Colonel John Bradford was born in 1708 in Brunswick, Virginia to John Bradford and Rebecca Pace and in 1762, after the passing of his mother, Colonel Bradford, the oldest surviving son of John Bradford requested administration of his estate that had remained un-administered by his mother.  Richard Pace recognized as an Ancient Planter and resident of Jamestowne 1616 was the G3 Grandfather of Colonel John Bradford.[1]

    Colonel Bradford was married three times.  His first wife was Patience Reed (G5 Grandmother) who was the daughter of Henry Reed. His second wife was Dorothea Miriam Burges, daughter of the Reverend Thomas Burgess and his third wife was Elizabeth Smith.[2]

     It appears that Colonel Bradford migrated to the Enfield area of Halifax County, NC around 1758 just as the area began to develop.  It is stated that he was a man who had “commanding influence in shaping its policies… he was a man of natural ability and high character.”[3]

     As noted by John F. Dorman in Adventurers of Purse and Person, Colonel Bradford was a “member of the North Carolina Assembly, 1766-67, of the Committee of Safety, 1774, of the third Provisional Congress, 1775, of the Halifax Convention which declared for independence, April 1776, and the North Carolina Constitutional Convention, 1776, Senator from Halifax County in the First North Carolina Assembly, 1777, Colonel of the Militia, left a will 13 April 1787-codicil 5 Oct. 1787-Nov. 1787, had married (1), 1750, Patience Reed.”[4]

     Historically speaking, it should be acknowledged that except for the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775, there had not been any sincere drive by the colonies to separate themselves from King and country.  So, when, on April 4, 1776, the Provisional Congress met in Halifax to deliberate such a move, John Bradford was one of the members representing Halifax County.  What eventually became known as the “Halifax Resolves” was ratified on 12 April 1776, predating the Virginia Resolves of 15 May 1776 and the National Declaration of Independence passed July 4, 1776.  Following the enactment of the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Congress appointed a committee of which Colonel Bradford was a member, to prepare a temporary civil constitution for the reason of transitioning from a Provincial to a State government.[5]

     In Southside Families of Virginia, John Bennet Boddie postulates that following his long public service in support of the Revolution, Colonel Bradford’s actions are “probably unequalled” in North Carolina.[6]

     Boddie remarked that Colonel Bradford’s public service spanned more than 10 years.  He served as a member of the Committee of Safety in 1774.  Colonel Bradford represented Halifax in the Colonial Assembly from 1766 to 1768.  In 1775, he was commissioned as a Colonel of the Halifax Militia while simultaneously serving as a member of the Third Provincial Congress.  Arguably, the apex of his political career was acting as one of the 83 delegates to the Halifax Convention of April 1776, which resulted in the vote for independence and forever bore the moniker of the “Halifax Resolves”.  He was a representative to the State Constitutional Convention of 1776. In 1777, he was the first Senator to represent Halifax in the NC General Assembly.  Colonel Bradford actively participated in the Revolution as a soldier as “his regiment fought in General Patterson’s Brigade at the Battle of Wright’s Mill, July 22, 1778 (State Rec. Vol. 12, - 509).”  After the close of the American Revolution, he completed his public life by serving as the Presiding Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.[7]

Like his son-in-law, Colonel Bradford belonged to the Masonic Fraternity and was a member of the Royal White Hart Lodge, No. 2.  The Lodge itself was located at the Old Marsh Store on the property of Colonel Branch’s Elk Marsh Plantation.  Joseph Montfort served the Royal White Hart Lodge as the first and only Grand Master of the Masonic Fraternity in America.  Colonel Branch’s plantation also served as the mustering point for the state militia.

     Colonel Bradford’s will was dated in Halifax County on 13 April 1787, probated Nov. 1787 (W.B.3. p. 140).[8]  His son, Henry was given the house and 345 acres of land that was earlier granted to Colonel Bradford by Lord Granville.

     Henry’s son, Richard Henry Bradford and his wife Ann Bryan Fort moved to Tallahassee, Florida with almost the entire branch of this family… except for his brother John and a sister; where their uncle by marriage, John Branch was Territorial Governor of Florida. It is also interesting to note that according to John Bennet Boddie, Henry’s sons joined the Halifax Militia in order to defend Baltimore during the War of 1812.  Tradition has it that with the inclusion of the Bradford brothers, there were “forty feet” of Bradford’s who fought against the British.  To celebrate his honorable service during the American Revolution, Colonel Bradford’s son Henry had his own sliver pay hammered into silver tablespoons.[9]

Colonel John Bradford and Patience Reed (G5 Grandparents) had the following children:[10]

Rebecca 25 December 1752 m. Colonel John Branch (G4 Grandparents)

Elizabeth 1754

Tabitha 1756

Frances 1759

Henry 1761

Joseph John 1764