Display Patriot - P-119703 - Leonard Keeling BRADLEY
Leonard Keeling BRADLEY
SAR Patriot #:
P-119703
The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: NC
Qualifying Service: Lieutenant
To get to Bruce cemetery, at Clark Missouri, from Highway 63, go West on Route B, approx. 5 miles to Route T. Turn left onto Route T, go approx. 2 to 2 1/2 miles, the road will curve left, right, then left, and a driveway is just after last curve, past a bridge. Cemetery is on left (north) side of the road, across part of a field, up a very steep hill, and is among the trees. Cemetery cannot be seen from the road, and there is no road to it, but the way has been cleared for vehicles or walking
No GPS data for grave site on Find-a-Grave - Feb 2021
Author: David T. Brown
Leonard Keeling Bradley was born about 1756 in present-day Surry County, North Carolina. He was the son of Terry Bradley and Molly Keeling both of whom were likely born in present-day Caroline County, Virginia. We believe Bradley’s mother was related to Captain George Keeling, Sheriff of New Kent County, Virginia in the early 1700’s.
As documented in his Revolutionary War pension statement, L.K. Bradley enlisted for seven tours with the terms of service varying between three and nine months while serving under Generals Marion, Lincoln, and Sumpter. He was involved in battles and skirmishes with the British, American Tories, and Cherokee Indians, and suffered a head wound while engaged in a hand to hand saber duel with a British Dragoon. He carried this scar to his grave.
As a resident of Surry County, North Carolina, L.K. Bradley first enlisted with the North Carolina troops in January of 1776 as a Private. By his third tour in June 1778, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant while his sixth tour found him serving as a Lieutenant in defense of Charleston, South Carolina during the British siege of that city. He along with many other soldiers surrendered to the British as prisoners of war on 12 May 1780. According to a document still in his possession when applying for his Revolutionary War pension, Leonard Keeling Bradley was paroled on May 20, 1780. He entered into his final tour again as a Lieutenant in September of 1781, and remained in service until March 1, 1782.
Following the close of the Revolutionary War, Leonard Keeling Bradley moved westward to Kentucky where he was married on June 20, 1785 to Mary “Polly” Boone, daughter of Samuel Boone and Sarah Day, and a niece to the legendary Daniel Boone. L.K. Bradley may have known the Boone Family during his childhood in Surry Co., NC.
For many years, L.K. Bradley and his family resided in Fayette Co., KY where he was engaged in farming and surveying work. In 1796, he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Fayette Co., KY by Kentucky Governor Garrard. L.K. Bradley and Mary “Polly” Boone had 12 children of whom 11 lived to adulthood. Their children included Terry, Elizabeth, Samuel Boone, Thomas, Keeling, Edward R., Levi Day, Squire Boone, Milton, Newton, Louise Lura, and Calvin. My paternal grandfather Aubrey E. Brown was a descendant of eldest son Terry Bradley and his wife Nancy Bryan Grimes (herself a great-niece of Daniel Boone) while my maternal grandmother Berkley Keeling Bradley Stark was a descendant of younger son Squire Boone Bradley and his wife Lucetta Estes Sharp.
In approximately 1825, L.K. Bradley moved to present-day Randolph County, Missouri. Some of his children moved with him in 1825 while others followed a few years later. It is in Randolph County where he applied for his Revolutionary War Pension. He died on December 2, 1834 and was buried at the Bruce Cemetery thus bringing an end to a remarkable life.
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