Genealogy: Bradford and Talcott

This genealogy of the Bradford and Talcott ancestors of Fanny Buckingham, wife of Jonas Benedict, is an excerpt from the transcription of a handwritten notebook I discovered in my grandmother’s papers. The family history in this notebook was the work of two women, Agnes Caroline Wickham and her daughter, Harriott Benedict Wickham Barton (my grandmother), who separately researched and made entries in it over a period of seventy years.  Agnes Wickham wrote roughly half of the entries in the notebook from 1909 to 1915.  In 1915, she gave handwritten copies of her work to each of her five children: Eleanor, William, Lucy, David and Harriott.  Harriott continued her mother’s work off and on for the next sixty years, adding entries as late as 1977.

Dave Barton

Bradford and Talcott Genealogy

Bradford

1.  William, lived at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England about 1575, at which time he & John Hanson were only persons taxed there; died 1596.

2.  William, married Alice, daughter of John Hanson; died July 12, 1591; buried July 15, at Austerfield.

3.  William, baptized March 19, 1590 at Austerfield.  After his father’s death in 1591, he lived with his grandfather and at his death in 1596, was adopted by his uncle, Robert Bradford, who lived at Scrooby near the Brewsters’. A religious gathering was formed by Brewster, at least as early as 1606, and young Bradford was deeply impressed by the preaching of Reverend John Robinson, and was numbered among the “Separatists.” In 1608, Bradford, who had been confined several months for attempting to leave England, escaped and went to Amsterdam, where he apprenticed himself to a silk weaver, a French Protestant.  When he became of age he sold the land in England which he had inherited from his father, and with the rest of the company, moved to Leyden, where he was eager and active in promoting the scheme of emigrating to an English Colony. On December 9, 1613, he married at Amsterdam Dorothy May of Wesbeach, England and on September 5, 1620 they embarked at Southampton on the Mayflower.  Arrived on the Massachusetts coast in December 1620.  While he was absent on an exploring trip around the harbor of Cape Cod, his wife Dorothy fell overboard from the ship and was drowned.
He was elected Governor of Plymouth Colony April 21, 1621 & reelected each year until January 1633.  Again in 1635-37, 39-42-44-45-57.  Was commissioner of the United Colonies 1647-48-49,56 and President of the Council 1648.  Council of War 1642.  President of Council of War, 1643.  Assistant 1633-34-36-38-44.  Commissioner on the boundary between Plymouth and Massachusetts.
Married (2) Alice Carpenter, widow of Edward Southworth, and daughter of Alexander Carpenter of Wrenthan, England, August 14, 1623.
From his house at the foot of Burial Hill each Sabbath morning the little company of worshipers who assembled there marched in procession to the church.  He possessed a high degree of culture, had some acquaintance with Latin, Greek and Hebrew.  Was well read in history, philosophy, etc.  He wrote a most valuable “History of Plymouth Colony” the manuscript of which was lost for many years but was found in 1846 in the library of the Bishop of London at Fulham (a copy can be found now in the Norwalk Library).  Died May 9,
1657 in Plymouth and was buried on “Burial Hill.”
1.  John, son of Dorothy, born at Leydon; came to America later than 1620, died at Norwich, 1678.
2.  William, born 1624; died 1704.
3.  Mercy, born 1627; married Benjamin Vermayes.
4.  Joseph, born 1630; died 1715.

William, born at Plymouth, June 17, 1624, resided at Kingston and the location of his house can still be traced; married (1) Alice, daughter of Thomas Richards of Weymouth – she died December 12, 1671.  (2) Widow Wiswall. (3) Mary Wood or Atwood, widow of Reverend John Holmes of Duxbury.  William was deputy from Plymouth to the General Court, 1657 – Assistant, 1658-1681.  Council of War, 1657-58 – Captain of the Troop of Horse, 1659.  In 1662, when Wamsulta, or Alexander, successor of Massasoit, was suspected of designs against the English, William was with Major Winslow when the chieftain was surprised and taken prisoner.
He was appointed Major Commandant of Plymouth Colony in 1673 and in 1676 was in command of the forces from Plymouth in the Great Naragansett fight when the attack was made on King Philip’s stronghold.  During the engagement, he received a musket ball in his body which he carried the rest of his days.  Was Deputy Governor of Plymouth Colony, 1682, 1686, 1689 and 1692.  Was Councilor named in Charter of Massachusetts after Union of Colonies in 1692.  Treasurer of Plymouth Colony, 1679, 86-89, 92.  Commissioner of United Colonies, 1682-86.  His estate composed the whole of the present village of Stony Brook, north of the brook, extending to the bounds of Duxbury, besides tracts of land in the other parts of the town. Died February 20, 1704 and was buried by the side of his father on the ancient burial hill of Plymouth. (1)

Lieutenant Samuel, born 1668 of Duxbury; married July 1680 to Hannah, daughter of Gamaliel Rogers of Duxbury.  Samuel’s name appears on the records of Duxbury when he was chosen Juryman in 1700, Constable 1701, Selectman 1702, and in 1710 one of the men appointed to divide the common lands. Died April 11, 1714. (2)

Gershom, born December 21, 1691 in Duxbury; married October 28, 1716 to Priscilla, daughter of Reverend Ichabod Wiswall of Duxbury.  He removed to Bristol, Rhode Island in 1744 from Kingston, Massachusetts. (3)

Doctor Jeremiah, born 1734; settled in Middle Haddam, or Haddam Neck, Connecticut where he practiced medicine; married there Rebecca Dartr; died in Middle Haddam, 1814. (4)

Vienna Bradford, born November 5, 1757 in Middle Haddam; married George Talcott of Glastonbury Connecticut March 16, 1777; died August 17, 1785. (5)

(1) Savage’s Gen Dict Plymouth Colony Records.
(2) New England Genealogical Register, IV, 46.
(3) Winson’s History of Duxbury, 232
(4) N.E. H. G., Reg IV, 234; Haddle R. Church Records.
(5) Talcott Pedigree, 248.

[the following is from the Talcott Genealogy Page]

George, born September 30, 1755 in Glastonbury, Connecticut; married (1) Vienna, daughter of Jeremiah & Rebecca Bradford, March 16, 1777, she died August 17, 1785 – (2) Abigail Goodrich, February 9, 1786.  He was a soldier of the War of the Revolution.  Served in a company that went from Glastonbury for the relief of Boston in the Lexington alarm, April 1775, and again served in 1777.  Died June 13, 1813 in Glastonbury, Connecticut. (1)
1.  Harriet, born January 7, 1778; married Henry Buckingham.
2.  Fanny, born January 8, 1780; married Samuel Benton.
3.  Rebecca, born March 1, 1782; died January 4, 1794.
4.  Julia, born May 9, 1785; died November 17, 1785
5.  George, born December 6, 1786; married Angelica Bogart.
6.  Russell, born September 22, 1788; married Harriet Kingsbury.
7.  Lavinia, born August 8, 1790; married Benjamin Hale.
8.  Abigail, born July 7, 1792; married Horace Hale
9.  Jared, born April 1795; married Electa Bissell.
10. Andrew, born April 20, 1797; married Catherine Thompson.

Harriet, born January 7, 1778; married Henry Buckingham, March 20, 1803; died at Norwalk, Ohio, October 9, 1839, and is buried on the D.D. Benedict lot in Woodlawn Cemetery.

(1) Talcott Pedigree in England and America from 1558 to
1876, page 248

[the following is from the Buckingham genealogy]

Henry, born January 13, 1779; married Harriet, daughter of George and Vienna (Bradford) Talcott of Canterbury, Connecticut, March 20, 1803.  He was a man much respected and was for many years Treasurer of the county.  Died of apoplexy at Norwalk, Ohio, 1845.
1.  George Talcott, born December 1, 1806; married (1) Lavinia Linsley.
2.  Fanny, born April 16, 1809; married Jonas Benedict.

Fanny, (2) born April 16, 1809 at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania.

(1) Buckingham Family,  page 219
(2) Ibid, page 296

NOTE: Agnes and Harriott cited their sources in the margins of original notebook.  I included these citations as footnotes, attempting to keep them as close as possible to where they appear in the original notebook.

I would appreciate critiques and corrections of this genealogy. Please comment below. Thank you.

© 2006, 2009 by David W. Barton. All rights reserved