by

David Thomas Bradford

 

Allied families include: Allen, Allgood, Barker, Bishop, Bryan, Carlisle, Cornett, English, Higgs, Hudspeth, Kittrell, Klein, Mann, Masden, Mattingly, Mayfield, Murphy, Nenninger, Pace, Perry, Smith, Taylor, Traynor, Tudor, Ward, Welch, White, Wierwille and Worland

 

Copyright 1993

By

David Thomas Bradford

All rights reserved.

 

Permission to reproduce

in any form must be

secured from the author.

 

Please direct all correspondence and book orders to:

Higginson Book Company
148 Washington Street
P.O. Box 778
Salem, MA 01970
Phone: (978)745-7170
website: www.higginsonbooks.com

 

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 93080846.

 

Published for the author by

Gateway Press, Inc.

 

Printed in the United States of America

 To my parents,

grandparents, great grandparents,

and so on... ad infinitum.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Preface

Introduction

Acknowledgements

I. Richard (I) and Frances

II. Richard (II) and Anna

III. Philemon and Mary

IV. John (I) and Judith

V. Elijah and Haney

VI. John (II) and Nancy

VII. George and Mary Ann

VIII. Ollie and Agnes

IX. Buck and Nina, et al

Epilogue

Some 1993 Family Additions

Surname Index

 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Map of Virginia (1651)

Map of Charles City County

1650 Pamphlet by Abraham Wood and others

Belle Air Plantation

1710 Charles City County Tax Petition

John Branch

Bacon's Rebellion

Loyalty Oath of the Justices of the Peace, Sheriff and Grand Jury of Charles City County

Loyalty Oath of the Militia Officers of Charles City County

Map showing the Bradfords' Charles City County Plantation

Meeting during the Great Revival

George W. Bradford

Mary Ann Drusilla (Carlisle) Bradford

George Lee and Florence Bradford and family

Ann Rosalia "Nan" (Bradford) Bryan

Ella and Charlie Bishop

Charles Harold and George Bishop

Anna Mae and Charles Mattingly

Ernie Bradford, et al

Buck, Mary and Bertram Bradford - 1 -- 2

Ollie and Agnes Bradford

Ollie and Agnes Bradford's children, with spouses

Buck and Nina Bradford and family

1993 Family Addition Photos - 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6 -- 7

Map of Granville County, North Carolina

 

PREFACE

  This book compiles the surviving scattered shreds of information relating to my Bradford ancestors. It is not, however, a complete genealogy of all branches of my Bradford family tree. I leave that to a later work. Nor is this purely a genealogical work, since my goal was not merely to learn the names of my ancestors, but also to learn about them as individuals. I wanted to walk a mile in their shoes, to see life through their eyes. For that reason, I have meshed the information I have learned about my ancestornerahistorical facts to paint a reasonably accurate portrait of their lives. Those ancors played a role in giving me life, the greatest gift of all. My gift in return, limited as it may be, is the immortality that comes with enshrining the memory of them in the following pages.

In all candor, however, I began this project with a second goal. Like many, I have spent nights looking up and wondering who I am, why I am here, where I am going and -- most importantly -- where I am supposed to be going. It occurred to me that, perhaps, I could find the answers to some of those questions by learning where I came from. Thereafter, I began my research in earnest.

Now, after completing my work, I feel as if I know Bradford ancestors who lived and died hundreds of years ago. After you read this book, you too will know, among others, Richard the immigrant, Philemon the land speculator and the unfortunate Elijah. In some ways, the story of my family, despite -- indeed because of -- its distinctly common, unspectacular progression over the last 350 years, like the story of many other families, is really a story about America.

This book focuses primarily on my male Bradford ancestors. It focuses mainly on Bradford ancestors, not because those ancestors are more important than any others (all ancestors are equally important to their descendants), but because time and resources force me to limit the scope of my work (i.e., Richard Bradford is one of my 1,024 great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents). He just got lucky: of all those ancestors, it is his name that I carry. The reason that I primarily focus on my male ancestors is, unfortunately, through necessity. Prior to the 1900s, women rarely showed up in records. They did not generally (if ever) own land, vote, sign wills, serve on juries or serve in the military. As a result, they are, in many instances, almost historically invisible. Nevertheless, I have included the information available to me.

Another matter that I would like to discuss is the "current" information that is set forth about individuals still living (particularly in the last two chapters). The reader may note that the information about some individuals is more thorough for some individuals than for others (e.g., the college degree, hobbies and occupations are included for some, but not all, of those individuals). That variance in coverage does not reflect any favoritism or qualitative selection by the author, but is a reflection of the fact that some people simply provided more information about themselves and their immediate family than did others. I rejected very little information. In addition, I note that some of that information will be obsolete soon (e.g., people will inevitably move, change occupations and/or have more children). Life does not stand still. The overview of the personal information about those individuals, however, was accurate at the time it was recorded in 1993.

This book was not easy to write, and, depending on your point of view, it is either too short or too long. Nevertheless, I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I hope that future generations continue to track this lineage and take advantage of future discoveries to learn about the Bradfords pre-dating Richard Bradford's journey to America in the early 1650s. Once lost, a family's history may never be retraced.

 

 

 

The next thing most like living a life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make that recollection as durable as possible by putting it down in writing.

Benjamin Franklin¹

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Since the first chapter, which begins with Richard Bradford's immigration to this country, takes us back to early colonial America, the reader may feel cheated if I do no start this book from the very beginning of American history. I, of course, do not want my readers to feel cheated. Hence, as the first chapter finds Richard arriving in the early days of Virginia, England's first permanent American colony, I will briefly describe American history before that colony's birth.

Well, here goes. Approximately 12,000 to 20,000 years ago, some Asians, probably by way of a glacial land bridge, crossed over the Bering Straits from Siberia to Alaska. Those individuals were the first to see the continent of North America, and their descendants were the first to see Central and South America. The glacial land bridge eventually disappeared and the two halves of the world remained separate for thousands and thousands of years. Meanwhile, the descendants of those who came to the Americas spread out until they covered the entirety of both North and South America.²

It is generally accepted that Bjarni Herjolfsson, a Norseman who cruised off the coast of Canada in the year 986, was the first Old World inhabitant to "discover" (or, as native Americans accurately point out, rediscover) the new world. Herjolfsson, who never set foot on the North American continent, returned to Greenland where he told others of his mysterious sighting. Fourteen years later, Herjolfsson's countryman Leif Ericsson sailed from Greenland and landed on the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Ericsson named that place "Vinland." After about twenty years, and a number of bloody run-ins with the natives, however, Leif and his fellow Vikings abandoned the new land and sailed back to Greenland.

After the Vikings abandoned North America, the people of the old and new worlds remained separate for nearly 500 years until, in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west from the Canary Islands and stumbled onto some islands in the Caribbean Sea. Columbus named those islands the West Indies and called their inhabitants "los Indios" ("the Indians") because he, unaware that he had encountered a whole new world from the one he knew, thought he had sailed around the world and landed on islands located somewhere between Japan and India, just west of, as you may have guessed, the East Indies. Columbus rushed back to tell the old world of his discovery.

After Columbus's return to Europe, the race was on. All of Europe wanted to sail west to expand empires, establish trade and map the earth. Spain and Portugal led the way. In the next few years, Spanish explorers sailed west and colonized several Caribbean islands. Finally, in 1513, Spaniard Ponce de Leon discovered Florida. When Ponce de Leon and his men disembarked there, they became the first old world residents to set foot on North America in over 500 years. Hernando de Soto followed in 1539. De Soto, who led an expedition inland for a couple of years, ventured as far north as the Carolinas and as far west as Texas. Thereafter, the Spanish, who established a base in Saint Augustine, controlled Florida until 1819. They also conquered most of South America. For years, Spain and Portugal monopolized the colonization of the new world.³

Jacque Cartier became the first Frenchman to explore the new world when he sailed to Canada in 1530. Thereafter the French acquired a foothold on the new land when Samuel de Champlain laid the foundation for Quebec in 1608. The French vied for control of the North American continent until the Louisiana Purchase in 1802.

Finally, the English. Although English adventurers explored the coast of North America shortly after Columbus's startling discovery (most notably, John Cabot in 1497), England did not try to establish a colony in America until Sir Walter Raleigh made the ill-fated attempts in 1585 and 1587 to plant a colony on Roanoke Island, a small piece of land lying just off the coast of what later became known as North Carolina. Thereafter, the English did not establish a permanent colony in the new world until 1607 when Captain Christopher Newport brought three ships of colonists to North America, landed on tiny Jamestown Island and began a colony in the land Sir Walter Raleigh dubbed "Virginia" in honor of then-reigning "virgin" Queen Mary. It was that colony that my ancestor Richard Bradford moved to approximately forty-six years later, and it is there that the first chapter begins.

To understand just how little the English immigrants knew of the America at the time of Richard Bradford's arrival, it is worthwhile to study the map of Virginia included inside the front cover of this book. That map, made in 1651 (the approximate year of Richard Bradford's immigration), is fascinating. Note that the map stretches all the way from the bottom of North Carolina (Cape Fear is at the far left of the map) and Noua Francia (New France, a.k.a. Canada) on the far right. The Chesapeake Bay dominates the map and "the Sea of China and the Indies" are shown just across the mountains and are described at the top of the map as being a mere "ten dayes march" from the head of the James River. Had Richard seen this map at the time of his journey, he would have seen Charles City (spelled "Charl citty"), the site of his future home, shown on the map just below the "G" in Virginia.

 

 

 

A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventures come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, ecause it takes something from the world and has something to give in return.

 

Sarah Orne Jewett

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

At the outset, I would like to thank those who helped make this book possible. In particular, I owe a debt of gratitude to my great-uncle Omer "Chick" Bradford who originally traced our mutual lineage back to Richard Bradford's American immigration in the early 1650s. His groundbreaking research inspired me to flesh out his findings so that I could learn whatever there was to be learned about those ancestors. Without his inspiration this book would never have become a reality.

In conducting research about the earliest generations of the Bradford family, I was greatly assisted by the prior works of, among others, authors Peter Sandlund, John Bennett Boddie, Elizabeth Lawrence-Dow and Julian Hart Robertson. Their works, along with those of many others, are cited in the footnotes. Similarly, other genealogical researchers who have compiled information about the Bradford family have made my work that much easier. I have tried to credit their work when applicable.

In compiling information about the most recent generations I was helped by virtually everyone mentioned in the final three chapters. Although too numerous to list, I thank each of them. I especially thank those who helped conduct research needed to fill in gaps in my research. In particular, I would like to thank Christina Bradford, Bill Bradford, Sarah Bradford and Dorothy ("Dottie") Cornett. Dottie in particular did quite a bit of work for me. I also thank Wayne Wohlbold, Dorothy Cornett, Jessie Welch, Patricia Peak, Charlene Bradford, Omer Bradford, Bertram Murphy, Laurie Bradford, Bruce Roberts and others for supplying me with photographs. I thank Leah Burroughs for typing changes in some of the innumerable drafts of this book and accompanying me on some of my many fact-finding missions. My high school English teacher, Jim Curry, kindly agreed to conduct the final edit of my work.

I would finally like to thank the many research libraries and librarians who helped me. In particular, I must commend the staff of the New York Public Library, The Virginia State Library and Archives, the Filson Club in Louisville, Kentucky, Heritage Library in Providence Forge, Virginia, and the Richard Thornton Library in Oxford, North Carolina. Our libraries hold information that sometimes, unfortunately, waits hundreds of years to be discovered. I thank those caretakers for protecting our heritage.

 

 

 

 

I. Richard (I) and Frances

 
Richard Bradford -- my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather -- immigrated to America in about 1653. Because Richard, like most people in his day, had no middle name, and because he had a son and grandsons also named simply "Richard Bradford," I will avoid confusion by referring to him as Richard I.

I consider 1653 the approximate year of Richard I's immigration since a record in the Virginia land patent office reports that a man was "headrighted" 600 acres of land in Virginia on December 31, 1653, for transporting "Richd. Bradford" and eleven other men to the Virginia Colony. Based on what I have learned about the system of "headrighting," that record tells us quite a bit about Richard I.

 

Headrighting

"Headrighting" was developed to encourage the immigration of English citizens into the early American colonies. Under that system, used by the Virginia Colony from 1617 to 1714, a "headright" of fifty acres of land in the American colonies was granted to any person who paid for another person's passage to the colony. Thereafter, the person whose passage had been subsidized would repay the cost of that passage by working for another colonist, generally a planter, for a period of three to seven years. In addition to their passage, the headrighted person's food, clothing and shelter were also paid for by their benefactor during their term of service. Approximately seventy-five percent of English emigrants who arrived into Virginia during this period had their passage paid for through the headright system.⁴

Hence, another early colonist subsidized Richard I's passage to Virginia. In return, that benefactor was patented fifty acres of land in Virginia by the colony's governor after that benefactor filed a certificate in the county court attesting that he had paid for Richard I's passage to the colony. Since headrights were normally recorded within a year or two of the time of the paid-for immigration, the December 31, 1653, filing date of the headright related to Richard I's passage suggests that Richard I arrived in America sometime between 1651 and 1653.

 

Richard I's Benefactor

There is some confusion about the name of the man who was headrighted land in return for financing Richard I's immigration to the Virginia Colony. One author reports that benefactor's name as Roger Walter. ⁵ Another source reports that man's name as either Roger Walker or Roger Walters. ⁶ The confusion apparently arises from the partial illegibility of the original headright record filed in the Virginia Land Patent Office. ⁷

Most likely, Richard I's alleged benefactor was the Roger Walker who arrived in the Virginia Colony in 1620. That same Roger Walker, twenty-two years old at the time (hence fifty-one at the time of the headright in question), was living with Daniel Gookin (sometimes spelled Gookines), Esquire, in Virginia's Newport News in 1624 according to a muster of Virginia colonists made during that year. That muster, made in the wake of the first great Indian massacre, was the first real census of the Virginia Colony. To my knowledge there were no men named Roger Walter or Roger Walters in the colony in 1653.

Richard I's alleged benefactor, whatever his name, was headrighted 600 acres of land in Northumberland County, Virginia, for paying for the trans-Atlantic passage of Richard I and eleven other men. For those interested in trivia, those eleven men were reportedly named: "Nath. Shepherd, Robt. Tracy, Jon. Parris, Jon. Foulsham, Robt. Paine, Jon. Clerke, Fra. Gagen, Jon. Alexander, Edmd. Cuspe, Wm. Usklye and Jon. Sheeles." ⁸ My limited investigation has not turned up any other records that mention any of those individuals. Apparently their paths soon parted from Richard I's.

It is only fair to note that the record of the land headrighted to Mr. Walker, while interesting from a historical perspective, is not as helpful as it may first appear since headrights were frequently sold or traded. Hence, it is possible, even likely, that a colonist other than Roger Walker paid for Richard's immigration but later sold or traded that headright to Mr. Walker. Indeed, Richard Bradford I appears to have never lived or worked in Northampton County, the site of the land headrighted to Mr. Walker. Richard I apparently spent the rest of his life in Virginia's Charles City County. Hence, it seems likely that Richard I's true benefactor was a resident of Charles City County. Indeed, I consider colonist Abraham Wood the person most likely to have been Richard's benefactor and colonist Thomas Stegge Sr. the second most likely suspect. As you will soon see, Richard I paid substantial amounts to both of those men in the mid 1650s. Before discussing those men (both of whom are important historical figures), however, I will return to the focus of this chapter: Richard Bradford I.

 

A Snapshot of Richard I

While Richard I left no memoirs, and there were no photographs or known paintings made of him upon his arrival in America, I believe that I can paint a relatively accurate portrait of that early American immigrant. First, he was almost certainly from what is now called Great Britain. Specifically, I believe that he was born in England, although it is conceivable, although less likely, that he hailed from either Scotland or Wales. ⁹ He was loyal to the King of England. He belonged to the Anglican Church. He was a young single man, probably no older than his mid-twenties, who left his family and friends behind to come to America in search of opportunity and a better way of life. He was, or at least later became, a skilled woodworker and, hence, was possibly trained in that area before he arrived in America. He was ambitious and hardworking. He probably came from a lower or middle class background, but had a good head for business and politics and, therefore, was upwardly mobile. One of the earliest European settlers in America, he was, undeniably, a true American pioneer.

 

The Virginia Colony

  To best understand Richard I, it is important to know the history of the Virginia Colony and recognize what was happening in England at the time of Richard I's emigration from that land to the fledgling Virginia Colony. While today's American schoolchildren are often left with the mistaken impression that the Mayflower's Pilgrims established the first permanent English settlement in America, the Pilgrims' 1620 landing near Plymouth Rock occurred a full thirteen years after the Virginia Colony was established.

In April 1607, three English ships (the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery), crossed the Atlantic Ocean, sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and landed at Jamestown Island. The Englishmen on those ships, a hundred men and four boys, established the first permanent English settlement in North America. Prior to selecting Jamestown as a settlement site, however, those settlers investigated further up the James River and set foot on what was to become known as Charles City County -- the site of Richard I's future home. Jamestown and the James River were both named in honor of the man who authorized that expedition, England's King James I. While most of those settlers died within a couple of years, they achieved their purpose: the English were there to stay.¹⁰

The Virginia Colony was established by the London Company, an organization formed by London stockholders who hoped to capitalize on America's untapped resources. In 1606, King James I of England granted that company a charter which permitted it to plant a colony on the North American continent between the 34th and the 41st degrees of latitude. At the same time, he granted a similar charter to the Plymouth Company to colonize the land lying between the 38th and 45th degrees of latitude. Although King James I retained the ultimate power to control those new colonies, the companies that established those colonies were granted the power to distribute land, coin money and organize militias. The Calvinist Pilgrims who later began the English colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts, were sponsored by a third entity, the Massachusetts Bay Company. ¹¹

The Virginia and Plymouth colonies did not attract the same breed of settlers, moreover -- and not coincidentally -- the populations of those two colonies did not grow at the same rate. I note that fact because I believe that it helps us understand Richard I a little better. While both colonies attracted pioneers, they certainly seemed to attract different types of pioneers. Whereas the Plymouth Colony became heavily populated by individuals seeking religious autonomy, the Virginia Colony became increasingly populated by Cavaliers: English citizens who were loyal to the King and were looking for profit and adventure, not religious freedom, in the new land.

The Virginia Colony was not an immediate success. That colony's population grew very slowly after its establishment in 1607. Indeed, the London Company's attempt to colonize Virginia surprisingly proved to be a financial disaster. That colony had only 1,200 inhabitants in 1624 when the King -- acting in the wake of the London Company's heavy financial losses -- revoked that company's charter and made Virginia the first royal colony in America.

The Virginia Colony's population remained relatively small until political unrest in England provided a catalyst for expansion. In 1642, the outbreak of the Civil War in England precipitated an exodus of the throne's loyalists to the Virginia Colony. That exodus escalated with the beheading of King Charles in 1649 and ended with the Restoration of the Stuarts to the throne in 1660. Hence, the population of the Virginia Colony, which had reached only 8,000 by 1640, grew to 15,000 by 1650 and swelled to 40,000 by 1666. ¹² Conversely, the Plymouth Colony's greatest early expansion came during an exodus of Puritans from England between 1628 and 1640.

 

Cavalier or Roundhead?

A review of the foregoing historical facts prompts me to speculate that Richard Bradford I was a Cavalier -- loyal to the King of England and a member of the Anglican Church, the official church of England. Indeed, as the reader will later see, Richard I allegedly signed a loyalty oath to the King of England in 1701 and, apparently, belonged to the Anglican Church for the remainder of his life.

At least one researcher, however, disputes that conclusion and has suggested instead that Richard I was a supporter of Cromwell and his Puritan party (men derisively called "Roundheads" by the Cavaliers, who apparently grew their hair longer than did Cromwell's followers) which had seized control of England. That researcher's hypothesis is based upon: (1) the fact that Richard I was from the craftsman class (Richard, as you shall soon see, was a woodworker); and (2) Richard arrived in the colony in around October 1651 and, therefore, may have arrived on the same ship that carried Charles City County resident Thomas Stegge Sr. back from England, after Cromwell and the republicans had appointed Stegge the Parliamentary Commissioner of the Virginia Colony. ¹³ Perhaps, but I still believe (and, admittedly, prefer to believe) that Richard Bradford I was one of the much-romanticized 17th Century English Cavaliers who swept into the Virginia Colony during that turbulent time.

Whatever his political leanings, Richard I was brave and adventurous. I base that belief on the fact that he left his family and whatever life he knew in his homeland to take a lengthy trip across the ocean to a place he had never seen -- one way. Richard probably never saw his homeland again. Moreover, he probably knew that he would never return to England when he boarded the ship for America. Few of the early American settlers ever saw Europe again.

When he left England, Richard's world was turned upside-down. Civil War had split England apart. Rebels had taken over the country and beheaded the king, leaving England without a monarch for the first time in hundreds of years. Amidst England's disarray, Richard climbed aboard a ship which he knew would take him to a distant colony which had less than 20,000 settlers. We can only imagine what that founding father thought about on the many nights he must have lain awake in the hold of the ship that brought him to his new home.

 

Richard's Voyage to America

No one knows the name of the ship that carried Richard I to America. Nevertheless, we can recreate what that journey was like. Transit conditions were not ideal in those days, and at least one historian suggests that such a journey probably terrified those unaccustomed to ocean travel. Richard I's trip took at least six to eight weeks, but could have taken longer if the ship encountered storms, contrary winds or navigational errors. Moreover, Richard's trip was no pleasure cruise, but an adventure he probably remembered for the rest of his life. Because space was so precious, the holds of those early ships were jammed with colonists and their belongings along with the livestock and cargo. Not surprisingly, disease was rampant on these early ships, due to the lack of sanitary facilities, the close quarters and the scarcity of fresh water. Indeed, even a hot meal created the possibility of starting a fire. Many died en route. ¹⁴

Perhaps Richard made some friends while he was on board the ship that brought him to his new home. If so, maybe they ran into each other again in the new colony. We will never know. If they did, however, we can be fairly sure that they probably did not talk about the "good old days" sailing from England to Virginia. If anything, those early colonists probably reflected back on that journey and said "Thank God that's over!"

 

Origin of the Surname "Bradford"

Before discussing where I think Richard I may have hailed from, I will first review the history of the surname "Bradford." People have not always used surnames. During the Dark Ages, most Europeans were known only by their given name and, later, occasionally by their given name prefixed to their place of birth (e.g., David of York). Permanent surnames were first used by the English after the Norman Conquest in 1066, but did not become customary for several centuries. Hence, it was not until the end of the fourteenth century that most English citizens began to have permanent surnames. ¹⁵

The name Bradford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word "Brad" (broad), which combined with "Ford" (river crossing), seems to indicate a place name. Hence, an early "Bradford" family probably lived near a broad, shallow river crossing for several generations, and, hence, became identified with that particular place. Since medieval England was largely rural, it was common practice to identify individuals of families by adding descriptive phrases to personal names (e.g., "Randulf, atte bradefords"). Indeed, place names, like the family name Bradford, made up the largest of the four classes of surname origin. The other three, in descending order of size, were: relationship (e.g., Williamson, Roberts), occupation (e.g., Miller, Taylor), and nicknames (e.g., Armstrong, Black).

Because of the surname Bradford's evolutionary development, it is virtually impossible to pinpoint the precise date of its formation. Some ancient English records, however, show that some early forms of the name were used as early as 1197. For example, according to the History of Northumberland, there was an "Alexander de Bradeford" in Northumberland County in 1197. Similarly, the Hundred Rolls of 1273 indicate the presence of a "Hugh de Bradford" in Devonshire County and a "John de Bradford" in Wiltshire County. Finally, Kirby's Quest of 1327-1377 shows a "Johanna Bradford" in Somersetshire County, while the 1379 Yorkshire Poll Tax records mention a "Johannes de Bradeford." ¹⁶

Another record indicates that the first record of the Bradford family is found in the Domesday Book compiled in about 1086 by order of William the Conqueror, whose brother, Henry of Normandy, was reportedly married to Alice, Heiress of Bradford on the river Aire, which was located approximately one hundred and fifty miles from London. That same record indicates that the Bradfords were the Earls of Lancaster, but because they wore the Red Rose of the Lancasters in the War of the Roses (the losing side), their titles and estates were confiscated by the Crown when the White Rose of York won that war. The Church of England reflects that there were several bishops named Bradford and there are Bradfords buried in London's Westminster Abbey. ¹⁷

I do not know which, if any, of the Bradfords discussed above are ancestors of Richard I. Perhaps all. Perhaps none. Bradfords sprang up throughout the British Isles. We may never, however, ascertain the first Bradford in Richard I's line.

 

Possible Leads

I am not sure who Richard I's parents were. Perhaps the final answer will be found after English records pre-dating 1653 are studied more closely. Nevertheless, I have some potential leads. Since I cannot identify the ship that carried Richard I to America, I searched instead for his birth record. While I do not know when he was born, I assumed, conservatively, that he was between fourteen and thirty-five years old -- and most likely between sixteen and twenty-seven -- when he arrived in America in or just prior to 1653. Based on that assumption, I looked for records of any Richard Bradford born in England between 1613 and 1639. Thereafter, I searched the seventeenth century English birth records maintained on computer by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons). The Mormons have the best genealogical computer database in the world. A search of their records produced the following Richard Bradfords (and several Richards with similarly spelled -- hence possibly misspelled -- last names):

 
 
 

Child's Name	Christening Date	Location (Parish, city, county)	Named Parents
R. Bradford	08/29/1614	St. Nicholas, Abingdon, Berkshire	Thomas
R. Bradford	09/10/1615	Long Bennington, Lincoln	Unknown
R. Bradford	04/11/1617	Yorkshire	Robert
R. Bradford	04/27/1624	Bradfield, Berkshire	Unknown
R. Bradford	09/05/1624	St. Peter's Parish, Huddersfield, Yorkshire	Johnis
R. Bratford	05/22/1625	Whatcote, Warwick	Richard and Sara
R. Bradford*	01/14/1626	Claines, Worcestor	William
R. Bridford	02/16/1633	Feniton, Devon	Richard
R. Bradford*	04/05/1635	Odell, Bedford	Hugh
R. Bradford*	12/??/1636	Broughton Astley, Leicester	Richard and Ellin
R. Bradford*	12/04/1636	Rottingdean, Sussex	William and Joane
R. Bradford*	08/19/1637	St. Giles, Cripplegate, London	Anthony
R. Bradford	09/23/1638	St. Dunstan, Stepney, London	George and Ellen
R. Bradford	04/25/1639	St. John the Baptist, Chester, Cheshire	Richard

 

All but the third entry, which reflects date of birth, reflect christenings. ¹⁸

While a later researcher may determine which, if any, of the above records refers to our Richard Bradford, I have marked the most likely of the above possibilities with an asterisk ("*"). I find those records the most likely leads since they each: (1) spell the family's last name as "Bradford" and (2) include birth or christening records that would suggest that the child in question would have been between sixteen and twenty-seven years old in 1653. Richard I was probably in that age range when he immigrated to America.

Finally, a study of where Bradfords are now located in England may be helpful. The surname Bradford is reportedly now most abundant in Dorsetshire, but it is also common in Somersetshire (those two English counties lie adjacent to each other in southeastern England, south of Bristol and approximately one hundred miles west of London). ¹⁹ Again, however, I leave it to someone else to solve the mystery of Richard I's origin.

 

Another Possibility: The Sandlund Theory

One researcher, Peter G. Sandlund, has suggested that Richard Bradford may have hailed from Somerset, England. Sandlund's theory is based on the possibility that Richard was related to an early colonist named Thomas Bradford who moved to the Virginia Colony from Batcombe, Somerset, England. Near that Thomas Bradford's original home, Somerset, is Wiltshire where, as Mr. Sandlund points out, Bradfords have been landowners since the 15th Century. Also in that area is Bradford-on-Avon, which is named for the broad ford in the Avon River located in that vicinity and which, Mr. Sandlund suggests, may be the source of the Bradford name.

The Thomas Bradford that Mr. Sandlund refers to sailed from London on July 31, 1635, on Ye Merchant's Hope (that ship's captain, by the way, was William Barker, the man who you will soon learn was the grandfather of Richard I's future wife) and landed in Virginia in about October of that year. ²⁰ According to that ship's passenger list, Thomas was forty years old at the time. Thomas, a headright for James City merchant Robert Holt, died a bachelor in James City in 1671. He will was filed in England in the Prerogatory Court of Canterbury. ²¹ The year of Thomas's will, moreover, was the same year that construction allegedly began on Charles City County's Belle Air Plantation -- a home that Sandlund suggests was to become the Bradford family's home for the next fifty-eight years. Hence, Sandlund suggests, a possible inheritance from Thomas Bradford may have given Richard I the financial means to build his manor house.

Sandlund's theory is just that -- a theory. Nevertheless, I find it intriguing enough to set forth here so that future researchers of the Bradford family have all possible leads in finding the English roots of the intrepid Richard Bradford I. Indeed, according to the Somerset Protestation Returns and Subsidy Rolls of 1641-1642, there was a John Bradford living in Batcombe Parish who, if Sandlund is right, may be Richard I's father (particularly when you consider that Richard I named one of his sons John, hence suggesting that John may have been a family name). ²² Again, further research will tell for sure.

Finally, before moving on, I would like to comment on Mr. Sandlund's work as a whole. It is thorough, fairly well documented and, in some respects, remarkable. His was the first, to my knowledge, scholarly, in-depth work into Richard I's family. Unfortunately, I did not come across Mr. Sandlund's writings (which were distributed to family members but were not published) until I had completed ninety per cent of this book and already replowed much of the same ground he had covered. Nevertheless, he uncovered some facts that I had missed and his work led me down some avenues that I had previously not considered. His works, set forth in two manuscripts, are: The Bradford Family of Charles City County, Virginia 1651-1729 (written in January 1978, it details the family while they lived in Charles City County) and The Bradford Family of Charles City County, Virginia: Fifty Years in Northampton County, North Carolina, 1729-1779 (a writing dated April 1979 which primarily focuses on Richard's grandson Thomas Bradford -- the ancestor of Sandlund's wife Anne, but also discusses several other lines of the Bradford family). I will hereafter refer to those two works as Sandlund I and Sandlund II, respectively. ²³

 

Charles City County

While Richard I's point of origin is uncertain, his destination is not. The earliest existing American records that mention him show that he settled in Virginia's Charles City County shortly after his arrival in the Virginia Colony. Specifically, in a record dated February 12, 1655, Abraham Wood of Charles City County acknowledged that Richard Bradford paid him "all debts due and demands from the beginning of the world" through that date. ²⁴ In the following year, on July 21, 1656, Thomas Stegge acknowledged receipt of 1,656 pounds of tobacco "in full payment of Bradford's debts." ²⁵ The debt to Stegge (sometimes spelled Stegg) must have been a major one since it took one man, acting on his own, a full year to produce 1,600 pounds of tobacco in those days.

Richard I's new home, Charles City County, figures prominently in the early history of the Virginia Colony. As noted earlier, it was among the places considered as a possible settlement site by Captain Newport and the first English settlers in 1607. Charles City County, however, was rejected because, strategically, Captain Newport considered Jamestown easier to defend. He was right. Jamestown, however, had other problems. Specifically, it was a swampy area, prone to mosquitoes. The James River's brackish water, moreover, contaminated the settlers' wells. A relatively flat island near the Chesapeake Bay, Jamestown offered little natural shelter from the winter's fury. Finally, the colonists unwittingly built the town on land that was considered sacred by the local Indians. As a result, most of the men who sailed over on those first ships died within the colony's first few years as a result of disease, Indian attacks, lack of food or exposure to the elements. Eventually, the settlers moved inland from the island and began to slowly spread out from Jamestown. ²⁶ Within a few years the colony had grown beyond Jamestown to the extent that, in 1618, the colony's governor split it into four political subdivisions: Jamestown, Charles City, Henrico and Kiccowtan (sometimes spelled Kecoughton, regardless, the latter's name was eventually changed to Elizabeth City). ²⁷

Charles City County grew. By 1625, Charles City, with its population of 236 (not counting native Americans), was the third most populous community in English Virginia. The two larger communities, James City and Elizabeth City, had populations of 475 and 441, respectively. ²⁸

In 1634, ten years after the King of England revoked the London Company's charter and made Virginia a royal colony, that colony, like England, was divided into "shires." Charles City County was one of the original eight shires created at that time by the colony's general assembly. The others were James City, Henrico, Warwick, Elizabeth City, York and Warrosquoyoake. ²⁹ Those first eight counties were the beginning of county government in North America. Things have not changed much: counties are still the principle unit of local government used in the United States today and, as discussed later, Charles City County is much as it was when it was first founded over 350 years ago.

 

Richard I's Plantation

Richard I was one of Charles City County's earliest landowners. A record dated October 3, 1657, reflects that Howell (sometimes spelled Hoel) Pryse, who later became clerk of Charles City County, assigned one half of his 1,200 acre Charles City County plantation "wch. lyeth at the head of Queens Creeke betweene the old tree runne and the fishing runne" to Richard on September, 3, 1657. ³⁰ Thereafter, Pryce and Richard I jointly owned that plantation for almost five years until, on August 4, 1662, Richard acquired the rest of that plantation and became one of the largest landowners in the Virginia Colony. The final deed, signed by Pryse and witnessed by Edward Hill Junior and Robert Wynne, describes the entire plantation as "1,197 acres and 11 poles of land" (a "pole," for those unfamiliar with the term, equals thirty and a quarter square yards). ³¹ Richard apparently paid at least 3,500 pounds of tobacco for that tract. ³² Hence it did not take long for Richard Bradford's American gamble to pay off. Within four years of his arrival in the young colony he was able to pay off his debts and acquire his own piece of land. On November 27, 1661, about a year after the Stuarts returned to England's throne, Virginia Governor William Berkeley reaffirmed Richard I's patent to that land.³³ That reaffirmation was not unusual, since all patents issued during Cromwell's reign required reaffirmation.³⁴

This may be a good time to clarify (i.e., translate) the location of the Bradfords' Charles City County plantation. Records, as previously noted, describe that approximately 1,200 acre plantation as "lying at the head of Queen's Creek" (a point, easily located on maps, about three quarters of a mile southeast of the Charles City County courthouse), between "the Old Tree Run" (a waterway now called Parrish Hill Creek) and the "Fishing Run" (now called the Glebe Creek). The latter two waterways split off from the head of Queen's Creek and run north by northeasterly about a mile apart from each other in the general direction of Ruthville. A 1,200 acre tract bounded within that area would include virtually all of the land between the point where those three waterways meet and Ruthville, which lies about two miles to the northeast. In other words, if one drives east on Route 5 (better known as the John Tyler Highway) from the Charles City County courthouse, turns left on Route 615 (also called the Glebe Lane) and drives the nearly two miles to Ruthville, one will have driven right down the middle of the nearly two square miles comprising the Bradford plantation lands. Richard I, it seems, had quite a spread.

 

Payments to Abraham Wood and Thomas Stegge

The previously mentioned records reflecting Richard I's payment of debts and acquisition of land tell us a few things about him. First, they tell us that he paid his debts. While that may not be important to historians, it is noteworthy to Richard's descendants who can take pride in his responsible nature. In addition, those records, particularly the ones reflecting Richard's payments to Abraham Wood and Thomas Stegge, tell us that Richard was in contact with some of the most influential men in the colony.

 

Abraham Wood

Abraham Wood, one of the first colonists with whom Richard became involved with, figures prominently in early American history. Although he arrived in the colony as a servant, Wood became "a man of wealth and great influence in the colony." ³⁵ Wood was the first commander of Fort Henry, one of the colony's first forts. Fort Henry, built on the future site of Petersburg, Virginia, was built as an outpost after Indians killed a number of Virginia settlers in a massacre in 1644. From Fort Henry, Wood began to trade with the Indians and eventually became the foremost Indian trader in Virginia. Wood's wealth came through trading, planting and land speculation. Wood also became a major general in the militia and, in 1658, became a voting member of the governor's council, the colony's highest political body.³⁶ Most notably, in September 1671, Wood ordered the first English expedition to investigate the land beyond the Allegheny Mountains. Wood sent those men, Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam, from Fort Henry to find the "ebbing and flowing of the rivers on the other side of the mountains in order to reach the South Seas." Those men, who reached the Ohio Valley, were probably the first Englishmen to set foot in Kentucky. ³⁷

 

Thomas Stegge

Thomas Stegge, who acknowledged receipt of 1,656 pounds of tobacco from Richard in 1656, was a key figure in early American history. Stegge, like Wood, was involved in Virginia's colonial government. Stegge represented Charles City County in Virginia's General Assembly and, later, served as a justice of the Charles City County court.³⁸ Stegge's father (Thomas Stegge Sr.), moreover, was considered one of the colony's leading merchants and political figures in the 1600s. ³⁹ Indeed, in 1651 Stegge Sr. went to England where he was, as previously noted, appointed the Parliamentary Commissioner for Virginia by Oliver Cromwell. Stegge Sr., however, fell ill on his passage home (hence drafting his will en route) and died within the year. ⁴⁰ Upon his death, Stegge Sr.'s land, which included a grant of 1,000 acres lying between Queen's Creek and Old Man's Creek (now called Gunn's Run), was inherited by Stegge Jr. ⁴¹

In 1653, Thomas Stegge Jr. increased the land holdings he inherited from his father and patented 698 acres in Charles City County's Westover Parish, at the head of Queen's Creek located between Seller Run (now called Courthouse Creek) and Fishing Run (now called Glebe Creek). ⁴² Hence Stegge was a next-door neighbor of Richard's, at least until Stegge sold the above 1,000 and 698 acre tracts to Daniel Clarke (sometimes spelled Clark) in a record dated January 28, 1662. ⁴³

 

Richard I's Actual Benefactor

As stated earlier, it is possible that either Stegge or Wood paid for Richard's transportation to the colony but sold or traded the right to the headrighted land to Roger Walker. If so, I think that Wood is the more likely suspect since he was actively involved in transporting people into the colony. ⁴⁴ Indeed, Wood co-authored pamphlets (like the one shown at the right) extolling the colony's land which were used to recruit new colonists to Virginia. Those pamphlets, moreover, were being distributed in England at precisely the same time that Richard I came to Virginia. Perhaps Richard I read one of those pamphlets and, thereafter, arranged for his headrighted transportation to Virginia through one of Wood's agents.

Since Stegge was a merchant, Richard I's debt to him was probably related to the sale of goods. Nevertheless, it is possible that Stegge was Richard's benefactor. Unfortunately, however, neither the record mentioning Stegge nor the one mentioning Wood specify how Richard I incurred his debts to those men.

Regardless of how or why Richard I's underlying debts were incurred, one conclusion is inescapable: Richard was rubbing shoulders with colonial leaders Wood and Stegge shortly after his arrival in the colony.

 

Tobacco Farming

The earliest records mentioning Richard Bradford I, which state that he paid for his debts in tobacco, suggest that he was involved with trading in and/or planting tobacco soon after his arrival in Virginia.

Richard I's early involvement with tobacco is not surprising. Life in early Virginia had centered in great part on the tobacco market since the successful experiments of Virginia colonist John Rolfe. Rolfe, who is also famous for marrying Indian princess Pocahontas, was the first to discover that a popular strain of West Indian tobacco flourished in the rich Virginia soil. Thereafter, in 1614, Rolfe began the colony's tobacco trade by shipping four hogsheads ("hogsheads" were large wooden barrels that were used for shipping and storage) of tobacco to a London merchant. After that, tobacco soon became the first truly successful commodity to emanate from the Virginia Colony. England soon demanded more and more of the American-grown tobacco. That strong demand for tobacco was a critical factor in the young colony's success. Tobacco soon became the colony's leading cash crop and principal unit of exchange. Many early colonists, like Richard, paid their debts with tobacco. In those days, growing tobacco was just like growing money.

Tobacco seemed to be an ideal crop. It had a high cash value, yielded many plants per acre, kept well when cured properly and had a relatively low shipping weight. Not surprisingly, tobacco farming was an attractive alternative for incoming colonists like Richard. Tobacco also increased the value of the colony's most abundant resource -- land. Hence, it was tobacco that often brought the young and ambitious to Virginia. The dream of acquiring a plot of land in the colony and growing wealthy from the production of tobacco made the prospect of working a couple of years to pay for your ocean passage a reasonable price to pay. ⁴⁵ Richard, like most of the young men streaming into the colony, undoubtedly had that on his mind as his ship neared the American coast in the early 1650s.

 

Three Years of Indentured Servitude

Richard I's first three years in the colony were probably much like those of any other indentured servant. He may have spent that time working on a plantation in Charles City County or, equally likely, as a carpenter or carpenter's apprentice.

Richard may have spent his years of indentured servitude working in Charles City County's tobacco fields -- learning the ropes and biding his time until he was able to strike out on his own. If so, his work was largely seasonal. In the spring, seed beds were prepared, fields were plowed and seedlings were transplanted. In summer, the maturing plants required weeding, worming and topping. In the fall, harvest time, the plants were cut and individually stripped of their leaves, which were then cured and packed for shipping. Most farm work was done by hand with crude farm tools. ⁴⁶

One author has written that the work on a colonial tobacco plantation was "arduous and unending" and that few tools or labor saving devices made the job any easier. ⁴⁷ If his indentured servanthood, like most, was spent on a plantation, Richard would have done more than just tend to tobacco crops. Most early Virginia plantations also had livestock (hogs, cattle and chicken), food crops (wheat and corn) and fruit trees. If Richard I came to America a stranger to farm work, he had a first rate chance to learn all the ins and outs of farming during his period of indentured servanthood.

Whether or not he ever labored on a farm, Richard, as you shall soon discover, eventually became known as a skilled woodworker in Charles City County. It is unknown whether he acquired his woodworking skills in England or during his indentured servanthood. If Richard I's first years in the colony, therefore, were not spent on a farm, then they were spent perfecting carpentry skills that made him a sought-after artisan who helped build America's earliest English colony.

I will add an editorial comment about Richard I's temporary status as an indentured servant. While it may not seem glamorous to claim descent from an indentured servant, we must place that position in context. No negative connotation was applied to those who came to the colonies as indentured servants in the 1600s, and we would be foolish to apply one now. Indeed, as stated earlier, a full seventy-five per cent of the English emigrants who came to the Virginia Colony at that time had their passage paid for through headrighting. Most of those "servants" were under the age of twenty-five (which supports my hypothesis that Richard I was a young man when he arrived). ⁴⁸ Many of the indentured servants, like Richard, went on to own their own land. Richard's headrighted transportation to the colony and his temporary indentured servitude was looked on, in his day, the same way that we would look at a student working his or her way through college today. It was a temporary position that paved the way to success in those days. It was, therefore, "the thing to do" for a young person with ambition and guts in the mid 1600s.

 

The Bradford Plantation

As noted earlier, in 1657, following the period of his indenture, Richard I was assigned the first half of a 1,197 acre Charles City County plantation by Howell Pryse. Richard acquired the entirety of that plantation in a deed dated August 4, 1662. While it is unclear how much Richard paid for that land, it is recorded that he paid Pryse 3,500 pounds of tobacco "being in parte" for the land Richard I had "lately bought" from Pryse. ⁴⁹ That plantation stayed in the Bradford family for the next sixty-five years.

I do not know where Richard I first lived when he came to the colony, but that home, wherever it was, was probably not made of brick. There were relatively few brick homes in the colony in those days. Instead, Richard's first home was probably a "frame house." Richard, a skilled carpenter, may have built it himself. The average colonial frame house was a story and a half high, with a chimney at either end and a roof of wooden shingles. Virginia frame homes in that period had plain dirt floors or, sometimes, wooden plank flooring (carpenter, Richard certainly had wooden floors in his home). The home had windows. The upper rooms were used for storage or sleeping. In most frame houses, a wooden ladder led to the upper floor. Both the upper and the lower rooms were generally split into two rooms each. Early frame homes were generally not considered pleasure palaces. The frame houses in those days were usually cramped, poorly lit and underheated. Moreover, there was little privacy since few colonial homes had individual rooms for each member of the family. These homes were generally sparsely furnished and usually contained little more than beds, chairs, cooking utensils and supplies. ⁵⁰

The manor house that Richard I eventually erected on the family's Charles City County Plantation, however, was nicer than most for two reasons: (1) he was one of the area's largest landowners and, hence, relatively well-to-do, and (2) he was a skilled woodworker. If you have ever been to a carpenter's home, you would realize that their home, particularly one they built themselves, is usually a showcase for their talent. Indeed, some believe that the Charles City County home that Richard built still stands. If they are right, the home they point to, the manor house on Charles City County's Belle Air Plantation, now a National and State Historic Landmark, was just that. Plantation Homes of the James River describes that home as follows:

 

The 1-1/2 story house was built of wood. The huge, hand-hewn, heart-pine timbers were skillfully carved and left partially exposed inside the house to serve as decorative woodwork as well as structural framework. A beautiful hand-carved balustrade highlights the home's original Jacobean staircase, one of the finest of its kind in America. White plaster walls complement the rich, warm colors of the woodwork and the heart pine mantels and floors. ⁵¹

 

The above book includes photographs of that home from both the exterior and interior and also includes a photo of the staircase which, if indeed 300 years old, was undoubtedly hand-carved by woodworker Richard I. Unfortunately, you may be disappointed to learn that Plantation Homes does not credit Richard I as the builder of that home, and instead states that "it is not known for sure who built the original main portion of [that] manor," and suggests that Thomas Stegge Jr. probably built it. You may be further disappointed (if not annoyed) to learn that Plantation Homes does not mention the Bradfords as that home's owners and, instead, states that the home was owned by Richard I's neighbor Daniel Clarke. ⁵² I do not, however, blame that book's author, a genial gentleman who cordially lent me the use of some his photographs for use in this book, for that book's historical inaccuracies. His researcher used information provided by that land's current owners or set forth in prior publications. Each of those sources supported his book's conclusions. Each of those sources, however, is wrong. I will elaborate later. But first, however, I would like to introduce you to someone special -- Richard I's wife.

 

Marriage to Frances Taylor

Oh yes, Richard got married. While the exact date of his marriage is not known, it is certain that he was married by 1661 -- less than ten years after his arrival and mere four years after he acquired his own farmland. Interestingly enough, we know that Richard I married before 1661 because a Charles City County court record from that year which mentions some ulcers on his wife's legs. In that record, John Seaward (apparently an indentured servant working for Richard I) testified that "Mr. Thomas Culmer comeing to the house of Richd Bradford where the dept" (Seaward) dwelled "was desired to cure certeine ulcers on the legs of the sd Bradford's wife, wch he promised and undertooke to perfecting of the sd cure, the sd Culmer was to have 1,000 lb" tobacco if successful but "in case of neglect or no cure to have or require nothing, whc cure is yet performed." The record of Seaward's deposition, dated August 3, 1661, is recorded in the Charles City County Order Book. ⁵³

While we will never know if Thomas Culmer managed to collect his 1,000 pounds of tobacco for curing the "certeine ulcers" on my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother's legs, I certainly hope so. If not, I trust that Richard I branded him a charlatan and a quack and ran him out of Charles City County as promptly as possible.

Seriously, however, this is as good a time as any to reflect upon the type of medical treatment received in those days. Doctors were few and far between. Most problems were taken care of in the home without any professional assistance. Moreover, medicines were not as developed as they are today and home remedies were prevalent. At that time, remedies still included treatments like bloodletting and the application of leeches, practices that had existed since the Dark Ages. ⁵⁴

 

Richard I's In-Laws

Richard I's wife, my ancestor and the owner of the ulcerated legs, was named Frances Taylor. She, unlike Richard, was born in the colony. Indeed, she was a third-generation colonist on both her mother's and father's sides.

Frances Taylor Bradford was the daughter of Sarah Barker and Richard Taylor of Merchant's Hope Plantation which is located in Prince George County at Flowerdew (sometimes spelled Flowerdieu, Flower Dew or Flower de) Hundred, an area right across the James River from present-day Charles City County. Frances's paternal grandfather was Richard Taylor Sr., who arrived in Virginia in 1608 on the Mary Margaret and, thereafter, settled on the Neck of Land in Charles City (now Jones Island in Virginia's Chesterfield County) sometime before the muster taken on January 24, 1624. Fifty years old at the time of that muster, Taylor Sr. was in Virginia early enough to be considered an "Ancient Planter." Individuals in that group, by definition, arrived in the Virginia Colony no later than 1616 and stayed for a minimum of eight years (note that they also had to have survived the great Indian massacre of 1622). Those who thus qualified as "Ancient Planters" were awarded special land dividends when the London Company's charter was revoked in 1624. ⁵⁵ Hence any descendants of Richard I are, by definition, also descendants of Richard Taylor Sr. who was living in America as early as 1608 -- when the Virginia Colony was only a year old and a full twelve years before the Mayflower ever set sail for Plymouth. Richard Taylor Sr.'s will dated July 15, 1672, left 1,000 acres to Richard Taylor Jr. That land, 1,000 acres on the portion of Charles City County that was then located south of the James River (in the future Prince George County) was described as "on the Blackwater, behind Merchants Hope, at a place called Saw Tree." ⁵⁶

Frances's mother, Sarah Barker, was the daughter of Frances Ward and William Barker "the mariner." William Barker, who was in the Virginia Colony as early as 1625, was a large landowner who received several grants of land for transporting settlers to Virginia. ⁵⁷ Most of that land was in a place across the James River from Richard I at a place William Barker named Merchants Hope after his ship of the same name. Barker, who was captain and master of the ships America and Ye Merchants Hope, was a powerful man who represented Charles City County in Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1645. Much has been written about the Taylors and the Barkers. For more information about the descendants of those families, I would suggest pages 146-169 of John Bennett Boddie's Virginia Historical Genealogies and pages 566-570 of Virginia Lee Hutcheson Davis's Tidewater Virginia Families. ⁵⁸

Although I will not spend much time discussing Richard I's in-laws, I would like to share an interesting excerpt from a book that discusses both William Barker and Flowerdew Hundred, Frances Taylor Bradford's birthplace. That book, which describes Flowerdew Hundred, explains that it was connected by ferry to the Swinyards (now called Glen Cove), an estate across the James River at point where that river was two miles wide. That book states:

 

The old place (Flowerdew Hundred) was destined to have its most thrilling crossing in 1864 when General U.S. Grant with his army, 130,000 strong, were to cross over the James River -- some ferried from Willcox Wharf to Windmill Point -- and the rest on a pontoon bridge a little lower down at Wyanoke. Picture a livelier scene if you can. Also picture a line of Federal gun boats up and down the river for fifty miles with orders to bombard practically every house along its banks.

....

That perfectly delightful book, Tidewater, by Paul Wilstach, says of Flower de Hundred: 'It changed owners often in its first years and in 1636 it passed into the hands of William Barker, mariner, a picturesque old sea dog, who sailed in the ship called Ye Merchants Hope and was of the group to found the parish whose old brick church, a few miles inland and built as early as 1657, still bear his ship's name.'⁵⁹

 

Although I have not yet visited the Merchant's Hope Church in Virginia's Prince George County, I have found a description of it in a book entitled Old Virginia Houses Along the James. That book, which states that Merchant's Hope Church stands in the northern part of Prince George County near the James River, describes that church as follows:

 

The church measures sixty by thirty feet, has walls twenty-two inches thick, built of bricks laid in Flemish bond, with glazed headers accenting the full red of the old bricks. The entrance is in the west, with a small window above the door to light the gallery. The windows are arched; there are two in the east end, three, and the chancel door, in the south wall, and four in the north wall. Modillions decorate the edges of the roof. The flagstones in the aisles are originals.

 

That book also confirms that the Merchant's Hope Church was erected in 1657. That is the date cut onto one of the church's great rafters.⁶⁰ Merchant's Hope Church is also described in Virginia's Colonial Churches: An Architectural Guide, which features a photograph of that building in its frontispiece. ⁶¹

The above facts suggest an interesting possibility: Richard I may have helped build Merchant's Hope Church and, in doing so, may have met his future wife Frances Taylor. That possibility is not very far-fetched. We know that Richard I was a carpenter, that he arrived in the colony in 1653 and was living in Charles City County when Merchant's Hope Church was built in 1657, that he did not come to America with a wife (since the headright records do not mention her), that he was married by 1661, that he married Francis Taylor, and that Francis Taylor was the granddaughter of William Barker who was among the men who founded Merchant's Hope Church. When you add those facts up, it is reasonable to believe that Richard, a carpenter in Charles City County at the time, was involved in building a church in his county (Prince George County did not split off from Charles City County until 1710). He may even be the one who cut the date onto that church's rafter. Hence, when you go to that church, you may see Richard's handiwork and his mark. Furthermore, consider the fact that Frances Taylor, although living in the same county as Richard I, lived in Flowerdew Hundred across the James River from Richard. It is certainly conceivable that it was a job, like the work on Merchant's Hope Church, that took him across the river and gave him the opportunity to meet Frances. At the very least, there is a strong possibility that Richard visited that church with Frances. They may even have married there. Hence, a visit to that church will likely place you in a building that Richard and his wife visited.

Another interesting section of Old Virginia Houses Along the James is its discussion of the site of Frances Taylor Bradford's home, Flowerdew Hundred. Apparently, Sir George Yeardley and his wife, the former Temperance Flowerdew, sailed for Virginia with Sir Thomas Gates in 1619. When they and the rest of the thirty-nine Berkeley colonists came ashore on December 4, 1619, they immediately held a service of thanksgiving for their safe passage. That first thanksgiving in America -- three years before the Plymouth Pilgrims' arrival and more famous thanksgiving -- has been annually observed at Berkeley Hundred, the plantation built on the site of their landing, since that time (those interested in seeing the annual re-enactment of that first American Thanksgiving, held the first Sunday of each November, should contact the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival, Box 5132, Richmond, Virginia 23220, (804) 747-1537. Yeardley, who was granted 1,000 acres on the James River along Flowerdew Creek, reportedly named the place Flowerdew, in honor of his wife's family. He built the first windmill in America in 1621 at a place now called Windmill Point. Abraham Peirsey bought Flowerdew from Yeardley, and his daughter, Mrs. Stephens, inherited the estate. In 1635 she entered a patent for "Floer deue Hundred." That was the first deed for land recorded in America. ⁶² Flowerdew Hundred was one of only seven settlements to survive the devastating Indian massacre of 1622. Plantation Homes of the James River mentions William Barker as the 1639 purchaser of Flowerdew Hundred and the man who developed it into a "profitable and important administrative and mercantile center." That book also includes several photographs of the area, including a picture of the reconstructed eighteenth century-style windmill that still grinds grain at Windmill Point. ⁶³ Flowerdew Hundred's history, however, long pre-dates the 17th Century. Flowerdew Hundred was a settlement for Indian hunters about 12,000 years ago. Archaeologists have, from more than sixty-five sites their, uncovered thousands of artifacts dating from 9000 B.C. through the Civil War. A museum on the plantation's grounds, located off State 10 on Route 369 east of Hopewell, is open daily except Mondays from April 1 through November 30. ⁶⁴ The latter artifacts are historically significant because, just as Flowerdew Hundred's history began long before the first colonists came, it continued long after they passed on. For example, just a couple of miles inland from Flowerdew Hundred lies the point where the Appomatox River meets the James River. On the west side of the mouth of the Appomattox lies two plantations with historical roots relating to both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars: Appomattox Manor and Weston Manor. The former was built on a plantation first established by Francis Eppes in 1635. Appomattox Manor was built there by Eppes's grandson and, among others, Thomas Jefferson's daughter Mary (who married Eppes's great-grandson) lived there. British troops led by Benedict Arnold marched through that property during the Revolutionary War. Later, during the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant made that plantation his headquarters and Abraham Lincoln used the manor home's drawing room as an office when he came to confer with Grant. The plantation remained in the Eppes family until, in 1979, the U.S. Park Service purchased it. The manor home, Grant's headquarters cabin, and the grounds are now open to the public daily. Just to the west, Weston Manor, which was probably once part of the Eppes estate, had a cannonball fired from a Union gunboat lodged in the dining room ceiling and General Philip Sheridan and other Union officers scratched their names on one of the building's windowpanes as evidence of their occupation. ⁶⁵

 

Family Life

We know little about Richard I's wife other than that she had "certeine ulcers" on her legs in 1661. It is believed that Richard I had at least three sons: Richard (who I will refer to as Richard II), John and Ralph. To the best of my knowledge, there were no other children, however, it is important to remember that in that day about one-quarter of all children died before reaching their fifth birthday, and only two-thirds survived to adulthood. Hence, Richard I may have fathered other children who, unlike the three we know of, did not live to maturity.

Richard I's wife Frances was certainly the mother of Richard's son Ralph, for reasons explained in the next chapter. She may not, however, have given birth to Richard I's other children. It is possible that she was Richard I's second wife, and that a previous wife gave birth to Richard II and John. In those days people often remarried, particularly since it was not infrequent for spouses to die from causes, natural or otherwise, during their twenties or thirties.

Nothing is known of the Bradford family's home life, but we can assume that a great deal of it was spent running the family's plantation. If the plantation was like most, it was a self-sufficient operation. That is to say, the Bradford family probably grew their own wheat and corn, which was milled to make bread and other staples. They probably grew their own vegetables and fruits and raised their own cattle, pigs and chicken. Hence, they had plenty of bacon, ham, eggs, milk, pork and steaks. With the ample nearby supply of fresh water, they wanted for nothing.

The Anglican Church

Probably the only time that the Bradford family left the plantation together was to go to church on Sundays. There was no real downtown area in Charles City County then (or now, for that matter). Going to church services was one of the few opportunities to speak to friends and neighbors and catch up on all the news and local gossip. Richard I and his family belonged to the Anglican Church and attended services in Charles City County's Westover Parish.

The Anglican Church was a church of bishops, with the King of England serving as the head of the church. There was no bishop in Virginia, however, so the colony was considered to be under the guidance of the Bishop of London. The Anglican Church was the official church of England and its colonies at the time, and virtually everyone in the Virginia Colony was a member (for example, two-thirds of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were member of the Anglican Church). ⁶⁶

Roads were in poor condition in those days, and it may have taken the Bradfords all morning to travel the few miles to church. They, like several others in the parish, may have traveled to church by boat. Much of colonial Virginia's travel was via the colony's extensive natural waterways. Moreover, the church was conveniently located on the banks of the nearby James River.

Regardless of how the Bradfords got to church, after services were over they almost certainly stayed and visited with friends and neighbors before heading back to their farm. Everyone did. Indeed, one visitor to colonial Virginia during that time period wrote that he was surprised when, immediately following church services, virtually every man in the congregation pulled out a pipe which was promptly filled with tobacco and lit.

I can almost picture Richard I, pipe in hand, wearing traditional colonial garb, looking like Sir Walter Raleigh and standing outside of the small church with the other menfolk discussing the latest news from England, tobacco prices, local gossip and the weather. Similarly, Frances, almost certainly glad to be away from the plantation for the day, probably took those opportunities to learn about the latest fashions in London, catch up on local gossip and enjoy the welcome opportunity to speak with other women in the community. She probably also enjoyed the chance to visit her parents and siblings who lived across the James River and had to take a ferry or boat to get to the church at Westover. The boys probably played (as long as they did not get their clothes dirty) and made new friends. Since there was no school, this was probably their only opportunity to meet children their own age. If old enough, the Bradford boys may have spotted and courted the young ladies in the parish. Perhaps it was at church that Richard met Frances. Regardless, the Bradford family's Sunday leisure time did not last very long. All to soon, it was back to the plantation. If they were caught up on their chores, however, the family may have taken the opportunity to have dinner with neighbors. Sunday was the one day of the week that many Virginia colonists had neighbors over for dinner. Hence, there were days that the family went from church to a neighbor's home for a meal, a visit and a discussion before the fireplace. Similarly, there were days that they rushed home from church to prepare for Sunday dinner guests. Sundays were generally the highlight of the colonial week.

 

Westover Parish

We should discuss the Westover Parish. That parish was originally established in close proximity to the Jamestown settlement in 1613. Following a merger with three other parishes in 1724 (one of those was Weyanoke, which was also very close to where Richard I and his family lived), the boundaries of Westover Parish became coterminous with those of Charles City County.

The actual Westover church building in which Richard I and his family probably attended services was built between 1630 and 1637 on the Westover plantation in Charles City County. While that church building no longer stands, some headstones from the 1700s are still there. The oldest, no longer legible, said "Here lyeth the body of Captaine Wm. Perry who lived neere Westover in this Collony who departed this life the 6th day of August Anno Domini 1637." Also buried there is Ralph Davis (died July, 1751), William Willabe (died June 1723 at the age of thirty), Reverend Charles Anderson (minister of Westover Parish for twenty-six years who died April 7, 1718, at the age of forty-nine), Prudentis & Eruditi Gheodorici Bland (tombstone in Latin, April 23, 1671, date shown), lieutenant colonel Walter Aston (died April 6, 1656, at the age of forty-nine), Walter Aston Jr. who died January 29, 1666, at the age of twenty-seven), William Byrd I (died December 4, 1701, at the age of fifty-two), Mary Byrd (William Byrd I's wife, died November 9, 1699 at the age of forty-seven), William Byrd II (died in August, 1744), Evelyn Byrd (daughter of William Byrd I, was twenty-nine when she died in 1737), Mrs. Elizabeth Harrison (relative of Benjamin Harrison and daughter of Lewis Burwell, who died in 1734 at fifty-seven years of age), and Benjamin Harrison III of Berkeley (a grandfather to the Declaration of Independence signer of the same name, he died in 1710). ⁶⁷ The only tombstone that withstood the ravages of time at the church at Weyanoke Parish, the second most likely place where Richard I attended church services, was that of William Harris who died in March 1687/8 at the age of thirty-five. Even that tombstone, however, is no longer at Weyanoke. Harris's headstone was subsequently moved from Weyanoke to Norfolk, where it was placed in the walls of St. Paul's Church. ⁶⁸ The Weyanoke Parish, like the Bradford plantation, included the head of Queen's Creek as one of its bordering landmarks. ⁶⁹ Indeed, the Bradfords lived at the top of the Weyanoke peninsula, the portion of Charles City County that forms a large bend in the James River (the Indian name Weyanoke means "the place where the river goes around the land.") ⁷⁰

In 1730 (about the time that the last of the Bradfords left Charles City County for good), the "new" Westover Parish church building was built in Charles City County about a mile and a half down the James River from the old one. That new parish meeting place was used until 1803, thereafter it was abandoned for thirty years, sometimes being used as a barn during that period. In 1833 it was revived, only to be taken over by Union troops who used it as a stable during the Civil War. The building, however, again began serving as a church in 1867. People have attended church services there since that time.

Today, the "new" Westover Parish church is a picturesque little building where you are welcome to show up for services any Sunday you are in Charles City County. A brochure distributed at that church states that down through the centuries it was used as a house of worship by farmers, plantation owners, slaves and presidents, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Theodore Roosevelt. Incredibly, the ancestors of some of Richard I's contemporaries (the Hill, Carter and other families of colonial Charles City County) still worship at Westover Parish. ⁷¹ The Westover Church is worth visiting.

 

Randolph Lawsuit

The Charles City County record books show that Richard I was involved in his share of lawsuits. The records of those disputes offer us small, but interesting, glimpses into Richard's day. The first such suit involved a member of Virginia's celebrated Randolph clan.

The facts of Randolph dispute are as follows: in late 1656 or early 1657, Richard I was involved in a dispute surrounding a debt he owed for grain that was ground for him at a local mill. In that dispute, Henry Randolph, the agent of the deceased owner of the mill, Captain Richard Bond, sought 800 pounds of tobacco from Richard I in return for work allegedly performed at the mill. Richard, however, testified that the late William Middleton, from whom Richard had a receipt, had undertaken to pay 500 of the 800 pounds of tobacco "and cask" ("casks," like the "hogsheads" described earlier, were large wooden barrels used by the colonists to store and ship tobacco). Based on Richard's testimony, the court's verdict was "that the said Bradford be acquitted, paying only the said 300 pounds of tobacco" which was by contract to be paid "in wares." Henry Randolph, the court decided, was left to seek the remainder of his remedy from Mr. Middleton's estate. ⁷² Richard's first day in court, therefore, was a success.

Henry Randolph, the man who brought (and lost) that early lawsuit against Richard I, belonged to a well-known family. Like the families of several other early colonists Richard dealt with, Randolph's family played an important role in our country's early history. Randolph, born in England in 1623, immigrated into Virginia in 1642, became clerk of the court in nearby Henrico County in 1656 and served as a clerk to the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1660 until his death in 1673. Although Henry had no children, he is credited with convincing his nephew William Randolph to likewise emigrate from England to the Virginia Colony. ⁷³ Thereafter, William became the patriarch of one of Virginia's most illustrious families. Indeed, some refer to him and his wife Mary Isham Randolph as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia society" because of their illustrious offspring. Included among their descendants are, among others, Peyton Randolph (the first president of the Continental Congress) and Edmund Randolph (who served as Governor of Virginia and was appointed by George Washington to serve as America's first Attorney General). Also included among their descendants are Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and Robert E. Lee. ⁷⁴

 

Other Lawsuits

Richard's run-in with Henry Randolph was not his only day in court. Indeed, records reflect that Richard was in court quite a bit (don't worry, none of the records mention criminal charges).

A captain Edloe had a "non-suite" against Richard I and Howell Pryce (who still jointly owned the Bradford plantation with Richard I) in 1657 over some matter that most likely related to Richard's plantation, particularly since Edloe was an adjoining landowner. ⁷⁵ Presumably, that matter was a nonsuit because Richard did not show up in court to contest it. Similarly, Richard won a nonsuit against John Fitchett in 1663. ⁷⁶ Years later, on February 17, 1678/79 in the court of Westover (located in Charles City County), Richard was involved in a dispute with William Irby (an early surgeon) who had sued him "for a cure and other physic." Richard denied liability, however, and successfully argued that Irby had nothing to complain about since Irby "was paid a hog and 19 pounds of Bacon." The court agreed with Richard and the case was dismissed. ⁷⁷

At least one of Richard's court victories was overturned on appeal by the Governor's Council. Specifically, at a proceeding of that body which was held on March 4, 1674/75, that body, which was then comprised of Colonol Bacon, Thomas Ballard and Joseph Bridges, ruled as follows:

 

Judgement is Granted Mr. Richard Linney Affigne of Thomas Dolby Againft Mr. Richard Bradford for payment of One Thoufand pounds of Live porke with Cofts, and It is ordered that ye Order of Cha. Citty County Court that paft Againft the Said Bradford concerning this debt be made void. ⁷⁸

 

Between 1685 and 1695, Richard was involved in a whirlwind of lawsuits. Richard, for example, sued Cornelius Lofton in 1688 for "seizing and carrying away" a horse from Richard's home twelve months before. Lofton lost and was ordered to pay Richard 400 pounds of tobacco in addition to returning the horse (Lofton was lucky: many of history's horse thieves were shot). ⁷⁹ Richard lost a suit against Richard Kennon and Jonathon Worsham, administrators of the estate of Nathaniel Hill, and was therefore required to pay them "1/0/5" pounds sterling. Richard had at least three lawsuits against Jonathon Hunt: Richard won 875 pounds of tobacco in the first suit; the second suit, brought by Hunt, was dismissed; and in the last, a suit brought by Hunt, Richard lost when he failed to show up and, accordingly, was required to pay Hunt 2,127 pounds of tobacco. In 1685, Richard won 900 pounds of tobacco from Nicholas Whiskin in a case in which Richard employed an attorney, Hugh Owen. Richard also won a case against James Joyeaux, a merchant, who did not appear in court. Richard did well in 1692. In that year he won: a hefty 1,300 pounds of tobacco and ten shillings from Henry Willis; 647 pounds of tobacco from Thomas Taylor; and 1,057 pounds of tobacco from William Glenn. Richard's case with Willis was in and out of court for a long time. While those records may reflect not one but several disputes between those two men, at least one of those records involved money which Willis sought for some wheat he allegedly "hoed in" for Richard. Richard was awarded "14/16" pounds sterling from Joseph Dudly for some "pipe staves, sasafrax roots, standard timber and fathom wax" which Richard had sold to him. Richard lost a case to James Morris the "Ordinary Keeper." Richard had a case against Roger Archer which was dismissed for unknown reasons. Finally, in one of my favorites, Richard complained that he was short-changed by William Shivers. That record states:

 

Whereas Richard Bradford obtained a judgement agst William Shivers for 664 lbs tobacco and 21/8 sterling, he come in court and swears that the tobacco he received toward that judgement weighed only 457 lbs and no more.

 

Richard, it seems, was nobody's fool. ⁸⁰

 

Litigation With Servants

Richard not only had lawsuits with his neighbors, but he also became enmeshed in a couple of lawsuits with his servants. Those records are fascinating since they affirmatively establish that Richard was successful enough to retain his own servants. Surprisingly, at least one of those servants was an American Indian. We know that since one such paid Indian servant, Roger, ran away. Upon his return, Richard sought recovery of the cost incurred in returning Roger. The lawsuit arising from Roger's running away states:

 

Roger, an Indian, being convicted of runaway from service of Rich'd Bradford, his Master, for 6 months, and 10 shill. being spent in his recovery, he is therefore to serve said master 1 month for the 10 shillings, and for his time of absence as law directs. ⁸¹

 

The last record is quite interesting. First, it highlights that Richard had first-hand experience with the Indians. Next, it shows that Indians, unlike slaves, worked for a fee just like the English immigrants (there is, incidentally, no evidence that either Richard I or any of his sons ever owned any slaves).

Another lawsuit involved a dispute between Richard and his servant Jonathon Seed. That servant alleged that Richard owed him some new clothes. The local court initially agreed that if Richard "did not give his servant Jno. Seed sufficient clothing by Saturday night, said Seed is to be set free." That, however, was not the end of Richard's dispute with Mr. Seed. Later, in June 1692, a dispute involving Seed, Richard and Thomas Taylor was postponed to the next court hearing day upon the request of Taylor's attorney, Edward Chilton, since Taylor was on a journey to Maryland and could not, therefore, attend court. While I do not know what happened in the Seed matter or what Taylor's involvement in it was, that same record states that Captain James Bisse testified that Taylor "hath promised to pay Seed (if he appears to have been set free before) for his time of overservice." I wish I knew the whole story surrounding the Seed episode. ⁸² While it sounds interesting, we will probably never know exactly what happened.

 

Jury Duty

Richard I's appearances in court, however, were not limited to his appearances as a party to a dispute. He also served on juries. For example, on January 9, 1662, Richard served on a twelve-man jury (women did not serve on juries in those days) which had to determine whether any foul play was involved in the death of an indentured servant who was found dead, still bearing the marks of the whip (or, as the jury called them, "sad stripes") where he was lashed by his master's wife. The jury's ruling, signed by Richard, reads as follows:

 

Wee whose names are hereunto subscribed being upon the Jury concerning the death of John Prise doe find to the best o'r knowledge that the s'd John Prise did come to his untimely End by the reason of his runningway from his M'r Rice Hoe and soe was starved for want of victualls w'ch Runningaway we doe apprehend was by the meanes of the sad stripes that appeared upon his Body given him by his Mrs Susannah Hoe upon the 2'd of January but wee doe not finde any mortall wound upon him. ⁸³

 

Richard's involvement in the inquest into the death of Mr. Prise not only tells us that Richard met his civic obligations (by serving on the jury), but also tells us how fortunate Richard was not to end up like John Prise during his own period of servitude. In Richard's day, like ours, there were both good people and bad ones. Although most headrighted indentured servants were treated well, a few, like the unfortunate Mr. Prise, were beaten or otherwise mistreated by their masters. One can only wonder about the nature of a beating so severe or demeaning that a person would risk starving to death rather than return to possibly face more of the same.

Richard served on a jury in 1694 which determined whether William Thompson was guilty of taking a mare worth six pounds sterling from Martha and William Sutten. I do not know the outcome of that case. ⁸⁴

 

Other Court Records

Besides occasionally serving as a member of the jury, Richard I also served as the executor of various estates. For example, Richard served as the executor for James Phelps's estate in 1662 and John Robinson's estate in 1665. ⁸⁵ Richard also appraised an estate for Sarah Gatley's deceased husband in 1677. ⁸⁶ In around 1688 he was authorized to inventory the estate of Thomas Gouldsbey (sometimes spelled Goldsbey). ⁸⁷ In 1690 Richard valued the estate of Thomas Thring. ⁸⁸

Richard was also appointed to help the county in other capacities. For example, in early 1693 he was appointed to join Thomas Hamlin in surveying the highways for Charles City County's "north Wynoake" precinct. In 1695 he was appointed as one of the guardians of Mary Hamlin, the daughter of Charles Hamlin (a job which required he and the other two guardians to post a total of 30,000 pounds of tobacco as guardian bonds). ⁸⁹

 

Scene of the Crime

One interesting court record records that at least one crime occurred at Richard's home. Apparently sheriff Robert Lunsden spoke harshly of George Freeman at Richard Bradford's house. That record states:

 

In action of trespass brought by George Freeman agst Robert Lunsdon, sheriff bring deft. to court. Plt. appears with Bartholemew Fowler, his attorney and deft. by John Everitt and James Cock, his attorneys. Plt. complains that deft. said false and scandalous words about him at the house of Mr. Richard Bradford. As there were manifest uncertainys, the case is dismissed. ⁹⁰

 

Unfortunately, I do not know what scandalous things were said or what "manifest uncertainys" precipitated that case's dismissal.

 

Richard as a Witness

Richard I appeared in the Charles City County court not only as a juror and a party, but, in a very interesting case, as a witness. That case, like the inquiry into the death of John Prise, involved an indentured servant found dead in the woods -- except this time it was Richard who made that grisly discovery. The court record is self-explanatory. That record states:

 

We whose names are underwritten sworne to enquire conc'ning the death of Edw'd Brureton serv't to Mr. Daniell Clarke of the parish of Weynoke found dead in the woods by Richd Bradford Joyner and Charles Beale seaman on the 18th day of 9ber 1665, after view of the sd body on the 19th of the Instant November and strict enquiry made do find the sd Edw'd Brureton to have been a sickly man, and disseased w'th the scurvey, sat downe to reste himselfe and fell asleepe and by the sd disease and the extremity of the cold happening on the 17th of 9 ber aforesd dyed in the night and by this and no other meanes came to his end, w'ch wee deliver as our verdict. Wittnes our hands this 19th of 9 ber 1665. ⁹¹

 

That record of the inquest into the death of Edward Brureton is interesting for several reasons. First, it illustrates the tenuous nature of life in colonial America. It also illustrates how sheltered our existence seems in comparison. As proof, you need only reflect back upon the last time that you came across a dead body in the woods. Such an event would be of national interest today, whereas it happened all too often in seventeenth century America.

 

Richard Bradford, Joyner

By far, the most interesting fact we can glean from the record of the inquest into Edward Brureton's death, at least as far as Richard's ancestors is concerned, is that it identifies Richard I's profession. That record, you see, identified the two witnesses as Charles Beale "seaman" and Richard Bradford "Joyner." I first misunderstood that record to mean Richard Bradford Junior, therefore Richard II, because I was unfamiliar with the now obscure term "joyner" which is also sometime spelled "joiner." I now know better.

The Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines a "joiner" as "a carpenter, especially one who constructs doors, window sashes, paneling, and other permanent woodwork." ⁹² Another source states that a "joiner or joyner" was "an expert craftsman who did woodwork for the interior of houses, ships, etc., by joining pieces of timber by 'mortise' and 'tenons,' and by panels fitted in grooves, all without nails." ⁹³ A "mortise" was a deep notch or groove made in a piece of wood and a "tenon" was a projection formed on the end of a timber, made to fit snugly into a corresponding mortise. Hence, with the relatively primitive tools available in his day, Richard was an artisan who could piece things together without nails. One need spend only a few hours woodworking to appreciate the patience and craftsmanship involved in such a profession. Many of Richard's lawsuits were probably related to debts people owed him for his work.

Joiners were well-paid in colonial America. One author wrote that the colonial carpenter's "relative affluence stemmed from a high demand for new houses, commercial buildings, wooden ships and wharves, and a chronic shortage of skilled labor. The carpenter who brought his trade and tools from England was a man with considerable bargaining power." The colonial building industry was often modeled on the European guild system, hence, master carpenters opened up shops and sold directly to consumers. As their business grew, some master carpenters hired journeymen and apprentices to help carry out the work. Colonial apprentices were "indentured," a legal process by which the guardianship of young men was passed from parents to master craftsmen, generally ending when the apprentice reached twenty-one. Many notable Americans served as apprentices in such a manner. Benjamin Franklin, for example, began his career as an apprentice in a print shop. Perhaps John Seaward, the man who was living with Richard I's family in 1661 when he was sent to the courthouse to report on Mr. Culmer's agreement to cure the "certeine ulcers" on Richard I's wife's legs, was a joyner's apprentice to master Joyner Richard I. ⁹⁴

Few writings, unfortunately, describe the life of the colonial joiners. Before moving ahead, however, I will share a recent description of the typical colonial artisan (joiners were considered artisans):

 

The successful colonial artisan was an independent, self-employed worker who owned his own tools and furnished his own materials. Work was performed in the home or on the job. On occasion two craftsmen joined together to create a small shop. The artisan was also a small business entrepreneur, for he usually had a sizeable investment in equipment and tools, managed his own work schedule, and kept his own account book. Most artisans owned sufficient property to qualify as voters in local and provincial elections. ⁹⁵

 

William Bradford of Plymouth

Before moving ahead, I will spend a moment reflecting on a troubling discussion I had recently with a fellow (though distantly related) descendant of Richard I's. She informed me that she had encountered fellow descendants of Richard I who were disappointed to discover that their descent was from Richard Bradford, a Virginia carpenter, rather than from William Bradford, Pilgrim and First Governor of the Massachusetts Colony. That conversation troubled me because -- well, first let me share some information about Governor William Bradford.

William Bradford was born in March of 1590 in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, to William Bradford, a prosperous yeoman, and his wife Alice Hanson Bradford. In his youth, William joined a group of Separatists in Scrooby, England. The Separatists, a small subset of the Puritans in England and the most extreme Christian sect in England at the time, desired something then considered tantamount to treason -- a complete separation from the national Anglican church. In 1608, Bradford and the rest of the Separatists fled England and moved to Holland. In 1620, William and several other Separatists left Delftshaven, Holland, and traveled to Plymouth, England, from which point they took the Mayflower to New Plymouth, Massachusetts. Thereafter, William served as the Plymouth colony's governor for all but five years between 1621 and 1657. He also wrote Of Plimmoth Plantation which presents an account of the first twenty-seven years of the Plymouth Colony and the events in England and Holland leading to its settlement. William Bradford died in 1657. ⁹⁶

Now I will explain why I find it so troubling that some of Richard I's descendants reportedly consider themselves descendants of William Bradford rather than Richard I. Governor Bradford was, undoubtedly, a great man. Nevertheless, I find Richard no less deserving of respect. He was a man who boldly came to a new land with no guarantees, but still managed to make his mark on colonial America. His descendants should be proud to carry his name. If anything, I wonder if that Virginia pioneer would be proud of us. Would he be pleased with what we have done with this country, his name and his heritage since he passed on? He boldly rose to meet the challenges of his day. We should do the same.

While I do not know whether Richard I and William Bradford were related, I feel confident that they were closely related since Richard I moved to Virginia rather than Plymouth in 1653 -- even though William Bradford was governor of the Plymouth Colony at the time. Hence, any relation was probably distant. Nevertheless, Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony was a great American and a great Bradford and descendants of Richard I owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing so much honor and notoriety to the Bradford name.

 

Involvement With the Hill Family

A record in the Charles City County Order Book in 1688 is of interest. As that record shows, the father of Richard I's wife Frances, Richard Taylor, was survived by an infant son named John when he died in 1672 or 1673. In October 1674, Colonel Edward Hill, guardian of that approximately six-year old brother of Frances, became administrator of the estate of Sarah and Katherine Taylor, the sisters of John and Frances. Hill presented the records from his administration of the estates of those sisters to court in 1688, when John came of lawful age. At that time, Richard I (as husband of Frances) and Captain John Hamlin (as husband of Frances's sister Elizabeth), each presented their wife's claim to a part of the sisters' estates. Thereafter, Richard, Hamlin and (then-adult John Taylor agreed to acquit Sarah (who was then named Sarah Taylor Lucy after marrying Robert Lucy in 1678) of all claims due them under the will of Richard Taylor and James Ward. Sarah, however, agreed to give Captain Hamlin and Richard Bradford each a "ring of 10 shillings price." ⁹⁷ While I do not know what happened to the ring that Richard I received from Sarah, I wish I had it today.

This last record not only provides valuable insight into the names of several relatives of Richard Bradford I and his wife Frances Taylor Bradford, but it also shows that Richard and his family had direct contact and involvement with Colonel Edward Hill, a member of one of the early colony's most powerful and influential families. (That was not, however, either the first or last contact between the Bradfords and Edward Hill Jr. Years before, in 1662, Edward Hill Jr. witnessed the final deed of the 1197 acre plantation from Hoel Pryse to Richard Bradford I. Later, as the next chapter explains, Edward Hill was appointed to jointly investigate charges leveled against Richard Bradford II by Sylvanus Stokes the elder).

It was in 1638 that Colonel Hill's father, Edward Hill Sr., received his first grant of land in Charles City County. By 1660, Edward Hill Sr. had increased his holdings to 2,467 acres, 416 of which were at a place called "Shirley Hundred" in western Charles City County. Edward Hill Sr. also became commander of the combined militias of Charles City and Henrico Counties (and, as such, the leader of the ill-fated expedition against nearby Indians at Bloody Run described later in this book), represented Charles City County in the colony's House of Burgesses as early as 1639 and was selected to become the speaker of that body in 1644, 1654 and 1659.

After Edward Hill Senior's death in 1663, his son (and future guardian of John Taylor's estate), the twenty-six year old Edward Hill Jr., took control of his family's estate. The younger Hill was a formidable businessman who greatly increased his family's wealth and power before he died in 1700. His only significant setback came in 1676 when Nathaniel Bacon's rebels plundered his home at Shirley Hundred. Thereafter, the estate at Shirley Hundred was passed down through the Hill family until, upon the death of Edward Hill IV, it was inherited by Elizabeth Hill who later married John Carter Jr., son of the powerful and wealthy John "King" Carter, ancestor to six United States Presidents, who was once considered the wealthiest man in colonial Virginia.

John Carter Jr. and Elizabeth Hill have many famous descendants. One of their sons, Charles Carter, inherited the family's estate and fathered twenty-three children, some of whom intermarried with other prominent Virginia families, including the Byrds, Randolphs, Lees, Burwells, Braxtons, Nelsons and Fitzhughs, among others. One of Elizabeth and John's daughters, Ann, married "Light Horse" Harry Lee and gave birth to the future Commander in Chief of the Confederate Army, General Robert E. Lee. General Lee, who visited Shirley often in his youth, is said to have loved it. Moreover, as we know, General Lee's love of Virginia prompted him to follow it into the war between the states and, hence, to decline the opportunity to lead the Union forces. ⁹⁸

The plantations at Shirley Hundred and Upper Shirley still stand and are still inhabited by the descendants of the Hill and Carter families. Those ancestors still attend services at Westover Church. A tour of that family's plantations can provide a rare glimpse into life in colonial Virginia. Perhaps the Bradfords should re-introduce themselves sometime.

 

Native Americans and the Colonial Militia

Richard I almost certainly served in the colonial militia for some period of time. Nearly every male Virginia colonist did in that day. The militia was important since the early colonists always lived in fear of attack by either native Americans or the Spanish (who were still vying for control of North America). In the 1650s the Virginia Colony often "fairly buzzed with wild predictions of imminent disaster." ⁹⁹

The colonists were long concerned about the Indians. The area around the James River that the colonists settled was inhabited by a large group of Indians ruled by a leader named Powhatan. It was that leader who was about to have Jamestown leader Captain John Smith killed in 1609, when his favorite daughter, Pocahontas, convinced him to spare Smith's life. Hence, although the Virginia colonists had some trouble with the native Americans after Captain Newport's landing in 1607, peace came with the marriage of Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe in 1614.

The peace that came with Rolfe's marriage to Pocahontas, however, ended when Powhatan died in 1618 and his successor, Opechancanough, planned a secret attack to wipe out the English settlers. Many colonists in Richard I's day undoubtedly still remembered stories about that colony-wide attack on March 22, 1622, when the colony's neighboring Indians used a surprise raid to massacre 350 men, women and children -- almost one-third of the colony's settlers. After that, in 1624, the Virginia legislature established the colony's first standing militia, a collection of men loosely organized for the purpose of protecting their own localities. Every white male in the colony between the ages of sixteen and sixty automatically became a member of the militia.

In April 1644, a second massacre, again by the Powhatan Indians led by Opechencanough, wiped out more Virginia colonists than were killed in 1622. After that second disaster, war between the colonists and the Indians raged until Opechencanough was taken into custody and killed.

Despite the second Indian attack, the militia was not formally organized until 1652 (the year before Richard I's arrival). In that year, the Virginia militia in each of Virginia's eight counties were organized into regiments, except for the regiments of adjoining Charles City and Henrico counties which combined into one unit. Each regiment was led by a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, a major and several captains. While we do not know whether Richard I was an officer in the colonial militia, his son Richard II (as you will see in the next chapter), certainly was.

As stated earlier, Charles City County, as it existed then, spread out on both the north and south sides of the James River. It and Henrico County were the farthest west of the Virginia Colony's counties, and, hence, the closest to the frontier, the unknown and the Indians. Because of their common concerns, the militias of those two counties, around the time that Richard I moved to Charles City County, joined together to form a common defense. The leaders of that combined militia decided that in the event a "warre should breake forth" fifty men on each side of the James River should be prepared "to be in readinesse at an howers warning with their armes and 12 shott of powder and ball a man."

Every member of the Virginia militia was required by law to have a gun in good working order and an ample supply of musket balls and gun powder. If Indians struck, the members of the militia were to join together and rush towards the sound of any gunfire. Those groups, which traveled by foot, were called "trainbands." In addition, there was a group of mounted soldiers, or "dragoons", created to support the trainbands. In 1661, the rest of the Virginia Colony adopted the use of trainbands and dragoons which were similarly to be "always ready in armes" and prepared to march "to the rescue of such distressed places or persons as he their commander shall direct."

Because the unexplained sound of gunfire in the wilderness would cause colonists like Richard I to drop whatever they were doing and come running, false alarms caused a great deal of inconvenience and unnecessary terror in the colony. For that reason, a person who unnecessarily fired a musket risked a potential penalty of five thousand pounds of tobacco and a year in jail. Understandably, there were not many false alarms after that law was enacted. Similarly, few members of the militia were absent when they were called upon. A militia member who did not come when he was summoned was similarly fined if his absence was not excused.

A military incident from Richard I's day provides an int