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- From FindaGrave:
GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER OF ARTIST WILLIAM BRADFORD
GREAT GRANDSON OF RICHARD WARREN OF THE MAYFLOWER
GREAT GRANDSON OF WILLIAM BRADFORD OF THE MAYFLOWER
UNCLE OF EXPLORER CAPT. ROBERT GRAY
MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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A BIOGRAPHY OF LT. SAMUEL BRADFORD, by Laurence Overmire (7th great grandson), Aug. 2008:
Samuel Bradford was born in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Dec. 23, 1683, the fifth of seven children of Maj. John Bradford and Mercy Warren. His father was the grandson of Gov. William Bradford of the Mayflower. His mother was the granddaughter of Richard Warren of the Mayflower.
On Oct. 21, 1714, at Plympton, Massachusetts, 31-year-old Samuel married 17-year-old Sarah Gray, the daughter of Edward and Mary Smith Gray of Tiverton, Rhode Island. Sarah was the half-sister of Samuel Gray who was the second man shot at the Boston Massacre and the first American to die in the Revolutionary War. She was also the aunt of Capt. Robert Gray, the American explorer who discovered the Columbia River and staked America's claim to the Oregon Territory.
Sarah gave birth to ten children: John, Gideon, William (died in childhood), Mary, Sarah, William, Mercy (died in infancy), Abigail, Phebe, and Samuel.
Samuel inherited property from his father's estate. He also inherited Gov. William Bradford's precious manuscript, "Of Plimouth Plantation," one of the most important documents of early American history. 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.
Samuel Bradford was a leading citizen of Plympton. He was Selectman several times, a Representative to the General Court, and Lieutenant of Plympton Battery. He died in Plympton on Mar. 26, 1740, at the age of 56, and was laid to rest in Ye Olde Burial Grounds there.
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1683 - 1740 (56 years)
