Bradford, Massachusetts
Encyclopedia
Bradford is a former town in Essex County
Essex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Parker River National Wildlife Refuge* Salem Maritime National Historic Site* Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site* Thacher Island National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The name currently refers to the area on the south side of the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
in Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 60,879 at the 2010 census.Located on the Merrimack River, it began as a farming community that would evolve into an important industrial center, beginning with sawmills and gristmills run by water power. In the...
that was once Bradford. Bradford still has its own post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and zip code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
: 01835.
History
Bradford was originally part of the town of RowleyRowley, Massachusetts
Rowley is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,500 at the 2000 census.Part of the town comprises the census-designated place of Rowley.-History:...
, and was called "Rowley on the Merrimack", "Rowley Village by the Merrimack", "Merrimac Lands", or just "Merrimack" before the name was changed to Bradford at a town meeting held January 7, 1672. It was named in memory of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, from which some of the settlers had emigrated, and first paid colonial tax on October 13, 1675. The east parish of Bradford (established in 1726) separated in 1850 and was incorporated as the town of Groveland
Groveland, Massachusetts
Groveland, Massachusetts Groveland is a small residential town located in northern Essex County, bordering Boxford, Georgetown, Haverhill, and West Newbury. The town is divided into two precincts, Groveland and South Groveland.-History:...
on March 8, 1850. The remaining west part of Bradford was annexed to the city of Haverhill
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 60,879 at the 2010 census.Located on the Merrimack River, it began as a farming community that would evolve into an important industrial center, beginning with sawmills and gristmills run by water power. In the...
in 1897.
The original meeting house
Meeting house
A meeting house describes a building where a public meeting takes place. This includes secular buildings which function like a town or city hall, and buildings used for religious meetings, particularly of some non-conformist Christian denominations....
was located where the Old Bradford Burying Ground is at 326 Salem St. This first church was replaced in 1705. In 1726 the east parish of Bradford was established which later in 1850 became the town of Groveland
Groveland, Massachusetts
Groveland, Massachusetts Groveland is a small residential town located in northern Essex County, bordering Boxford, Georgetown, Haverhill, and West Newbury. The town is divided into two precincts, Groveland and South Groveland.-History:...
. In 1751 the church was replaced by a new building that was located on what is now Bradford common. In 1848 the fifth Bradford church was built at is present location facing the common.
Ministers of Bradford were: Rev.Zechariah Symmes 1682 to 1707, Rev.Thomas Symmes 1708 to 1725, Rev.Joseph Parsons 1726 d.1765, Rev. Samuel Williams 1765 to 1780, Rev. Jonathan Allen 1781 d.1827, Rev. Ira Ingraham 1824 to 1830, Rev Loammi Ives Hoadly 1830 to 1833, Rev. Moses Searle 1833 to 1834, Rev. Nathan Munroe 1836 to 1854, Rev. James T. McCollom to 1865, Rev. John D. Kingsbury.
The first school was noted in Bradford in 1701. In 1820 there were seven school houses in six school districts in Bradford. Bradford Academy
Bradford College (Massachusetts)
Bradford College operated in the part of Haverhill, Massachusetts that was once the town of Bradford.Bradford College focused on the creative arts and social sciences. It has one of the oldest alumni associations in the country.- History :...
was established in 1803.
In 1676 Thomas Kimball was killed by Indians in Bradford during King Philips War. In 1755 during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
Capt. William Kimbal marched a company of men from Bradford to Stillwater, New York
Stillwater (village), New York
Stillwater is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,644 at the 2000 census.The Village of Stillwater is in the southeast part of the Town of Stillwater, north of the City of Mechanicville.- History :...
. Capt. Nathaniel Gage took a company of 40 men from Bradford to the Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
in 1775. The railroad came to Bradford in 1837.
Epidemics struck the town several times in its early years. In 1736, an epidemic of throat distemper
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
killed 47 children and nine adults. The same disease struck again in 1762 when 23 died, and again in 1794 when 15 died. In 1777 a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
outbreak caused ten deaths.
The population of Bradford has been 1765 - 1125, 1776 - 1240, 1790 - 1371, 1800 - 1420, 1810 - 1360, 1820 - 1600, 1830 - 1856, 1840 - 2222. In 1850 after Groveland separated from Bradford the population was 1328. In 1895, just before Bradford was annexed by Haverhill, the population was 4736. The 2000 U.S. Census for the Bradford zip code (01835) shows the population as 13,416. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=85000US018&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-PH1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-format=ZI-1
Bradford was primarily a farming community and there are a few farms still in operation. Bradford had several shoe manufacturers who later moved to Haverhill except for Knipe. Several mills long operated on the Johnson's creek (now in Groveland). These included fulling
Fulling
Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
mills (used to remove the lanolin oil from woolen
Woolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
cloth), saw mills, bark mills, and grist mills for grinding corn.
Education
- Bradford CollegeBradford College (Massachusetts)Bradford College operated in the part of Haverhill, Massachusetts that was once the town of Bradford.Bradford College focused on the creative arts and social sciences. It has one of the oldest alumni associations in the country.- History :...
(closed) - Zion Bible CollegeZion Bible CollegeZion Bible College is a Bible college in Haverhill, Massachusetts. ZBC's sole purpose is to teach and train students for excellent Pentecostal ministry in fulfillment of the Great Commission.-History:...
- Carleton School for BoysCarleton School for BoysCarleton School for Boys was a boarding school for boys in Bradford, Massachusetts. It was founded by Isaac N. Carleton in 1884 after his term as principal at the State Normal School in New Britain, Connecticut. The school continued teaching until about 1901...
- Caleb Dustin Hunking Middle School
- Bradford Elementary Schoolhttp://www.haverhill-ps.org/bradford/default.html - 118 Montvale St.
- http://www.haverhill-ps.org/greenleaf/default.htmlGreenleaf Elementary Schoolhttp://www.haverhill-ps.org/greenleaf/default.html - 58 Chadwick St.
- Knipe Elementary School (now closed) (now the Bradford Christian Academy)
- Cogswell Elementary School (now closed)
- Peabody Elementary School (now closed)
- Wood Elementary School (now closed)
- Haverhill High School (Located across the Merrimack River in Haverhill proper)
Notable residents
- Isaac N. CarletonIsaac Newton CarletonIsaac N. Carleton was an educator. He taught at Phillips Academy and was the principal of State Normal School in New Britain, Connecticut for twelve years. He was the founder of Carleton School for Boys in Bradford, Massachusetts...
, educator, founder of Bradford's Carleton School for BoysCarleton School for BoysCarleton School for Boys was a boarding school for boys in Bradford, Massachusetts. It was founded by Isaac N. Carleton in 1884 after his term as principal at the State Normal School in New Britain, Connecticut. The school continued teaching until about 1901... - Walter Tenney CarletonWalter Tenney CarletonWalter Tenney Carleton was an early international businessman. He was one of the three founding directors of NEC Corporation, the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.- Youth and education :...
, businessman, one of the three founding directors of NEC Corporation - Ann Judson, America's first overseas female missionary