The Acquisitions Table: Lewis Bradford Letters

Bradford, Lewis. Letters, 1817 – 1829

Lewis Bradford, a descendant of Governor William Bradford, and son of Levi Bradford and Elizabeth Lewis Bradford, was born in Plympton, Massachusetts in 1768.  Lewis lived his entire life in the town of Plympton, working as the town clerk for forty years.  In addition to his work, Bradford was a member of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, and was an avid historical researcher.  Bradford never married, and died from a fall from a carriage in 1851 at the age of 83.  This collection of letters from Bradford are all addressed to his younger brother, Major Levi Bradford (1772 – ), while Levi was living in New York.  The letters speak mostly of the goings-on in Plympton, updating Levi as to births, deaths, marriages, new ministers, court cases, new buildings (“This is a world of changes – the new houses built in Plympton, and several new roads…”) as well as family gossip. Bradford’s pious and polite attitude comes through in these letters, especially when having to pass along unfortunate family news – “It is rather of an unpleasant task to write about unpleasant things which take place in families, but perhaps it is not amiss for different branches of the same family to know them.”