William Bradford

William Bradford is one of the most common names we associate with the Pilgrims.  His story starts in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England.  He was born into a family of prosperous farmers.  However, early on he experienced a difficult life.  Not yet 12 years of age, he lost his mother, father, sister, and the grandfather who was raising him.  He became the custody of two uncles and soon after moving in with them, he became very ill.  He was unable to work in the fields.  By himself, but a bright young man, he took to the books.  Bradford himself, in retrospect, recognized this turn of events as one that spared him from youth's vanities and prepared him for his future.  (I can't help but draw a parallel to James Madison who in his youth suffered serious illness, and likewise immersed himself in great literature preparing him for the writing of The Constitution.) The Bible, specifically the the Geneva Bible, is where he found his consolation and direction.  

He was only 12 when he began to recognize the discrepancies between the teachings of the Bible and the way God was worshipped.  The led him to find the postmaster in a neighboring town, William Brewster.  Young Bradford would meet secretly with a group of separatists that met in the Brewster home.  It was risky and eventually in 1607 the bishop of York found out about the meetings.  Some members of the congregation were thrown in prison.  They knew they had to leave England.  At the time, leaving without permission was illegal, they would have to leave secretly.  It was a scary venture, but 17-year-old Bradford found little choice in the matter.  Though family and friends tried to dissuade him, partly because he was due to receive a comfortable inheritance at age 21, he sailed to Holland with his congregation. (The Mayflower and the Pilgrims New World, 6-10.)

Aside from his leadership, one of the reasons Bradford stands today as one of the most well-known of the pilgrims is because of the detailed record he kept.  His first-person, diary account of the travels and dealings of those early Americans is a priceless record known as Of Plymouth Plantation.  Fascinating is the fact that sometime after Bradford passed away, his manuscript was lost.  One legend has it that eventually it was seized by British forces in the Revolution.  In 1855, a researcher came across a reference that sparked his interest.  Letters across the ocean were exchanged and the manuscript was found to be in the Fulham Library in England.  What a treasure!!  In 1856, by seemingly divine timing, Of Plymouth Plantation was published when America was falling apart just prior to the Civil War.  Bradford's book brought to American minds their roots--the reasons and sacrifices of its origin.  (The Pilgrim Hypothesis XVI-XVII.)

Bradford is impressive for many reasons, but one part of his leadership story is especially interesting.  Bradford made a monumental decision in 1623 to change the economy of the pilgrims three seasons into their New World experiment.  The previous two planting seasons, the pilgrims worked communally--they grew the crops together.  In April of 1623, Bradford decided that each household would be assigned its own section of land with the understanding that whatever the family grew would belong solely to that family.  The work ethic and the results changed substantially.  Families worked harder than they had ever worked before.  While previously, women had worked at home and tended to the children, now families went to the fields together--fathers, mothers, and children.  Food shortages ceased, and there was plenty of food once the responsibility was placed squarely on the shoulders of the individual families. (The Mayflower and the Pilgrims New World, 168.)

Sources:

Ballard, Timothy. The Pilgrim Hypothesis. Covenant Communications, Utah. 2020.

Philbrick, Nathaniel. The Mayflower and the Pilgrims' New World. Puffin Books, New York.                     2008.