Career
Peary sent Bridgman the code cable "Sun" (meaning "We have reached the world"s end"). In 1894, Bridgman led the relief expedition after Peary when he was lost in the Arctic. Bridgman died at sea on board the United States Ship Newport.
He bequeathed his estate to the University of the State of New York at the expiration of the life of his widow, Helen Bartlett Bridgman.
The Regent Bridgman Scholarship is named in his honor.