Bradley, Richard A.

Born: 1802-01-08 Sumner County, Tennessee

Died: 1859-04-16 Jackson County, Illinois

Flourished: 1840 Jackson County, Illinois

Bradley moved with his parents from his native state to Randolph County, Illinois, in his mid-teens. In 1823, he married Elizabeth Oliver, with whom he had at least eight children. He began purchasing public land in Randolph County in 1829, eventually accumulating 170 acres in northeastern Randolph and northwestern Jackson counties. During the Black Hawk War, Bradley served as a corporal in Josiah S. Briggs' company of the 3rd Regiment, 3rd Brigade of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers. After the war, he moved into local politics. A Democrat, Bradley represented Jackson County in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1842 to 1843, 1844 to 1845, and 1849. In 1850, he was living in Jackson County with his wife and eight children. He was farming and owned real estate valued at $1,000. Also in 1850, Bradley became a Baptist and joined the Looney Springs Baptist Church (then General Baptist). In 1852, he received his ordination into the ministry, and became pastor of the Looney Springs Freewill Baptist Church, a position he held for many years. He made his residence in Campbell Hill, Illinois.

Gravestone, Looney Springs Cemetery, Campbell Hill, IL; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 210, 212, 216; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 376, 403; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Randolph County, 31:6; Jackson County, 16:130, 31:33, 819:146, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Isaac H. Elliott, Record of the Services of Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War, 1831-32, and in the Mexican War, 1846-8 (Springfield, IL: H. W. Rokker, 1882), 68; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Jackson County, IL, 219; Geo. A. Gordon, The Life and Labors of Rev. Henry S. Gordon Founder of the Free Baptist Church of Southern Illinois (Campbell Hill, IL: Geo. A. Gordon, 1901), 38; Illinois, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1790-1860, 9 September 1823, Randolph County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2004).