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Family
Marriage: Children:
  1. Louisa Ridgeley Bradford: Birth: 04 NOV 1808 in Albany, NY. Death: 1863

  2. Stephen Lush Bradford: Birth: 25 MAR 1810 in Albany, NY. Death: 15 MAY 1840 in Albany, NY

  3. Mary Elizabeth Bradford: Birth: 10 JUL 1811.

  4. John Melancthon Bradford: Birth: 14 NOV 1813 in Albany, NY. Death: FEB 1861 in Chicago, IL

  5. Alexander Warfield Bradford: Birth: 21 FEB 1815 in Albany, NY. Death: 05 NOV 1867 in New York City, NY

  6. Lydia Stringer Lush Bradford: Birth: 06 JUN 1819. Death: 1872 in Albany, NY

  7. Matilda Bradford: Birth: 12 APR 1821.


Notes
a. Note:   Definition of "Melancthon" - Theologian, theologiser, theologist, theologizer. someone who is learned in theology or who speculates about theology.
  ---------
  Following is from a book by Pearson called Genealogies of the First Settlers of Albany:
  "Bradford, Rev. John Melancthon, D.D., and Mary Lush, his wife. He was ordained and installed minister of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Albany the 11th of August, 1805; was dismissed in Oct, 1820, and died March 25, 1826."
  Graduated, with honors, from Brown University, Rhode Island.
  American Biographical Library
 The Biographical Cyclopædia of American Women
 Volume II
 American Biographical Notes
 B
 The Chicago Historical Society
 page 40
 BRADFORD, REV. JOHN MELANCTHON, b. an Danbury, Ct., May 15, 1781, son of Rev. Ebenezer B., the Cong. minister at that place; grad. at B. U.; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Green of Phil., and May 1805, was called to become pastor of the Ref. Prot. Dutch church at Albany; d. there in 1827; his son Alexander W. B., was many years surrogate in N. Y. (Rogers's Hist. Discourse, p. 40.)
  Following is from History of the Reformed Protestant Ductch Church of Albany, by E. P. Rogers (1858; pp. 40-43):
  After the removal of Mr. Johnson, the Church made two unsuccessful attempts to secure a successor in the pastoral office. In Sept.,1802, a
 call was sent to the Rev. Henry Kollock, of Elizabethtown, and in Dec., 1802, to the Rev. Philip Milledoler, of Philadelphia, both of which
 were declined. In 1803, Rev. William Linn, was engaged as temporary supply, and continued to serve the Church for several years.
 At the removal of Mr. Bassett in 1804, the Church was left entirely without a pastor.
 In the meantime it had grown to be one of the largest and most influential congregations in the state. In Feb., 1805, a call was sent to Rev. Edward D. Griffin to become the pastor, which was declined. A meeting of the Great Consistory was called afterwards, to deliberate upon its interests and to consider the subject of calling a pastor. They met on the 27th of May, 1805. Forty-nine members were present. The names of all of them are on record, and it is worthy of remark that of these forty-nine names, there are only six names which may not now be found in the congregation, although only one of the individuals who composed the meeting yet survives.
 * At this meeting it was decided to call the Rev. John Melancthon Bradford to the pastorate of the Church. He was required to preach but once on each sabbath during the first year of his settlement, and in case of his marriage was to receive an addition to his salary.
 Mr. Bradford was born in Danbury, Conn., May 15, 1781. He was the son of the Rev. Ebenezer Bradford, then pastor of the Congregational Church in Danbury. His collegiate education was received at Brown University, R. I., where he graduated with honor. He then pursued his theological studies with the Rev. Dr. Green of Philadelphia, one of the most distinguished ministers of the Presbyterian
 * The venerable Jacob Ten Eyck, Esq., of Whitehall Church, who was his maternal uncle. He was called to the pastoral charge of the Church in May, 1805, and having accepted the call was ordained to the office of the ministry, and installed pastor of the Church. The ordination
 sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Linn of New York.
 Dr. Bradford continued in the pastoral charge about fifteen years. He was a man of fine appearance, and dignified manners, and an eloquent and impressive preacher. Few men have been better fitted by natural endowments for the position of a public speaker. His voice was uncommonly melodious, and his gesticulation dignified and graceful. His style was rich and yet chaste, and his sermons were compositions of a high order. For years he commanded large audiences, and was ranked among the distinguished pulpit orators of the
 day.
 He died in 1827, leaving a widow and several children who yet survive. One of these, Alexander W. Bradford, now holds the office of
 surrogate of New York, and is a gentleman of high standing in his profession.
 As early as 1799, the project of building another new church, began to receive some attention, but it was not finally decided upon till 1805. In that year the site of the old stone Church in State street was sold to the corporation of the city for $5,000, and in the spring of 1806, the venerable building, which had been occupied by the congregation for nearly a century, was taken down. For one hundred and fifty years that spot had been occupied as the site of a place of worship, and there were many sacred and touching associations connected with it. It
 was not strange that many hearts should feel emotions of sadness when at last it was given up to the crowd and bustle of business. The
 corner stone of the noble edifice now occupied by the Second Reformed Dutch Church, on Beaver street, was laid April 30th, 1806, by Rev. Dr. Bradford, and the building after several delays in the prosecution of the work was finally completed in 1810. It is one of the finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture in this city. Indeed there are few superior to it, in our country.
 In 1813, the Rev. John De Witt was called as colleague pastor with Dr. Bradford. He was a native of Catskill, the son of a farmer, who desired him to enter the profession of law. With this object he spent several years in study, and graduated at Nassau Hall, in Princeton, in 1809. He then commenced the study of law in Kinderhook, but his mind having at this time been brought under deep religious impressions, he felt that it was his duty to devote himself to the work of the Christian ministry. He accordingly commenced the study of theology with the Rev. Dr. Porter of Catskill, and was first settled in the ministry in Lanesboro, Mass., in 1811. From thence he was called to become collegiate pastor with Dr. Bradford. In 1815, it was deemed advisable that the collegiate form of the Church should be abandoned, and that two distinct and independent congregations should be formed each with its own church edifice, pastor and consistory. This was carried into effect in an amicable spirit. An equitable division was made of the Church property, the two pastors drew lots for the church edifices, and the congregations connected themselves with one or the other, according to their individual choice, or convictions of duty. Dr. De Witt
 became the pastor of the Second or South Church. Dr. Bradford remained with the old Church, which was thereafter popularly known as the North Dutch Church.
 Dr. De Witt remained pastor of the South or Second Church till September, 1823, when he was elected to the professorship of Biblical
 criticism, ecclesiastical history, and pastoral theology in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, at New
 Brunswick. Ill this honorable and useful position he remained till his death, which occurred on the 11th of October, 1831, in the 42d year of his age.
 Dr. De Witt was a man of frank, joyous, and generous nature, yet of accute and tender sensibilities. His piety was deep and ardent, and his preaching eminently plain, evangelical and earnest. His manner in the pulpit was unaffectedly dignified and serious, his voice clear and strong, and his enunciation distinct and deliberate. No man could listen to him without pleasure and instruction. As a pastor he enjoyed in a high degree the confidence and affection of his people, and his separation from them was an event deeply regretted by
 them all.
 In October, 1824, Rev. Isaac Ferris was installed as pastor of the Second Church, and continued in that office, greatly esteemed and
 beloved by his people until the year 1836, when he was transferred to the pastoral charge of the Reformed Dutch Church, in Market street, New York, where he remained twelve years. He was then elected chancellor of the University of New York, in which honorable and useful position he now remains.
 In Nov., 1836, the Rev. Isaac N. Wyckoff was installed pastor of the Second Church, where he still remains, after a pastorate of twenty-one years, enjoying the confidence and affection of his people. " Serus redeat in caolum."
 During the ministry of Dr. Ferris, and mainly through his instrumentality, the Third Reformed Dutch Church, in this city, was organized, December 19, 1834. The first pastor was the Rev. Edwin Holmes. He was settled in February, 1835, and resigned his charge in 1840. The Rev. Andrew Yates, D. D., supplied the pulpit, and labored very efficiently and successfully in behalf of the Church, till November, 1841.
 In Nov., 1841, Rev. W. H. Campbell, D. D., was installed pastor, and continued his acceptable labors till September, 1848, when he
 entered upon his duties, as the principal of the Albany Academy, from which he was transferred to the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, where he now labors with distinguished ability in the service of the church at large.
 Rev. Rutgers Van Brunt was ordained and installed pastor after the removal of Dr. Campbell, but was soon obliged, by the failure of his health, to resign his charge. He was succeeded by Rev. W. W. Holloway, who remained until 1853, and then entered upon another field of labor.
 The present pastor, Rev. Alexander Dickson, was installed in October, 1853, and still continues, the able and devoted minister of an
 affectionate people.
 The retirement of Dr. Bradford, from the charge of this Church, left them again without a pastor. The pulpit was supplied for about
 three years by different ministers, among whom were Revds. Gabriel Ludlow, Eli Baldwin, John Kennedy, Bruen, R. McLeod and
 M. W. Dwight.
  FROM: Rogers, E. P. (Ebenezer Platt), 1817-1881.: A historical discourse on the Reformed Prot. Dutch Church of Albany : delivered on Thanksgiving day, November 26, 1857, in the North Dutch Church / by the pastor, Rev. E.P. Rogers
  SOURCE: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=flakey&id=I529140532
  Following quote is from "History of Albany" by J. Munsell (Vol 2, pg 22)
  The most prominent as well as the most elegant of all the buildings seen in no. IX is the ediface of the North Reformed Dutch Church with two steeples. It was erected in 1798, and Rev. John Bassett, and associate with Dr. Westerlo in the old State street church, became its first pastor. He was succeeded in 1804 by the learned and eloquent John Melancthon Bradford. The heart of many an old Albanian will glow with delight at the mention of his name.
  -------------------
  John M. Bradford was born in Danbury, Connecticut in March 1781. He was the son of Rev. Ebenezer Bradford and New Jersey native Elizabeth Greene. His father was a Princeton trained Congregational minister. He is said to have been a direct descendant of the pilgrim Governor William Bradford. He grew up in a large family as his father moved them to new callings across New England.
  He is said to have graduated from Brown University in 1800. He then was trained for the ministry by his maternal uncle, Reverend Ashbel Green, a reknowned Philadelphia-based Presbyterian. Bradford was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, answered a call from Albany, and was installed as pastor of the Dutch Reformed church in Albany on August 11, 1805. In 1806, he laid the cornerstone for the Second or "South" Dutch Reformed Church. Following the division of the Dutch church into two seperate congregations in 1815, Bradford remained pastor of the North church. He ministered to the Dutch Reformed congregation in Albany from 1805 to 1820.
  Church archives and his biographer have characterized Bradford as "as man of fine appearance and dignified manners, an eloquent and impressive preacher. His voice was melodious and his gestures graceful; his style was rich yet chaste and his sermons were of a high order; he was ranked among the most distinguished orators of the day."
  Known for his speaking abilities dating to his college days, in April 1813, he delivered a sermon at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. A number of additional orations have been preserved in ecclesiastical annals. A learned intellect endeared him to Albany's better educated and more affluent parishioners.
  By 1808, he had married Mary Lush, the daughter of Stephen Lush. Their children were christened at his church from 1808 to 1819.
  Beginning in 1810, his household was configured on the census for the city of Albany. In 1809, his property on Montgomery Street was valued on the third ward assessment roll.
  In 1813, the city directory listed him as the pastor of the Dutch church and residing at 48 Market Street. The address of the parsonage later became 304 North Market Street.
  This civic minded citizen was a founder, supporter, officer, and trustee of a number of community-based institutions and initiatives. He was said to have been the driving force behind an initiative to establish a grammar school in the city.
  However, his tenure at the church was compromised by insufficient financial support and divergent priorities among the church elders. Additionally, by 1820, the thirty-nine-year old cleric had become erratic and then incapacitated by alcohol. Following a bitter and litigious contest, the Consistory had him removed from the pulpit. Broken and disheartened, John M. Bradford died in March 1826 at the age of forty-six. However, his widow lived until 1861.
  A number of contemporaries, including Gorham A. Worth, recalled Bradford with reverence and respect: "Mr. Bradford was a well educated - well read - and gentlemanly man. He was, moreover, one of the handsomest men in the city, which in the minds or fancies of the fairer part of his congregation, added no doubt to his eloquence, and of course to his usefulness in the church."
  http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/b/jombradford7407.html
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  Annals of the American Pulpit: Lutheran. Reformed Dutch. Associate ... By William Buell Sprague
  JOHN MELANCTHON BRADFORD, D.D.*
  1803-1826.
  John Melancthon Bradford was born at Hanover, N. J.,+ May 15, 1781. He was a son of the Rev. Ebenezer Bradford and Elizabeth Green, daughter of the Rev. Jacob Green, for many years Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Hanover, N. J. His father (Ebenezer Bradford) was born at Canterbury, Conn., and was one of the twenty-one children of William. Bradford, the great-grandson of Governor Bradford. He was settled at Hanover, N. J., and afterwards preached for some time at Danbury, Conn., where he was stationed at the time it was burnt by the British in 1777,-his own house being destroyed in the conflagration. He closed his ministry at Rowley, Mass., where, for nineteen years, he laboured with great success. Previous to his being called to Rowley, there had been serious and protracted difficulties in the congregation, and a large number of candidates had" been employed, in none of whom had they been able to unite. Mr. Bradford visited them, and was one hundred miles on his way home, when he received an invitation to return and become their Pastor. He went back, and took for the text of his first discourse Peter's address to Cornelius,- " I ask, therefore, for what intent ye have sent for me." He was an earnest and practical preacher; had great command of language and thought; and would deliver a long and edifying discourse with very little preparation. He favoured the hasty introduction of young men into the ministry, sometimes giving them license so that a few months only would have intervened between their leaving the plough and appearing in the pulpit. He was a vigorous and effective writer; though not more than two or three of his productions were given to the public.
  The subject of this sketch, descended as he was, from a long line of pious and ministerial ancestors, and surrounded, as he was, from the beginning of life, with the best of domestic influences, manifested very early a love of religion, and resolved to devote himself to the Ministry of the Gospel. In this design he had the cordial approbation and co-operation of his father, who, always ready to welcome new labourers in the vineyard of Christ, rejoiced especially that his own mantle should fall upon a beloved son. His intellectual development was precociou,;; his taste for reading intense; and the extent of his acquirements in the field of elegant learning, while he was yet quite young, somewhat remarkable.
  At an early age he was placed at Dummer Academy, Newbury, Mass., then under the charge of the Rev. Isaac Smith.! In the autumn of 1797 he entered the Sophomore class of Brown University, where he graduated, in high standing, in the year 1800. He soon after became the Principal of an Academy at Salisbury, N. H., but left it the next year to commence the study of Theology under
  • Dr. Rodgers' Hist. Disc.-MS. from Hon. A. W. Bradford.
  f Ilis birth place has been fixed, by different persons, both ut Danbury and Canterbury, but it is understood that his own statement was that it was Hanover.
  J Isaac Smith was born in Boston, May 7 (0. S.), 1749; was graduated at Harvard College in 1767; was a Tutor there in 1774-75; was ordained to the work of the ministry, and installed Pastor of a Church in Sidmouth, Devonshire, England, June 24, 1778; returned to this country after a few years, and from 1789 to 1791 was Librarian at Harvard College; from 1791 to 1811 was Preceptor of Dummer Academy; then was, for feveral year«. Chaplain to the Boston aluishouso,and died at the house of his sister, where be had resided, on the 20th of September, 1829, in the eighty-first year of his age.
  the direction of the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, his maternal uncle, at Philadelphia. He was licensed to preach, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, on the 19th of October, 1803. Previous to his being licensed, he accepted a Tutorship in the College of New Jersey, which he held till some time in the year 1804, though, in the mean time, he often occupied pulpits in New York and Philadelphia. From the beginning he had great popularity as a Preacher, and was universally regarded as giving promise of extraordinary usefulness. The Reformed Dutch Church in Albany, being now vacant, was attracted by his already brilliant reputation, and in May, 1805, extended to him a call to become its Pastor. In due time he gave an affirmative answer to the call, and, on the llth of August following, was ordained to the work of the ministry, and installed as Pastor of said Church, Rev. Dr. Linn preaching the Sermon on the occasion.
  Mr. Bradford not only took a very high stand as a clergyman, but identified himself with various enterprises having a bearing on the intellectual and moral improvement of society. He took a deep interest in the promotion of education ; and was one of the originators of the Albany Academy. He was a liberal contributor also to the periodical literature of the day. He received various testimonies of public favour, among which was the degree of Doctor of Divinity, conferred upon him by Union College in 1812,-when he had been only seven years a settled Pastor. His high social position, his great power of conversation and fascinating address, in connection with the then existing usages of society adverse to abstemious habits, exposed him to powerful temptations, to which he so far yielded as to bring himself temporarily under ecclesiastical censure, though the sentence was removed some time before his death. He resigned his pastoral charge in 1820, but remained in Albany during the rest of his life.
  In February, 1826, he was seized with paralysis, and lingered till the 25th of March following, when he died, in the forty-fifth year of his age. During his illness, though his power of utterance was much impaired, he was frequently heard to repeat the gracious promises of the Gospel, and especially that (I Cor. xv. 42) of a glorious resurrection to the believer.
  He was married on the 9th of December, 1807, to Mary, daughter of Stephen Lush, Esq., a distinguished lawyer of Albany, and an officer of the Revolution. They had seven children,-three sons and four daughters. Two of the sons, Alexander W. and John M., graduated at Union College, and became lawyers ; the former of whom, for several years, held the office of Surrogate of the city of New York.* Mrs. Bradford, a lady of great personal attractions, as well as of high moral and Christian worth, died at Albany, in November, 1861.
  Dr. Bradford's published Discourses are, The School of the Prophets; a Sermon deliver at New Brunswick, N. J., before the Board of Superintendents of the Reformed Dutch Church, 1813. The fear of the Lord the Hope of Freedom : a Sermon on the present struggle of the Dutch for Emancipation, delivered at the request of the Consistory of the Reformed Dutch Church, Albany, 1814. The Word of Life ; a Sermon delivered in the New Presbyterian Church in Chapel street, Albany, by appointment of the Albany Bible Society, 1817.
  I heard Dr. Bradford preach but once, and then in his own church, in 1817. The impression of his fine, commanding appearance, his elegant attitudes, his distinct and energetic utterance, and the very scholarly character of the whole
  * Both these eons are now (1868) deceased.
  performance, still remains vividly in my mind. It has always seemed to me that his general style of preaching strikingly resembled that of Dr. Inglis, of Baltimore. Both of them had great control of an audience, and were undoubtedly among the most accomplished Pulpit Orators of their day.
  FROM THE REV. JAMES M. MATHEWS, D.D.
  New York, June 15, 1857.
  My dear Friend : Your request for my recollections of Dr. Bradford touches a tender chord in my heart. I knew him in prosperity and in adversity, in sorrow and in joy; and though many years have passed since our intercourse was terminated by his death, I can truly say that I have many tender and grateful remembrances of him which it gives me pleasure to record.
  My acquaintance with him commenced about the year 1810, at the time of transferring my relations from the Associate Reformed Church, in which I had been educated, to the Reformed Dutch Church. From that time till near the close of his life, a much more than ordinarily intimate friendship existed between us. There was a standing mutual agreement that, as I visited Albany and he New York, we should occupy each other's pulpits on the Sabbath; and this arrangement was carried out,-I may say, nearly up to the period when his ministry closed.
  Dr. Bradford was remarkably favoured in his personal appearance. He was of about the ordinary height, with a frame of uncommonly fine proportions, and a face of classical and manly beauty. So distinguished was he in this respect that he could scarcely fail to be a subject of observation from strangers who met him in the street. His manners were dignified, courtly, in short, those of a polished gentleman. With strangers he may have seemed somewhat reserved; and I remember that some of his own brethren of the profession sometimes complained of his not being easily accessible; but, with those who knew him well, he was a very model of all that was kindly and amiable as well as cultivated and refined. When he really formed an attachment to a person, there was no sacrifice that he was not ready to make to gratify and oblige him.
  As a Preacher, Dr. Bradford undoubtedly ranked among the most impressive and popular of his day. The staple of his sermons was, in perhaps more than an ordinary degree, evangelical truth. They were always well considered, well digested, and highly finished productions. His mind was of a logical cast, and that was one of the most strongly marked features of his sermons. He had also a very highly cultivated taste, as well as a prolific imagination; and both these characteristics also were prominent in his public discourses. His voice was distinguished for its melody and richness and susceptibility of fine modulation. His manner was greatly distinguished for general propriety and dignity ; but it was not always accompanied with that fervour which opens the most direct passage to the heart. There were times, however, when his feelings became greatly excited, and then his voice would become the channel of deep emotion, and take on an indescribable tremor, which it was difficult for any heart to resist. I remember a striking instance of this which occurred in my own pulpit, when he was preaching a sermon on the consequences of parental unfaithfulness, the basis of which was a touching passage in the history of Eli. While it was one of the most finely wrought, and I may say elegant, discourses that I ever heard from him, hardly any thing could exceed it in the impressiveness of its admonitions and appeals; and it told with wonderful power upon all classes of his hearers. I afterwards spoke to him of the effect of the discourse upon myself and others; and he remarked that if he could write an impressive sermon on any subject, it would be strange if it were not that, as he had so many sad practical illustrations of it constantly passing under his eye.
  Dr. Bradford was not distinguished as an extemporaneous speaker,- neither for copiousness nor fluency. He was, however, a highly valuable member of a Church Court, and always took his share with great intelligeuce and propriety in its deliberations ; but he never spoke unless it seemed to be necessary,-never unless he had something to say that had not been said by others before him. He exerted an important influence in the establishment of the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, as well as in other important measures of Church polity. Indeed, whatever Body he might be a member of, his presence was felt as an element of power.
  You will doubtless feel it your duty to inform your readers that Dr. Bradford, towards the close of life, suffered, in common with a multitude of others, from some of the then prevailing customs of society; but that is no reason why so much true nobility of character as he possessed should not be embalmed, nor can I allow it even to embarrass me in paying what I consider a deserved tribute to his memory.
  I am. with great regard, affectionately yours,
  J. M. MATHEWS.
  Annals of the American Pulpit: Lutheran. Reformed Dutch. Associate ... By William Buell Sprague
  -----------
  The most prominent as well as the most elegant of all the buildings seen in No. VIII. is the edifice of the North Dutch Reformed Church, with two steeples. It was erected in 1798, and Rev. John Bassett, an associate with Dr. Westerloo in the old State Street Church, hecarae its first pastor. He was succeeded in 1804 by the learned and eloquent John Melancthon Bradford. The heart of many an old Albanian will glow with delight at the mention of his name. He was a man of noble port, tall, commanding, and handsome. His mind was far in advance of his generation, and his eloquence kept all the emotions in constant play. And oh! how many of my old companions will also sigh at the mention of his name, when they think of that brilliant sun, setting amid the storm-clouds of domestic woe. I can not bear to think of it. And there in after years, how Hooper Cummings, another sun, blazed out occasionally in that pulpit, and, like the noble Bradford, went down Among the clouds, a warning to the self-confident, who pray not hourly for the shield of God's grace against the Tempter.
  Harper's magazine, Volume 14 By Making of America Project



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