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My Descending from Gov. - D. A. Sharpe

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Register Report for William Bradford<br />

Generation 9<br />

played some ball as a freshman due to the warhaving taken so many players. There was a<br />

player who was a freshmanby the name "Shorty" McWilliams. He also joined the Navy and<br />

playedat the Naval Academy and then came back to Mississippi State and madeAll<br />

American. He was a running back."<br />

I'm grateful to Bill for his vignettes to fill in our our familystory. After a year in college, he<br />

entered the Coast Guard duringWorld War II, serving in New York, New York and in<br />

Houston, Texas. Itwas in Houston that he met Elizabeth and their love flourished. It wasin<br />

New York that he worked in the same bull pen office of typists withAlex Haley (8/11/1921 -<br />

2/10/1992), noted author of "Roots" andbenefactor of black studies in America. On<br />

January 23, 1977, the TVmini-series ''Roots,'' based on the Alex Haley novel, began airing<br />

onABC.<br />

It also was <strong>from</strong> New York that he proposed marriage to Elizabeth bylong distance phone<br />

call, having equipped her Mother to have theengagement ring handy, assuming the positive<br />

reply, which, of course,did come.<br />

After marriage and return to pursing college education, they bothgraduated <strong>from</strong> the<br />

University of Mississippi at Oxford, Mississippi.He'd originally had his sights set on the law<br />

profession. He evenhinted that his ambition was to be <strong>Gov</strong>ernor of Mississippi<br />

someday.However, while at Ole Miss, he sensed a calling of God on his life.He did some lay<br />

preaching in small country churches near Oxford. Theymoved after graduation to Austin,<br />

Texas, where he graduated <strong>from</strong> theAustin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1954.<br />

He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in the United States(called the Southern<br />

Presbyterian Church). In later life, after somechurch controversies, he joined the newlyformed<br />

EvangelicalPresbyterian Church. He served that church with leadership,<br />

includingbeing its General Assembly's Moderator for a one-year term. He washonored as<br />

one of the founders of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.<br />

The churches he served were Christ Presbyterian Church, Houston,Texas; West Shore<br />

Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas; FirstPresbyterian Church, Lubbock, Texas; and Central<br />

Presbyterian Church,Clayton, St. Louis County, Missouri, <strong>from</strong> where he retired. Hispastoral<br />

career included giving leadership to a number of events andmovements in the<br />

denominations over the years, including being on theJoint Committee for Union, that<br />

resulted in the Souther Churchreuniting with the Northern Church, officially the Presbyterian<br />

Churchin the United States of America. The reunited church became known asthe<br />

Presbyterian Church USA.<br />

He wrote at least two books of significance in the Presbyterian Church(PCUS). "Chosen to<br />

Serve" was a training book for Deacons and the"Noble Task" was a training book for elders.<br />

They became the standardfor local Presbyterian Churches in the South to use for<br />

officertraining <strong>from</strong> the 1960's through the 1970's. Authors receiveroyalties for such<br />

publications, modest though they are. However, itis of interest that in the late 1970's, the<br />

publisher told Andy thathis accumulated royalties on those two books represented the most<br />

thatPresbyterian publisher had ever paid to any one author.<br />

He was Senior Pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church of Clayton,Saint Louis County,<br />

Missouri at the time when his first wife,Elizabeth (my sister), died of cancer. His second wife,<br />

Sydney, was amember of that church, and I was the best man at that wedding.<br />

One of Andy's many pastoral talents included crafting sermon titlesthat simply drew the<br />

reader to want to hear what was to be said.People use to look at the church sign out front a<br />

couple of daysbefore Sundays just to see what title would be used. I believe thereeven was<br />

a newspaper columnist reference about that one time, but itsdocumentation is lost in my<br />

memory. A couple of titles stick in mymind. "Spitting Against the Wind" was one. It was<br />

about a sign in theold stage coaches for the tobacco chewers to be sure to spit with<br />

thewind, or suffer<br />

Page 109 of 182 Tuesday, December 11, 2012 11:29:07<br />

AM

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