1. Nathaniel Bradford of Accomack County, Virginia - Lower ...

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Appendix B: Suggestions for Research into Nathaniel’s Origins The identity of Nathaniel’s parents is not known, nor is it known whether Nathaniel was born on the eastern shore or elsewhere in Virginia, or if he was born in England or some other colony. There is no record of his being transported to Virginia and no record of any other Bradfords on the eastern shore previous to Nathaniel’s first appearance in the records of Northampton County in 1654. What is more, a cursory search of some of the published abstracts of the records of other Virginia counties in the period before 1660 turns up no mentions of a Nathaniel Bradford. Researching individuals in the first half of the 17 th century and before can be daunting due to the scarcity of records, especially in the southern colonies. However, several prospects for research have been revealed by the evidence. It’s worth exploring these in some detail. 1) Oath of the Commonwealth In terms of determining Nathaniel’s whereabouts before 1654, it is probably significant that he was not a subscriber to the Oath to the Commonwealth, which was demanded of the citizens of the eastern shore in 1652. This could indicates either that Nathaniel was not on the eastern shore at this time, or that he was on the shore and too young to be a subscriber, or that only landowners or heads of household were required to take the oath. 2) Henry Bradford from Accomack Records Nathaniel might have been related to the Henry Bradford who appears twice in the 17 th century court records of Accomack County. These two appearances contain no evidence of any relation with Nathaniel, but the suspicion of a connection arises due to the coincidence of their surnames and the fact that they did business. The tone of brusque familiarity used by Henry when speaking of Nathaniel (“give him his ear”) suggests that the two were more than passing acquaintances. For the sake of argument, I have assumed that the Henry Bradfords mentioned in the two records are the same person. 1) Henry’s first appearance in Accomack court came on 18 April 1672, when the court received a note from him asserting that he had received 2 hogsheads of tobacco from John Reyny for the use of Thomas Smith by the appointment of Mr. Browne on 26 February of the same year. 2) Henry’s other appearance came on 18 July 1676, when the Accomack County court heard a deposition from Joseph Thorne in the matter of the petition of Jno. Reeves for his freedom from Nathaniel Bradford. Nathaniel had purchased Reeves as an indentured servant from a Henry Bradford, and in this record Reeves claimed that his term of service was four years, not the five Nathaniel claimed. In his deposition Thorne related that, while at the house of Robt. Hutchinson on 25 March of that year, he heard Henry Bradford say to Reeves: “[I] brought [you] in for the term of four years and no more and had sold [you] but for four years and no longer should serve, and if Nath. Bradford had an assignment from [me] for any longer time, [I] will give him his ear.” Henry Bradford was probably not a resident of Accomack, since someone who was in the business of securing cargo for merchants and transporting servants would have had some wealth and therefore would have shown up more in court had he been a resident. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that his presence in the 18 April 1672 court is in the form of a note rather than a personal appearance, and he is only referenced indirectly in the deposition of Joseph Thorne. Perhaps he lived in another Virginia county, in which case we might expect to find him cropping up fairly often in the records of that county, assuming such records survived. He could have lived in England or Barbados or anywhere else in the English speaking world, so records from those places ought also to be searched for clues. The Thomas Smith mentioned in Henry’s note from 1672 may be Capt. Thomas Smith of London, who sold John Reyny property on Pocomoke river and who appears to have been a merchant who carried cargo frequently between Virginia and England. Perhaps Henry was connected in some way with Capt. Smith’s business in Virginia. Further research into the activities of Smith, Reyny and Browne may yield clues. Page 72 of 74 Copyright 2008 Adam M. Bradford
3) Henry Bradford of the Muster Perhaps Nathaniel or the above Henry Bradford are related to the Henery Bradford who appears aged 35 in the 1625 muster roll of the Virginia Company as a servant of Capt. William Pierce, transported in the Abigaile along with fellow servant Thomas Smith, who was 17. Henry of the muster died in 1628, so he is not the same Henry Bradford who appears in Accomack; but he may have been the latter Henry’s father, or related in some other way. And what of Henery’s fellow servant Thomas Smith? Is this Smith related to Nathaniel’s step-father Richard Smith? Is he perhaps the same person as the Capt. Thomas Smith mentioned in the other Henry Bradford’s 1672 note? If not, are the two Thomas Smiths related? A serious attempt should be made to find the parents of Henry Bradford of the muster and whether he had any children. The inventory of his goods was presented to the court at James City by Ester Clariett, so research might be attempted on her as well as Henery’s master William Pierce and fellow servant Thomas Smith to see if any clues present themselves. 4) Other Bradfords in 17 th Century Virginia Several other Bradfords are known to have emigrated to Virginia in the 17 th century. • The records of the Virginia Company of London mention a James Bradford, transported by Garret Weston. [Court record of 26 April 1624; Vol. II, p.532.] • A John Bradford was among the list of those massacred on 22 March 1622 at George Yeardley’s plantation in Flowerdieu Hundred. [Records of the VA Company, 26 April 1624; Vol. III, p.568.] o A John Bradford is mentioned as transported aboard the Temperance in 1621 by Sir George Yeardley [Minutes of the Council & General Court of Colonial Virginia; 9 February 1627.] He is likely the one killed in the massacre. • In Cavaliers and Pioneers, several Bradfords other than Nathaniel are listed. The Richard Bradford transported by Roger Walker or Walters in 1653/4 went to live in Charles City County and is well documented. DNA evidence suggests he might have shared a Bradford ancestor with Nathaniel. [See below.] • A John Bradford was listed as a headright of Lt. Thomas Flint from 1628. The land granted Flint was near land granted to William Pierce, who was the master of Henry Bradford, above. • A Thomas Bradford was a headright of Robert Holt, merchant on a patent from 1640. • A Susan Bradford was a headright of Sir Francis Wyatt on a patent from 1643. • A Nicho. Bradford was a headright of John Broach on a patent from 1647. • An Edy Bradford was a headright of Ephraditus Lawson on a patent from 1650. • A John Bradford was a headright of Augustine Warner on a patent from 1652. • A Mathew Bradford was a headright of Peter Knight on a patent from 1652. • A Sarah Bradford was a headright of John Hughlett on a patent from 1662. • A John Bradford was a headright of John Edwards on a patent from 1663. 4) Nathaniel of Barbados A Nathaniel Bradford was transported to Barbados from England at age 19 on 27 April 1635 [Hotten]. This Nathaniel’s birth would have been around the year 1616, so he is the right age to have been the father of Nathaniel of Accomack. It is also possible this Nathaniel is identical to Nathaniel of Accomack, although that would mean that the latter’s marriage to Alice Smith, which we presume to be his first, took place when he was in his early 40s - not unheard of. A search of abstracts of the records of Barbardos reveals the presence of a few Bradfords resident there before 1660, but none of them named Nathaniel. Although at first glance Barbados would seem too far away to be a likely point of recent origin, the entire Englishspeaking world was much more intimately connected than one might at first suppose. A significant amount of trade and even migration went back and forth between Virginia and other English colonies, especially Barbados. 5) Was Richard Smith the stepfather of Nathaniel? Notwithstanding the conclusion in Adventures of Purse and Person, there is scant reason to suspect that Richard Smith married Nathaniel’s mother, so to my mind Richard’s family is not a particularly fruitful area of research for finding Nathaniel’s origins. That being said, those interested in pursuing this line of inquiry should collect all the material available on Richard from Northampton County records and from the records of the Virginia Company. Page 73 of 74 Copyright 2008 Adam M. Bradford
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1. Nathaniel 1 Bradford of Accomack
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Sketch of Nathaniel Bradford Nathan
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in London that “no question . . .
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Nathaniel’s Early Years to Settle
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to tender our Cause; that (if ye sd
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Nathaniel as Constable & Birth of N
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Alice sold the Occahannock plantati
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The occupation of currier no longer
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approve the appointment of the King
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The fundamental division within the
Page 21 and 22: ecompense for their services. The m
Page 23 and 24: Nathaniel in the Late 1660’s: 166
Page 25 and 26: practice that another of Nathaniel
Page 27 and 28: man were the father of Nathaniel Jr
Page 29 and 30: Nathaniel as Grand Juror and Repres
Page 31 and 32: court’s reputation. Since the acc
Page 33 and 34: Nathaniel Bradford During the 1670s
Page 35 and 36: 2800 acres. In that same year Natha
Page 37 and 38: household. A Thomas Williams was a
Page 39 and 40: In 17 th century Virginia slavery w
Page 41 and 42: Mathews’ lack of payment for cert
Page 43 and 44: Governor Berkeley used the eastern
Page 45 and 46: Though tobacco was the staple of Vi
Page 47 and 48: himself was probably not in Sussex
Page 49 and 50: Now that all of Nathaniel’s land
Page 51 and 52: * * * * * Nathaniel as Attorney On
Page 53 and 54: Nathaniel’s tithables remained co
Page 55 and 56: towels, a small chest, a small brok
Page 57 and 58: Citations Introduction 1.Nathaniel
Page 59 and 60: early 1640s, Richard Smith Jr. is a
Page 61 and 62: 122.McKey, 7: 232. For knowingly co
Page 63 and 64: 219.Wesley Frank Craven, The Coloni
Page 65 and 66: 298.McKey, 7: 73. 299.McKey, 8: 49.
Page 67 and 68: Appendix A: Timeline of Events in N
Page 69 and 70: Apr 20 verbal bargain with Mathew S
Page 71: 1692 Feb 19 Robert Watson’s estat
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1. Nathaniel Bradford of Accomack County, Virginia - Lower ...

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