, Illinois.

"When there was no work in the mines, Alexander went to St. Louis and met other out of work, disaffected miners. He joined the hobo group, called Coxey’s army after its leader, and marched with them to Washington, D.C. in 1894."

Labor Organizing
Bradley became a self-appointed organizer for the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).

The UMWA called for a nationwide strike on July 4, 1897. Bradley held a secret meeting with other miners, and Bradley spoke at Belleville to convince more miners to strike. He led a group of about 300 miners on a march from Mount Olive to Staunton, Worden, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Collinsville, O'Fallon. The newspapers nicknamed him "the General".

Battle of Virden
Bradley played a role in the Battle of Virden.

Death
Bradley died in 1918 from lung disease exacerbated by coal dust and alcohol.

His headstone faces Mother Jones monument in Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Illinois.