| Notes |
- From FindaGrave:
GRANDSON OF MAYFLOWER PASSENGER GOVERNOR WILLIAM BRADFORD
MAJOR OF THE PLYMOUTH MILITARY FORCES
FIRST DEPUTY FROM PLYMOUTH TO THE GENERAL COURT, 1687
DEPUTY TO THE GENERAL COURT, 1689-91
REPRESENTATIVE TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT BOSTON, 1719
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A BIOGRAPHY OF MAJ. JOHN BRADFORD, by Laurence Overmire (8th great grandson), Sept. 2016:
John Bradford was born Feb. 20, 1652/53 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the eldest of ten children of Maj. William Bradford and his wife Alice Richards. He was the grandson of Gov. William Bradford of the Mayflower.
John married Mercy Warren on Jan. 6, 1673/74 in Plymouth. She was the daughter of Joseph and Priscilla (Faunce) Warren, and the granddaughter of Richard Warren of the Mayflower. John and Mercy shared common ancestors in Alexander Carpenter and Priscilla Dillon, who were the father and mother-in-law of Gov. William Bradford.
John and Mercy had seven children: John (1675-1724), Alice (1677-1746), Abigail (1679-1697), Mercy (1681-1738), Samuel (1683-1740), Priscilla (1686-1732), William (1688-1728).
John inherited Gov. William Bradford's precious manuscript, "Of Plimouth Plantation," one of the most important documents of early American history. He passed it down to his son Samuel. At some point, the work was loaned to Rev. Thomas Prince who was using it as a reference for his own book that he was writing. He kept it in his library in Boston's Old South Church. The British, who occupied the Old South Church during the Revolution, then got hold of it. Later it turned up in the Bishop of London's palace and was only returned to the state of Massachusetts, after some negotiation, in 1897.
Major Bradford was prominent in civic affairs. He was not only a military leader, but served as representative to the First General Court at Boston and helped to incorporate Plymouth as a separate town.
Maj. Bradford's home in Kingston, built in 1675, is still standing and open to the public today. According to tradition, the Indians attempted to burn John's house during King Philip's War. The Major discovered the fire. He spied an Indian on Abrams Hill waving a blanket and shouting to his fellows, and shot him. But on approach, he could not find the body. After the war, the Indian met Bradford and showed him the scars of his wound.
Maj. John Bradford died on Dec. 8, 1736, in Kingston, at the age of about 84, and was laid to rest in the Old Burying Bround at First Church in Kingston.
WARNING: Some show John's middle name as Kingston, which seems odd, especially since he was born in Plymouth, not Kingston. It may be that somewhere someone called him John "of Kingston" and that somehow became misinterpreted as a middle name that has since been repeated in error. We haven't seen a primary source that lists his middle name as Kingston. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, please contact us.
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1653 - 1736 (83 years)
