Birth: William Bradford was baptized in Austerfield,Yorkshire
March 19, 1589/90, the son of William and Alice (Hanson) Bradford.
Death: He died in Plymouth May 9, 1657, and was buried at
Burial Hill.
Ship: Mayflower, 1620
Life in England: Orphaned young, Bradford was raised
first by his grandfather, then by uncles. At the age of twelve, he
became an avid reader of the Bible, and began attending Separatist
services in Scrooby. Against the wishes of his family he joined the
Separatist church at sixteen and went with the congregation to Holland
two years later.
Life in Holland: The Scrooby congregation, lived first in
Amsterdam, then in Leiden. He worked as a weaver, and in 1612 became a
citizen of Leiden. In 1617, he was appointed one of the organizers of
the voyage to “Virginia” (America).
Life in New England: Appointed governor after the death
of John Carver in the summer of 1621, Bradford held the office from 1621
to 1656, except for five years service as Governor’s Assistant.The
colony’s most prolific author, he wrote the journal known as Mourt’s
Relation with Edward Winslow, three “Dialogues,” and the colony’s
history.
Family: William Bradford married Dorothy May (1) in
Amsterdam on December 10, 1613. They had one son. She drowned in Cape
Cod harbor on December 7, 1620. On August 14, 1623, he married (2) Alice
(Carpenter) Southworth in Plymouth and had three children. She died in
Plymouth on March 26, 1670.
Child of William and Dorothy Bradford:
- John was born in Leiden about 1617. He married Martha Bourne by
1650, but had no known children. He died in Norwich, Connecticut before
September 21, 1676.
Children of William and Alice Bradford:
- William was born on June 17, 1624, in Plymouth. He married (1) Alice
Richards after April 23, 1650, and had ten children. She died in
Plymouth on December 12, 1671. He married (2) Sarah (_____) Griswold
about 1674, and had one son. He married (3) Mary (Wood) Holmes about
1676 and had four children. He died in Plymouth February 20, 1703/4.
- Mercy was born before May 22, 1627. She married Benjamin Vermayes on
December 21, 1648, in Plymouth, but had no known children. She was not
mentioned in her father’s 1657 will and was probably dead by then.
- Joseph was born about 1630. He married Jael Hobart on May 25, 1664,
in Hingham and had three children. He died in Plymouth on July 10, 1715.