William Bradford March 19, 1590 - May 9, 1657) was a British Separatist from the West Riding of Yorkshire. He moved to Leiden in the Netherlands to escape the persecution of King James I of England, and then emigrated to the Plymouth Colony at the Mayflower in 1620. He was a signatory of the Mayflower Compact and proceeded to serve as Plymouth Colonist Governor intermittently for about 30 years between 1621 and 1657. The Journal of Plymouth Plymouth covered the years from 1620-1657 in Plymouth.
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William Bradford was born to Alice and William Bradford in Austerfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, and was baptized on March 19, 1589/90. The family owns a large farm and is considered wealthy and influential in a time when most of their citizens were farmers in a simple way. Bradford's grandfather was William Bradforthe who had at least four children, including Bradford's father, and was probably a noble descendant, according to researcher George J. Hill.
Bradford's childhood is characterized by many deaths in the family. She was just over a year old when her father died. Her mother remarried when she was four, and she was sent to live with her grandfather. Her grandfather died two years later, and she returned to live with her mother and stepfather. Her mother died a year later, in 1597, and Bradford became orphaned at the age of seven and sent to live with two uncles.
His uncles wanted him to help on the farm, and he later noted in his journal that he suffered at the time from a "long illness" and could not work. He instead turned to read and became familiar with the Bible and classical literary works. This is seen by some as a key factor in his intellectual curiosity and his interest in the branch of Puritanian Separatist theology.
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Congregation of separatists
When Bradford was 12 years old, a friend invited him to hear Reverend Richard Clyfton preach 10 miles at All Saints' Church located in Babworth. Clyfton believes that the Church of England must wipe out all the remains of Roman Catholic practice, and this will result in a purer Christian church. Bradford was inspired by his preaching and continued to attend his sermons, even though he was forbidden by his uncles. During one meeting, Bradford met William Brewster, a bailiff and postmaster living in Scrooby manor, four miles from Austerfield. During a frequent visit, Bradford borrowed a book from him, and Brewster gave him a story about an effort toward church reform going on across England.
King James I came to the throne of England in 1603, declaring that he would end the church reform movement and deal hard with the radical critics of the Church of England. In 1607, a secret meeting was held at Scrooby Manor and about 50 reform-minded people began to worship together, led by Richard Clyfton and Rev John Robinson. The group decided that the Church of England's reform was hopeless and they would break all ties. Their weekly meetings finally caught the attention of the Archbishop of York, and many members of the congregation were arrested in 1607. Brewster was found guilty of "disobeying religious matters" and fined. Some members were imprisoned and others were monitored "night and day", according to Bradford, by those loyal to the archbishop. Adding to their worries, the Scrooby trial learned that other dissidents in London had been imprisoned and starved.
The Scrooby congregation decided in 1607 to leave the United Kingdom illegitimately for the Dutch Republic where freedom of religion was allowed, and Bradford decided to go with them. The group experienced some major setbacks when trying to leave the UK, especially their betrayal by a British sea captain who had agreed to take them to the Netherlands, but instead handed them over to the authorities. Most of the congregations were imprisoned for a short time after these failed attempts, including Bradford. In the summer of 1608, they escaped from England in small groups and moved to Leiden in the Netherlands. Bradford is 18 years old.
In Leiden and London
Bradford arrived in Amsterdam in August 1608. He had no family with him and was taken by the Brewster family. The Scrooby congregation must work the lowest and live in a poor condition, be a foreigner and spend most of their money in an effort to get to the Republic of the Netherlands. After nine months, the group chose to move to the small town of Leiden.
Bradford continues to live with the Brewster family in the poor Leiden neighborhood known as Stink Alley. The condition changed dramatically for him when he was 21 years old and was able to claim his family's inheritance in 1611. He bought his own house, set up a garage as a weaver of fustian, and earned a good reputation.
In 1613, Bradford married Dorothy May, the daughter of an English couple living in Amsterdam. The couple were married in civil service, because they could not find examples of religious service in Scripture. In 1617, the Bradford family had their first child, John Bradford.
In 1619, William Bradford sold his home in Leiden and appeared in March 1620 tax records in London which were taxed for private property at Duke's Place, Aldgate. Aldgate is a London area known as the residence of many Dutch merchants, as well as many religious dissidents. Some families of Mayflower surnames living in the area include Allerton, Tilley, Sampson, and Hopkins.
A family at Aldgate plays an important role in the life of Bradford in America. Edward and Alice (Carpenter) Southworth and their two sons stayed at Heneage House, Duke's Place, at Aldgate in 1620. Southworth was a highly respected leader of Leiden's group, but he died on 1621/22. Alice's widow then emigrated to Plymouth Colony after Bradford's wife died.
The establishment of Plymouth Colony
Departure aboard Speedwell
In 1617, the Scrooby congregation began planning for the formation of their own colonies in America. Separatists can practice religion at will in the Republic of The Netherlands, but they are troubled by the fact that their children are affected by Dutch custom and language, after almost ten years in the Netherlands. Therefore, they started a difficult three-year negotiation in England by asking permission to settle in the northern part of the Virginia Colony (which then stretched northward to the Hudson River). The colonists also struggled to negotiate terms with a group of financial supporters in London known as Merchant Adventurers. In July 1620, Robert Cushman and John Carver had made the necessary arrangements, and about fifty Separatists left Delftshaven aboard the Speedwell vessel.
It was an emotional departure. Many families were divided, as some Separatists remained in the Netherlands, planning to venture into the New World after the colony was founded. William and Dorothy Bradford left their three-year-old son, John with Dorothy's parents in Amsterdam, probably because he was too weak to make the voyage.
According to the arrangements made by Carver and Cushman, the Speedwell is to meet the Mayflower off the coast of England and both are destined for the northern part of the Colony of Virginia. The Speedwell , however, proved to be not strong enough structurally to make the voyage, and some passengers were transferred to the Mayflower ship, making the conditions busier. Join the Scrooby congregation of about 50 colonists who have been recruited by Merchant Adventurers for their vocational skills, which will prove useful in building the colony. Passengers of this Mayflower, both Separatist and non-Separatist, are usually referred to today as "Pilgrims." The term comes from a passage in the journal Bradford, written several years later, describing their departure from the Netherlands (itself a reference to Hebrews 11:13 in the Bible):
... hugging each other and many tears, they took each other's leaves, which proved to be the last leave for many of them... but they knew they were pilgrims and did not see much, but raised their eyes to heaven, their beloved country and soothe their spirits...
The Mayflower voyage
The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on 6/16 September 1620. The 100-foot vessel has 102 passengers and crew of 30-40 in very cramped conditions. In the second month out, the ship was being hit by the west wind, causing the ship's timbers to shake, with caulking failing to hold the seawater, and with the passengers lying wet and sick, even at their berths. There were two deaths on the trip, a crew member and a passenger.
They saw the Cape Cod hook on 9/19 November 1620, after about a month's delay in England and two months at sea. They spent several days trying to go south to their planned destination in the Colony of Virginia, but the powerful winter seas forced them to return to the harbor on the Cape Cod hook, now called Provincetown Harbor, where they anchored on November 11 21 1620. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day, Bradford became one of the first to be signed.
First crawl and exploration in Plymouth Colony
Bradford had never taken a significant leadership role in the colony by the time he was 30 years old. The Mayflower anchored in Provincetown Harbor and he volunteered to become a member of the exploration party looking for a place for settlement. In November and December, the parties made three separate attempts from the Mayflower on foot and by boat, finally finding the Port of Plymouth in mid-December and choosing the location for the settlement.
During his first expedition on foot, Bradford was caught in a deer trap made by an Indian and transported almost upside down. The third exploration departed from the Mayflower on December 6, 1620, when a group of people (including Bradford) were in Plymouth Bay. The winter storm almost drowned the boats as they approached the bay, but they managed to land on Clark Island, suffering severe exposure to the cold and waves. Over the next days, they explore the bay and find a suitable place for settlements, now the site of downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts. Its location displays an ideal hill for a fortress. There are many corners that provide fresh water, and that is the location of the Indian village known as Patuxet; therefore, most areas have been opened for planting. The Patuxet tribe had been wiped out by the plagues between 1616 and 1619, possibly as a result of contact with British fishermen. Bradford writes that the bones of the dead are clearly visible in many places.
Loss of first wife
When the party roams back to the board, he learns of the death of his wife, Dorothy. Dorothy (May) Bradford from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire fell off the deck of the Mayflower ship during his absence and drowned. William Bradford recorded his death in his journal.
Great disease
The Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Bay on December 20, 1620. The settlers began building the first house of the colony on December 25 (Christmas). But their efforts were slowed when the disease spread to the settlers. The disease started on the ship. On January 11, 1621, Bradford helped build the house when he was suddenly beaten with pain in his hipbone and fainted. He was taken to a "public house" (the only completed house) and feared he would not last the night.
Bradford recovered, but many of the other settlers were not so lucky. During February and March 1621, sometimes two or three people died a day. By the end of winter, half of the 100 settlers had died. In an effort to hide their weakness from Native Americans who might be watching them, the settlers buried their corpses in unmarked graves on Cole Hill, often at night, and made efforts to hide the cemetery.
During the epidemic, there are only a small number of men who remain healthy and bear the responsibility of caring for the sick. One of them was Captain Myles Standish, a soldier who had been hired by settlers to coordinate the defense of the colony. Standish takes care of Bradford during his illness and this is the beginning of the bond of friendship between the two men. Bradford was elected governor immediately after Carver's death and, in that capacity, he teamed up with Standish. Bradford has no military experience and therefore came to rely on and trust the advice of Captain Myles Standish on military matters.
Relationship with Massasoit
On March 16, the settlers met their first encounter with the American Indians in the area when Samoset walked to the village of Plymouth as a representative of Massasoit, the sachem of Pokanokets. This immediately led to a visit by Massasoit himself on March 22, where he signed an agreement with John Carver, the Governor of Plymouth, who declared an alliance between Pokanokets and Plymouth, which required them to help one another militarily in times of need.
Bradford recorded the language of a brief agreement in his journal. He soon became governor and a promissory clause that occupied most of his attention as a governor pertained to helping each other. It reads, "If anyone unfairly fights against [Massasoit], we will help him; if anyone fights against us, Massasoit should help us." This agreement ensured the colony with a faithful ally in New England, though it resulted in tensions between colonies and rival Massasoit, such as Narragansetts and Massachusetts.
Plymouth Governor
In April 1621, Governor Carver collapsed while working in the fields on a hot day. He died a few days later. The Plymouth settlers then chose Bradford as the new governor, a position he held for the rest of his life. The leadership of the chosen Plymouth Colony originally consisted of a governor and an assistant governor. The assistant governor for the first three years of the colony's history was Isaac Allerton. In 1624, the structure was changed to governor and five assistants referred to as "court assistants," "judges," or "governors council." These people advise the governor and have the right to vote on important governmental matters, assisting Bradford in guiding the growth of the colony and the improvised government. Assistants during the early years of the colony included Thomas Prence, Stephen Hopkins, John Alden, and John Howland.
Literary work
William Bradford's most famous work so far is Plymouth Plantation . This is a detailed history in the form of a journal about the establishment of the Plymouth Colony and the life of the colonists from 1621 to 1646, a detailed description of his experience and observations. The first part of the work was written in 1630; towards the end of his life, he updated it to give "the story of the struggle and the achievement of the colony throughout the year 1646." Bradford draws a deep parallel between everyday life and biblical events. As Philip Gould wrote, "Bradford hopes to demonstrate the workings of divine providence to build future generations."
In 1888, Charles F. Richardson referred to Bradford as a "literary pioneer" and "a storyteller who has great power." Moses Coit Tyler called him "the father of American history." Many American writers have quoted his work in their writings; for example, Cotton Mather called it at Magnalia Christi Americana and Thomas Prince called it in New-England Chronological History in Historical Form. Even today it is considered a valuable part of American literature, including in anthology and studied in literature and history. It has been referred to as classical and classical American art in the 17th century in New England. "
The Of Plymouth Plantation manuscript disappeared by 1780, "possibly stolen by British soldiers during the British occupation of Boston"; it reappears in Fulham, London, at the London library bishop at Lambeth Palace. The long debate took place on a decent home for the script. US Senator George Frisbie Hoar and others made several attempts to return it, and Britain finally handed it back to Massachusetts on May 26, 1897.
The Bradford Journal also contributes to the book Mourt's Relation, written in part by Edward Winslow and published in England in 1622. It is intended to inform the Europeans about the conditions surrounding the American colony in the Plymouth Colony. The Bradford Dialogue is a collection of fictional conversations between the old and new generations, between "young men" and "Ancient men".
Family
William Bradford married: Dorothy May in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on December 10, 1613. Their marriage records show that she is 16 years old and is from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. The note also notes Henry May, who may be his father. William and Dorothy have one son.
- Death and warning: On December 17, 1620, Dorothy fell from the deck of the Mayflower ship into the cold waters of Cape Cod Harbor, where the ship docked, and drowned. Her husband was with other people on land and only knew of his death on his return to the Mayflower.
- He was one of four passengers who died between 4/14 December and 8/18, 1620, including Edward Thomson, Jasper More (age 7), and James Chilton. William Butten was the first to die in Provincetown Harbor, died on November 16. They were all commemorated in two cenotaphs in Provincetown, one at Winthrop Street Cemetery and one at the Mayflower Passenger at the Sea Memorial. Their burial places on land are unknown and may not be marked in the early days after the Mayflower landing.
- The death of these five men is just the forerunner of the impending death, consuming about half the company's Mayflower in the winter of 1620-1621.
William and Dorothy Bradford's son:
- John was born in Leiden, The Netherlands, around 1617. He married Martha Bourne in 1650 but had no known child. He died in Norwich, Connecticut some time before 21 September 1676.
Children William and Alice Bradford:
- William was born on June 17, 1624 in Plymouth and died there on February 20, 1703/04. He is buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth.
- William got married:
- 1. Alice Richard after April 23, 1650 and has ten children. He died in Plymouth on December 12, 1671.
- 2. Sarah (____) Griswold is about 1674 and has one son.
- 3. Mary (Atwood) Holmes is about 1676 and has four children.
- Mercy was born before May 22, 1627 and may have died before the will of his father 1657, as he was not mentioned. He married Benjamin Vermayes on December 21, 1648 in Plymouth but had no known child.
- Joseph was born around 1630. He married Jael Hobart on May 25, 1664 in Hingham and had three children. He died in Plymouth on July 10, 1715.
Will, death, and funeral
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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