Abraham Lane

Aaron Lane

Richard and Aaron Lane

Clara lane (daughter) with her students.

Interview with Herbert Bradley, Hiram Bradley’s great grandson.

Herbert Bradley shares that his great-grandfather, Hiram Bradley (1814-1881), was the first Black person to arrive in Bethlehem in 1860, from Powhattan County, Virginia. He was an indentured servant to Tinsley Jeter, one of South Bethlehem’s leading entrepreneurs.

He wed Rachel Emma Walsh on June 25, 1862, at a Presbyterian Church on the outskirts of Lehigh, Pennsylvania. They had eight children all who were baptized at the Pro Cathedral Church of the Nativity. In fact, Alfred Tinsley and Mary Jeter, the Bradley’s first children, were the fourth and fifth persons baptized in the newly consecrated Church of the Nativity, in 1865.

Hiram was himself baptized in 1877, with Tinsley Jeter standing as sponsor. Many of the children of these early Black families of Nativity later left Bethlehem to follow education and work in other places; others were instrumental in the founding of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, at 718 Pawnee Street, Bethlehem, PA, where they could worship and exercise leadership uninhibited; others, such as the descendants of Abram and Clara Lane, are now multi-generational parishioners of the Cathedral. Hiram also worked for Bethlehem Steel.

Herbert Bradley’s father’s name is Herbert Frank Bradley and worked at Bethlehem Steel and the Bethlehem Hotel. His mother’s name is Leila, from Easton, Pa.

The Bradley Children:
Alfred Tinsley Bradley – b. 1863 – d. 1929 -Stableman
Mary Jeter Bradley – b. 1864
Harry Bradley – b. 1866 – Driver
Hiram Bradley, Jr. – b. 1868
Elizabeth Bradley – b. 1871
Emma Theresa – b. 1874 – d. 1885
Frank Herbert Bradley- b. 1878 – d. 1965 Steelworker
Robert Bradley – b. 1878  Coachman/Steelworker
Joseph Montgomery Bradley – b. 1884 – d.1885

(Catherine) Vivian Williams Butts was the daughter of the late Wendell Curtis Williams and the late Catherine Lily Ruth Irene Spruill Williams. She was born October 5, 1933, in Fentress (Chesapeake), VA.

Vivian was educated in the Pasquotank County/Elizabeth City, NC school system. She graduated from P.W. Moore High School in 1952 and the State Teachers College (now known as Elizabeth City State University) in 1956 with a BS in Elementary Education.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Earl Butts Sr., whom she married on Dec. 24, 1956. Prior to relocating to the Lehigh Valley in 1956, Vivian had traveled to the area with her family during summers in the 1940s, working as a seasonal farmworker picking tomatoes, potatoes, apples and peaches. 

Early in her career, Vivian worked at the former Hutt & Wasserman Hat Factory at 12th and Vultee streets in Allentown, PA. In 1957, she began working for Western Electric in Allentown, sealing electronic radio tubes. Vivian worked there for 5 ½ years, until her sister-in-law, Antonia, talked her into applying for a position with the Bethlehem Police Department in 1963. Both were to apply, but Antonia did not, and Vivian did. In September 1964, Vivian joined the Bethlehem Police Department as a Juvenile Officer, becoming the city’s first African American female police officer. As part of her work, she completed courses in “arrest techniques, handling children, major police problems, sex crimes, first aid, narcotics, driver training, effective speech and juvenile delinquency.” She also attended seminars on alcoholism and human relations. When the department brought in experts from Northwestern University to train patrolmen for improved accident investigations, Vivian—who at that point had never investigated an accident in her life—received the top grade. She served in the department’s juvenile aid division until it was disbanded in 1976 and the department transitioned to neighborhood team policing. She was promoted to sergeant in 1980 and served until her retirement in 1989 after 25 years of service.

Vivian was a member of the St. Paul Baptist Church, where she served as a trustee for many years. She was also a member of the church’s Missionary Society, co-founder of the Tuesday morning Bible Study, and a founding member of the Flower Club.

Her lifelong commitment to community service included her roles as a member of the Northampton County Diversity Committee and a member of the Advisory Committee to the Northampton County Human Relations Commission, a member of the Bethlehem YWCA Racial Justice Committee and Church Women United, a life member of the NAACP, where she served as membership chair of the Bethlehem branch for more than 30 years, and a longtime board member of the J.F. Goodwin Scholarship Fund. She was also a member of the Jubilee Christian Bowling League and at one point volunteered for a local theater group. She was elected as an inaugural member of the board of directors of the South Terrace Area Neighborhood Center (now the South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center) and a frequent attendee at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. march in South Bethlehem and on one occasion picketed outside Liberty High School with her longtime friend, Esther M. Lee, to protest the suspension of only one of two students (a minority female) for fighting.

Ever the “big sister,” Vivian was always looking out for her brothers. At some point, several of her brothers (and at least one nephew) lived with Vivian and her family upon moving to the Lehigh Valley. Vivian was extremely family-oriented and always ready to travel to a family reunion or gathering, point out a relation, or brag about the accomplishments of any member of her extended family. She also loved games and enjoyed playing cards and board games, working crosswords and Sudoku puzzles.