Lieut Joseph Bradford (1675-1747) - Find a Grave Memorial

Lieut Joseph Bradford Veteran

Birth

18 Apr 1675

Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA

Death

16 Jan 1747 (aged 71)

New London, New London County, Connecticut, USA

Burial

Raymond Hill Cemetery

Oakdale, New London County, Connecticut, USA Show Map

Memorial ID

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18 Apr 1675, Plymouth, Plymouth Co., MA, birth: only child of William Bradford and 2nd wife, widow Sarah [maiden name unknown] Griswold; grandson of William Bradford III (1589/90-1657), Mayflower Compact signatory, 2nd Governor of Plymouth Plantation, and author of the journal "Of Plymouth Plantation."(1, 2)

PLEASE NOTE: the assertion that Joseph Bradford was the son of Mary Fitch (widow Wiswall) as per Ruth Gardiner Hall (Descendants of Governor William Bradford; New York: Bradford Family Compact, 1951), was disproven in 2001 by David Jay Webber. (2)

5 Oct 1698, Lebanon, New London Co., CT, marriage: "BRADFORD, Joseph m. Ann FITCH."(3)

25 Feb 1716, New London, New London Co., CT, marriage: Mary (Sherwood) Fitch.

16 Jan 1746/47, New London, New London Co., CT, death: "Bradford, Lieutenant Joseph, died January 16, 1747, age 72 [sic] Yrs (no marker)[sic];" GSMD Silver Book (MF 22:27) carries the year 1746. Actual age was 71 years, 8 months, 29 days and not as contemporaneously reported or inscribed on his gravestone. (1, 4, 5)

Sources:
1. Mayflower Births and Deaths; Vol. 1, p. 117.
2. David Jay Webber, “MAJOR WILLLIAM2 BRADFORD’S SECOND WIFE: WAS SHE THE WIDOW OF FRANCIS2 GRISWOLD?”, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 155, Whole No. 619 (July 2001), pp. 245-50.
3. Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records; Lebanon, Tolland Co., Vol. 1, p 20.
4. Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions, Raymond Hill Cemetery (311-4); Vol. 29, p. 71.
5. Robert S. Wakefield, FASG and Ann Smith Lainhart (compilers), Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: William Bradford, Vol. 22; General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, MA; p. 27.

Inscription

Here lies Interr'd
the Body of Lieu't
Joseph Bradford
who Departed this
Life January ye 16th
A.D. 1747 In the
73rd year of his Age.

Gravesite Details

transcription seemingly correct although deceptive (age of 73 being most challenging); actual age incorrectly inscribed on now decaying gravestone as compared to actual birth/death vital recs - death year discrepency (double date) adds to confusion