
Joseph Berry Bradford my other paternal great-grandfather
Joseph Berry Bradford, my great-grandfather. A very small picture cropped from a group shot of a man who I know little about. First I’ll have to be honest, my great-grandmother was his mistress and later his wife. The group shot is of them with their children.
I don’t know much about him, other than he too was a child of a mistress. He died alone in North Carolina of heart disease with no listed relatives despite his children still living at the time. I found his death certificate a few years back. I’ve not heard many tales of him more about how he was gone than there. My grandmother was more raised by her Uncle Brown than her mother or father from what I gather. He was a cobbler and a very nice man. I remember meeting him and liking him immediately. Now looking at it with adult eyes I’m glad my grandmother had him in her life.
It is rather funny the things we find out as we research our family. I am always amazed at the glue that binds families together. When we look close enough we see the strong silent family members that are that glue.