FIFTH GENERATION



22. William BRADLEY was born on 13 Feb 1814 in Sumner County, TN. He died on 10 Aug 1887 in Murphysboro, Jackson County, IL.  William Bradley was born on February 13, 1814 in Sumner County, Tennessee, the youngest child of Joshua Bradley and Nancy Gardner. When William was three his family moved to what was then part of Randolph County, Illinois. In 1824 when the county line was firmly established, the Bradley lands were found to be in Jackson County, Illinois. Through his early years William irregurlarly attended school, however he studied on his own and aquired a liberal education. On December 18, 1834 he married Serena DRAPER (daughter of Phillip DRAPER), a native of Smith County Tennessee who'd moved to Jackson County along with two of her sisters.   Serena DRAPER was born on 27 Dec 1804 in Smith County, TN.  After his marriage William remained on the original Bradley homestead building a house near his fathers.

In April 1839 William was one of the 32 men who pooled their funds to purchase 80 acres of land to be used in establishing Shiloh School and Meeting House to serve both Jackson and Randolph Counties. In December he, along with his brothers James, Benjamin, and Richard and six other men, was elected Trustee for the incorporation of Shiloh College which was approved on January 8th, 1840 by the Illinois House and Senate. He remained a trustee for several years and was a member of the committee which drafted the resolutions which governed the board of the college. This was only a start to his involvement in the affairs of the county. He was appointed postmaster of the town of Bradley from its formation in 1846 until 1853. He served as Associate county Judge from 1849 to 1853 and County Judge from 1853 to 1857. In 1858 he unsuccessfully ran for the State Legislature. In October 1852 he was ordained a Freewill Baptist Minister by Reverend Henry S. Gordon. He served as Pastor at Looney Springs Baptist Church near Campbell Hill and at Sato Baptist Church. In 1860 he and Reverend Gordon organized the Ava Free Baptist Church, where William served as pastor until 1864. In 1869 William and Serena moved from their farm to the growing city of Murphysboro where they lived the rest of their lives. From 1869 to 1873 William once more served as County Judge and through his remaining years stayed active in the church. Serena died January 24, 1882 and later that year William married Sarah L. Tinsley, the widow of Reuben Rees.  Sarah L. TINSLEY was born on 23 Mar 1835 in Franklin County, IL. She died on 3 Jan 1891 in Jackson County, IL.  On August 10, 1887 William Bradley died and was buried next to Serena in Holliday Cemetary northeast of Murphysboro. William BRADLEY and Serena DRAPER had the following children:

child81 i. daughter BRADLEY was born about 1835.
child+82 ii. Eliza Jane BRADLEY.
child+83 iii. Leander Melville BRADLEY.
child+84 iv. Elizabeth Ann BRADLEY.

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