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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Lauderdale County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1886.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Richard C. Bradford, a resident and farmer of Lauderdale County, Tenn., was born in Carroll Parish, La., October 15, 1861. His grandfather, John Bradford, was born in England about 1780, and came to the United States about 1807, married in Virginia, and in 1820 moved to Illinois, and soon after moved to what is now Lauderdale County, where he raised his family and died in 1873. Our subject’s father, John S. Bradford, was born near Durhamville, Lauderdale County, September, 1831. When twenty-two, he went to Louisiana, where he was an overseer until 1855, when he returned to Tennessee and married Miss V. A. Browning, a sister of Hon. R. H. Browning, and daughter of Leven Browning, a merchant and farmer. After this they moved to Louisiana and remained until the war, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. After the war he moved to Mississippi but two years later he returned to Lauderdale County, and died January 7, 1877. The mother was born in Nashville, and died while on a visit to Calhoun County, Miss., June 22, 1878. Our subject was raised on the farm, and, after attending the schools in the county, spent four years at McKenzie College and a year and a half at the Vanderbilt University at Nashville. Mr. Bradford was married in Lauderdale County, February 14, 1884, to Miss Addie Tillman, a daughter of W. T. Tillman. One daughter Erin was born to them July 25, 1885. The mother was born in Lauderdale County June 13, 1863. Mr. Bradford is a Democrat, but liberal in his political views, and his wife and himself belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He is of a frank, generous disposition, and possesses fine business capacity. Mr. Bradford has 900 acres of land twelve miles north of Ripley, in a fertile, undulating locality. The dwelling is handsome, and is a delightful home.

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This family biography is one of 116 biographies included in the book,  The History of Lauderdale County, Tennessee published in 1886 by Goodspeed.  The History of Lauderdale County was included within The History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties, Tennessee

View additional Lauderdale County, Tennessee family biographies here: Lauderdale County, Tennessee

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