Person:William Bradford (9)

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William Bradford (March 19, 1590 – May 9, 1657) was an English Separatist leader of settlers at Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. He served as governor for over 30 years after the previous governor, John Carver died. His journal (1620–1647) was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford is credited as the first civil authority to designate what popular American culture now views as Thanksgiving in the United States.

After the death of his father, William lived with his grandfather and upon his death in 1596, William went to live with his uncle, Robert Bradford. Robert lived in Scrooby, about five miles from Osterfeldt (Austerfield). He joined a church where a Rev. Richard Clifton and Rev. John Robinson preached, and became a leading "separatist". His early education was limited, but by hard study he became proficient in the languages of Dutch, Latin, French and Greek. He devoted himself to the study of the Hebrew and the reading of the Bible in the original text. He went with a company of settlers who migrated first to Holland and was very influential among them.

Upon his coming of age, he received considerable property from his father's estate, but did not succeed him in his commercial undertakings. He learned the art of "frieze weaving". On November 15, 1613, he became engaged to Dorothea May. Dorthy was from Wisbeaach, Cambridge Engalnd. The banns were published in Leyden, and they were married in Amsterdam, Holland December 9, 1620. She was 16, he was 23. The sailed for England on July 22, 1620 and after many trials, they set sail for Plymouth, Englan on the Mayflower, reaching Cape Cod harbor the following November. While they were at anchor and William was off the vessel, Dorothea fell overboard and was drowned, on December 9, 1620.

In America, soon after the death of Gov. Carver, William was elected governor of the colony, which he held by annual election until his death in May of 1657. With the exception of the years 1633-34-36-38-44. He took part in all councils held at his house, all civic, political and military affairs. From his home at the foot of Burial Hill, each Sunday morning the company of people who assembled there marched up to the fort at its top where religious services were held.

Will

Will of William Bradford - The last Will and Testament Nunckupative of Mr William Bradford senir: Deceased May the Ninth 1657 and exhibited to the court held at Plymouth June 3d 1657

Mr William Bradford senir: being weake in body but in perfect memory haveing Defered the forming of his Will in hopes of haveing the healp of Mr Thomas Prence therein; feeling himself very weake and drawing on to the conclusion of his mortal life spake as followeth; I could have Desired abler then myselfe in the Desposing of that I have; how my estate is none knowes better then youerselfe, said hee to Lieftenant Southworth; I have Desposed to John and William alreddy theire proportions of land which they are possessed of;

My Will is that my son Josepth bee made in some sort equall to his brethern out of my estate;

My further Will is that my Deare & loveing wife Allice Bradford shalbee the sole Exequitrix of my estate; and for her future maintainance my Will is that my Stocke in the Kennebecke Trad be reserved for her Comfortable Subsistence as farr as it will extend and soe further in any such way as may bee Judged best for her;

I further request and appoint my welbeloved Christian ffrinds Mr Thomas Prence Captaine Thomas Willett and Lieftenant Thomas Southworth to be the Suppervissors for the Desposing of my estate according to the prmises Confiding much in theire faithfulnes

I comend unto youer Wisdome and Descretions some smale bookes written by my owne hand to bee Improved as you shall see meet; In speciall I Comend to you a little booke with a blacke cover wherin there is a word to Plymouth a word to Boston and a word to New England with sundry usefull verses;

These pticulars were expressed by the said William Bradford Govr the 9th of May 1657 in the prsence of us Thomas Cushman Thomas Southworth Nathaniell Morton; whoe were Deposed before the court held att Plymouth the 3d of June 1657 to the truth of the abovesaid Will that it is the last Will and Testament of the abovesaid Mr William Bradford senir.

Descendants

Notable descendants include Clint Eastwood, Julia Child, Adlai Stevenson, William Rehnquist, Hugh Hefner, Douglas MacArthur and many others.^S7

1.   William Bradford (Plymouth governor), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (Online: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.).
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862), 1:231.

   "...came in the Mayflower, 1620, with w. Dorothy (m. at Leydtn, 30 Nov. 1613), surnam. May, wh. fail. to reach the kl. of promise, being, drown. at the anchorage in Cape Cod, 7 Dec.; was b. or bapt. Thursday, 19 Mar. 1590, at Austerfield, a village tak. its name, perhaps, from lying in the extreme South of Yorksh. His f. William was bur. 15 July 1591, and this his youngest ch. hav. gain. some instruct. in letters from the noble spirits of William Brewster, and John Robinson, left his native country, at the age of 18, to seek freedom of worship in Holland. There he m. the first w. presum. to have been a May, prob. a fugitive from Eng. for religion's sake, with her parents; had John, above ment. He was chos. Gov. after d. of Carver, early in 1621, aged only 31, and until his d. 9 May 1657, the date of his nuncup. will, was by ann. elect. every yr. cont. exc. three, when Edward Winslow, and two, when Thomas Prence partook the burden. On 14 Aug. 1623, he m. a lady with wh. he had been acquaint. many yrs. bef. Alice, wid. of Edward Southworth, wh. came in the Ann a few days bef. from Eng. whose maiden name was Carpenter, as has been infer. from the phrase in Plymouth ch. rec. under 1667, mention of the d. of Mary Carpenter, wh. d. 19 Mar. of that yr. in her 91st yr. of course b. 1577. But she was so much older than this sec. w. of the Gov. that possib. she may have been d. of one, wh. after m. a Reyner, and had Alice. For tradit. at Plymouth made Alice, this w. of Bradford, to be sis. of Rev. John Reyner. See Davis in Morton's Mem. 217, in notis, and Young's Chron. of Pilgr. 353. in notis. Reyner was a name of distinct. in the neighb. of Bradford's youth, and Carpenter was not. She surv. till 26 Mar. 1670, aged 79, and had William, b. 17 June 1624; Mercy, wh. m. 15 June or 21 Dec. 1648 (such is the diversity of rec. tho. the later date is more prob.) Benjamin Vermayes; and Joseph, above ment. 1630. Winsor mistakes in mak. this youngest ch. tw. with Mercy, for she is nam. at the div. of cattle, 1627. Mather, Magn. II. c. 1; Shurtleff's Recol. of the Pilgr. in Russell's Guide to Plymouth; Davis's Morton's Memo.; Belkn. Amer. Biog.; Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass.; Young's Chron. of the Pilgr.; and the last acquisit. to our minute details in Hunter's Founders of New Plymouth, London 1854; beside the noble confessor's own Hist. Boston 1856, as Vol. III. in 4 Mass. Hist. Coll."

3.   Whittemore, Henry. Our New England Ancestors and Their Descedants 1620- 1900: Suppliment to the Genealogy of the Brainerd-Brainard Family in. (New England Ancestral Publishing Co., NY, 1900).

   "On Sept. 5, 1620, Bradford embarked at Southampton in the Mayflower, with the first hundred pilgrims that left for America. Obliged by stress of weather to put in at Plymouth harbor they signed a compact of government before landing according to which,
   John Carver, the first signer became Governor. While engaged in the preparations for a final landing, the first great sorrow visited this little band of Pilgrims. During the absence of Bradford on one of his expeditions around the harbor of Cape Cod, his wife Dorothy fell overboard from the vessel and was drowned. After the days of mourning were over he resumed his duties and the following year Governor Carver died and on April 21, 1621, William Bradford was elected to succeed him and was continued in the office each year thereafter by the suffrage of the colonists. His authority was restricted at his own request in 1624 by a council of five and in 1633, by one of seven members. In the council he had a double vote. One of his first acts on assuming the duties of office was to send an embassy in July, 1621, to confirm the league entered into with the Indian Sachem Massasoit, the most influential and powerful of the native chiefs. His friendly relations with the Indians, who had known the English only as kidnappers were essential to the continued existence of the colony and its future prosperity. He understood the nature and character of the Indians and exhibited the combination of firmness and energy with patience and gentleness, that proved successful with the wily savage and prevented much bloodshed during the early years of the settlement. In 1622, Canonicus, Sachem of the Narragansetts, sent him a challenge in the form of a..."

4. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).
5. ↑ ^5.0 5.1 Johnson, Caleb. MayflowerHistory.com, [1].
6.   William Bradford. History of Plymouth Plantation.
7.   List of descendants of William Bradford (Plymouth governor), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (Online: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.).
8.   William Bradford, in Find A Grave.
9.   Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Mayflower Compact. (Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States), Transcript.

The Mayflower (1620)

The Mayflower was the first settlement voyage to New England, carrying primarily English Separatists known as Pilgrims. It was destined for the mouth of the Hudson River, but landed at Cape Cod in present-day Massachusetts. Sailed: 6 Sep 1620 from Southampton, England under Captain Christopher Jones Arrived: 11 Nov 1620 at Plymouth, Massachusetts After spending the winter aboard ship, the surviving passengers moved ashore on 21 Mar 1621. Next Vessel: The Fortune (1621) Passengers: 104; 24 families left descendants (Full List) Pilgrim Families: Allerton (Asst. Gov. Isaac) - Bradford (Gov. William) - Brewster (Rev. William) - Chilton - Cooke - Fuller (Edward) - Fuller (Samuel) - Priest - Rogers - Sampson - Tilley (Edward) - Tilley (John) - White - Winslow (Edward) Other Families and Servants: Alden - Billington - Browne - Doty - Eaton - Hopkins - Howland - Mullins - Soule - Standish (Capt. Miles) - Warren - Winslow (Gilbert) Resources: Primary Sources: Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation - Mourt's Relation - Pilgrim Hall (wills and other contemporary documents) Wikipedia: Mayflower (voyage) - Passenger List - Pilgrims - Plymouth Colony - Captain Christopher Jones