Milton Bradley

Birth Name:

Milton Bradley

Birth Date:

November 8, 1836

Birth Place:

Vienna, Maine

Death Date:

May 30, 1911

Place of Death:

Springfield, Massachusetts

Age:

Cause of Death:

Cryptogenic cirrhosis of the liver

Cemetery Name:

Springfield Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Business and Finance

Milton Bradley was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry. Bradley spent much of his life promoting the Friedrich Froebel kindergarten movement both personally and through the Milton Bradley Company. Froebel stated that through education children learn and develop through creative activities.

Fun Fact:
The Milton Bradley Company may have never been founded if Lincoln hadn’t grown a beard. Before lithographer Milton Bradley launched his board game company, his most successful work was a portrait he’d drawn of a clean-shaven Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln grew his beard, Bradley’s illustration was no longer in demand, and his profits took a nose dive. To save his business, Bradley started making board games.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Springfield Cemetery

171 Maple Street

Springfield, Massachusetts, 01105

USA

North America

Map:

Grave Location:

Section 7, Bradley Family Plot

Grave Location Description

The cemetery entrance is at the intersection of Maple Street and Central Street in downtown Springfield. Note the entrance road looks like a driveway between two apartment buildings. There are two pillars with plaques that read “Springfield Cemetery” (the cemetery is NOT visible from the street).

As you make your way down Cemetery Road take the first right and make your way to the southern-most corner of the cemetery where the earliest graves are located (you should be able to see the intersection of Cedar Street and Pine Street just outside the cemetery fence). Park at the intersection of Division Avenue and Birch Avenue and Milton Bradley is resting about 50 feet off Division Avenue with two large shrubs surrounding his headstone.

WARNING: do not venture into this cemetery alone.