Where they came from and how they got here...

Although the Bradford name is found throughout Great Britain and Ireland, nothing as yet is known about the ancestors of my great-grandfather,
WILLIAM HENRY BRADFORD, not even who they are.

According to my grandmother, MARTHA ADELINE BRADFORD SIMMS ROBERTS, her father, William Henry, was born 19 April 1839 or 1841 in Ashland, Kentucky (prior to 1854, Ashland had been known as Poage's Landing).

However, an 1880 census [click to see census} records his age as 32 which would make 1848 his year of birth.  Censuses for 1900 and 1910 also bear this out. Even though William Henry's parent's given names are not known, several censuses tell us where they came from.  The 1880, 1900 and 1910 censuses faithfully record his mother's birthplace as Kentucky. 

The 1880 census records his father's birthplace is recorded as "not known. However, "Ireland" is recorded as his father's birthplace in the 1910 census [click to see census].  When William Henry's father came to America is still a mystery to be solved. It is possible he came over with a million other Irish immigrants to escape the Great Potato Famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1849 which left over a million dead.

I believe Ireland to be a credible clue as to the birthplace of my great-great-grandfather Bradford.  I remember my Gramma telling me when I was a child that someone in our family was Irish and/or from Ireland.  Unfortunately, I don't remember if she said who it was, or even if she did say who it was.

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