BRADFORD-L Archives

From: "Mark Carter" <>
Subject: [BRADFORD-L] James Bradford of Colfax, IL
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 11:51:22 -0800

I know at least a couple people on this list are researching this Bradford line so I thought I would scan & post this to the list. It may not be anything new to anyone but I thought someone should get it scanned so that it could be out there somewhere for whoever wants it. This comes from a book called "1776-1976 Bi-Centennial History of Lawndale, Martin And Anchor Townships And The Villages Of Colfax And Anchor" which was published in 1976. I have found errors in this book before so I just thought I would warn anyone using it as a source. I do know that other sources have given the wife of John Bradford as Johanna Regina Shrout and not the "Miss Strouse" that is mentioned here. This is what it has to say about James Bradford;

THE JAMES BRADFORD FAMILY

Many of the families who were early settlers of the Martin-Lawndale area moved here from Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. One of these families which now has many descendants living in and near Colfax, is the Bradford family.

James Bradford was born in Virginia, on June 25, 1800, the son of a John Bradford. John Bradford was born about 1745, in Yorkshire, England, and received a very limited education. While in his teens, he was put to work in the silk mills, his father being a member of the firm. Ahout 1766, he left England and went to sea. After becoming the captain of a vessel, he settled in Virginia. He bought land on Patterson Creek, in the part of Hampshire County, that later became Hardy County in 1785. He enlisted in Capt. Thomas Berry's Company in the 8th Virginia Regiment on Dec. 15, 1776, and served in the Revolutionary War until he was discharged Sept. 2, 1777. He married a Miss Strouse, and they were the parents of 11 children. James B. Bradford was the 10th child in the family.

About 1809, the family moved to the Coshocton County area in Ohio. There were no other white families within miles. The father died in 1830, at the age of 85.

James B. Bradford married Crestine Leeper, Sept. 8, 1825, in Guernsey Co., Ohio. They were the parents of eight children, 3 sons and five daughters, before the mother died in the early 1840's. James married Margaret Delilah Scott in Coshocton Co., Ohio, in 1846. Not long after this Maria, 2nd daughter of James Bradford, married James R. Williams on March 9,1848 in Coshocton County. In 1852, James and Maria Bradford Williams emigrated to Bloomington, Ill. by covered wagon with their two small sons, and two years later came to Martin Township, settling where the village of Colfax was later laid out.

In 1853, James B. Bradford, his wife, his seven older children, two grandchildren, three young children of James and Margaret, and her son, E.H. Scott, moved from Ohio to Lexington Township. After a short time near Selma, the family moved to Lawndale Township. Six more children were born to James and Margaret Bradford after they moved to Illinois.

James B. Bradford died August 5, 1875, age 75 years, one month, 11 days, and was buried at the Fairview Cemetery, just east of where the family lived in Lawndale Township.

One of his daughters, Ellen Bradford Rich, was living just south of the Fairview Church and Cemetery in Cropsey Township. Margaret Scott Bradford had five children at home when her husband died. Some of the older children had married, some were working for others in the neighhorhood, and some were living with married brothers or sisters. Margaret lived to be 82 years old, and in her later years made her home with a granddaughter, Mrs. Survilla (Frank) Bilbrey. She died Aug.20, 1907.

Merilla Bradford, the oldest child, lived to be 83 years old. She made her home with her brother, William, neither of whom ever married. William owned 80 acres on the Lawndale-Martin Township line, according to the 1874 Mclean County plat book. Th 1897, he was living in the village of Colfax at 311 E. Cooper St. He died in 1901 at the age of 65. Jane Bradford, lived with her older sister, Mrs. Maria Williams, and was known as "Aunt Jane" to many people. She lived to be almost 80 years of age.

John L. Bradford was the second child, but oldest son of James B. Bradford. In 1860, he was living in Lawndale Township where he had bought land and had married Sarah Thompson. Living with them were two of his unmarried sisters, a brother, a niece, and a nephew.

By 1873, John L. Bradford owned 160 acres in Martin Township, just south of the James E. Wood land. His land was where Octavia Manor has been built. James and Maria Williams land was just east of his. John L. Bradford became the owner of many acres of fine land. He and Sarah were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters. John L. died in 1904 and Sarah in 1908. She was a native of Muskingum Co., Ohio, and had come to Illinois when she was 12 years old.

John L. had entered land in 1853 when he came from Ohio, and obtained a deed to it, signed by Franklin Pierce. Richmond T. Bradford was the oldest son of John L. He was better known as Rit Bradford. He lived on one of his father's farms, in Anchor Township, just southwest of Anchor, and later inherited that farm. He was well-known for the ponies he raised and sold throughout the Midwest. After his death in 1927, his widow, Nina, and son, John L. (Jack) lived there. That farm is still in the possession of his family. Jack, the namesake of his grandfather, died in 1971. Rit Bradford had an older daughter, Fanny, who lived in Colfax.

The other four children of John L. and Sarah Bradford were: Jennie, who married Rol Merrill and died young leaving two small children. Frank Bradford, married Charlotte Bennett and they lived at Colfax. They had two children, Ralph and Bernice, both deceased. Della Bradford, never married, but lived to be 97 years old. Johh T. Bradford, the youngest son, lost his wife, Gertrude Smith from consumption three months after they were married. He later married Naomi Shobe, and their two children were John Bradford, who lives in Bloomington, and Dorothy, (Mrs. Stanley) Clark, a resident of Colfax.

When James and Maria Bradford williams came to Martin Township, government land could be bought for $1.25 per acre. The railroad was built from Cairo to Freeport the year they settled here. He hauled grain to Lexington and Fairbury. After Colfax was founded, he quit farming the 205 acres he owned southeast of the new village, moved into town, and went into the hardware business. Many of this family grew up at Colfax, while many moved to neighboring communities. They were parents of seven children, but one son died in infancy. Richard Williams, the oldest son, who married Katherine Barnes of Arrowsmith. They had one son, Earl Willams, who farmed in the Anchor, and Cooksvilie area.

James Mitchell Williams (known as Mitch) married Nancy Bray. They were the parents of Vauna who married Amos Means, Jennie who married A.L. Hutson, James S. who married Maude Colk Brown, and moved to Hunter, Okla., and a son, Scott, who died young. Margaret Seville Williams, the third child, married John W. Puett, and left a daughter Beulah, when Margaret died at the age of 49.

Mary Jane WIlliams married Joseph Martin Sr. They were the parents of Lester H. Martin, who was an attorney in Bloomington; Litta who married Ernest Steele and lived at Danvers; James, who was farming in Anchor Township, when he died at the age of 39; Joseph Martin, Jr., of Normal (deceased) and Ida Martin Anderson who lives in Carlock, IL.

Ellen Williams married Hamilton Groves, and was left a widow a few years later. She later married George Wood and lived at Gibson City. William Williams died in infancy. John R. Williams, who was a grain dealer at Colfax for many years, married Motie Means. He has descendants now living in the area. He lived to be 91 years of age.

Margaret Bradford lived with her brother John L. for a time, then later with her daughter, Martha, who had married John T. Johnson. They had three children who have many descendants now living in the Colfax area. Carrie Johnson married William Ridgeway and they had four children, William D., Ina, Neta and Myrtle. John H. Johnson married Myrtle Smith and they had four children, Elmo, Mae, Madge, and John H., who was born a few months after his father's death in 1904. Neta married Luther Waggoner, and their four children were Irene Carter, Leona Burke, Cari and Henry.

Martha's brother, Henderson Bradford, lived near Colfax, and married Serene Smith. They had four daughters and one son, Minnie, Lesta, Margaret, Irmel and John, all of whom moved away from this area.

Ellen Bradford married Smith Rich and they left Cropsey Township and moved to Kansas. Her younger brother, James Gasper Bradford, and his family moved to Parsons, Kansas. The name Gasper was for a good friend of John Bradford who served in the Revolutionary War under a Sergaeant Gasper. He became so attached to him that he named a son, just older than James B. Bradford, Gasper Bradford. Then James named his third son James Gasper.

James and Margaret Scott Bradford had four sons and four daughters. Leonard S., the oldest was born in Coshocton, Ohio. In 1870, he was living with his brother-in-law, James K. Williams. In the neighboring home of James E. Woods, was a young Irish girl, Mary Quinn, age 14, domestic servant. She had been born in Pomeroy, Ireland. Leonard Bradford and Mary Quinn were married in September, 1871. They were the parents of Survilla Bradford Bilbrey, and Orville Bradford. Orville Bradford moved to Detroit. Survilla and her husband, Frank Bilbrey, lived at Colfax.

George W. Bradford, was born in Ohio, and died at Colfax in September, 1881, at the age of 20 years. Corisha Anna Bradford was born in 1853, neari Selma, Ill., just after the family had come from Ohio by covered wagon. Her sister, Harriet Leah, was born a few years later. These two sisters were married the same day, Sept.25, 1873. Anna married James T. Johnson, and they lived in Bloomington. Harriet married E.C. Huffman, then later William Sedgely, and they lived at Chatsworth.

The next two daughters of James and Margaret Bradford also left this area. Mary Elizabeth married WIlliam Sedgely and was living at Geneseo, Ill., when she died at a young age in 1896. Hester Katherine Malinda T. Bradford was called Malinda. She married John Martin and they moved to Holdridge, Nebraska. She was 15 when her father died.

James William Bradford, born in 1863 married Dora Anha Keesey. Her parents were residents of Lawndale Township, and her father was a Civil War veteran. James and Dora had eight children. They moved to Minnesota about 1915. They had lived in other states and their 2nd son, Erman Bradford was born in Nebraska, and their youngest son, Harvey, who died in infancy was born in Missouri. James and Dora died in' Minnesota, but were brought back to Wiley Cemetery and are buried on the Keesey family lot. George, the oldest son, lived at Downs, Ill. He died in 1968, and has family now living in the Bloomington area. Roy Ermin, the 2nd son, born Sept 9, 1889, married Celia Stretch. They have 10 children and have observed their 61st wedding anniversary. They now live southwest of Colfax. Their children are William F.; Bert L., Roger W., Mice Wyant, Russell, Roy Uliford, Erman, Jr., Doris Couch, Lyle 0., and Carol Hereford. Most of their children and many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren live not far from them.

Other children of James W. and Dora were William Sherman Bradford who died at the age of 20; Francis; Leslie; Gertrude, who married Henry Ilite; Hazel, who married O.J. Hite; and Harvey. These younger children also lived near Felton, Minnesota. The youngest son of James B. and Margaret, Nathan Lincoln Bradford, was born April 6, 1865, just a few days before Abraham Lincoln was killed. He married Sadie Eberle, and they lived in Minnesota.

Many of the Bradford family are buried at Wiley. Some of those who died after leaving the Colfax area, and went to other states, were brought back to Wiley for burial. While many early families who settled here have no one left in this area, the Bradford family has not done this, though most of those who now live here are descendants of John L. Sr., Margaret, Maria Williams, Leonard S., and James William Bradford.




Wayfarers wondered & warriors were dismayed
At renewal of conflicts that Gwydion made;
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• [BRADFORD-L] James Bradford of Colfax, IL by "Mark Carter" <>