Moses T. Bradford
One of the old and honored residents of Washington Township, who has lived in this vicinity for upwards of sixty-eight years and has, during this time, been an important factor in the wonderful growth and development of this part of Grant county, is Moses T. Bradford, the owner of 160 acres of land in his home tract in Section 17, and eighty-three acres in Section 4. Mr. Bradford has been an agriculturist all of his life, and although of late years he has been somewhat retired from active pursuits still takes a keen and intelligent interest in the movements which are forwarding his locality's interest and continued to be one of the influential men of the execution in which he has spent so many years. He was born December 6, 1845, on the old Bradford home in Washington Township, now owned by O. M. Creviston, and is a son of Daniel and Louisa (Romine) Bradford.
George Bradford, the paternal grandfather of Moses T. Bradford, was born in Virginia, migrated from the Old Dominion to Ohio, and in his latter years came to Grant county and located near Fairview Church, where he passed away after a long and useful life. Daniel Bradford was also born in Virginia, and accompanied his father in his migration from Ohio to Indiana, and during the early 'forties entered the present Creviston farm in Washington Township from the government. With his young wife he rode overland from Ohio on horseback and settled in the woods in true pioneer style, and for years made the home in a little log cabin while he was clearing his land. He became a successful and highly esteemed citizen, and was known as one of the solid, reliable men of the township. He and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom one died in infancy, the others being: George, who enlisted in the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil War, and lost his life at the battle of Nashville, Tennessee; Mary Matilda, now Mrs. Johnson of Anderson, Indiana; Emma Elizabeth, who married Mr. Ebbert, and died in Illinois; Moses T.; Jesse, who died at monument City, Indiana.
Moses T. Bradford received his education in the old log schoolhouse in District No. 1, which was equipped with slab seats and puncheon floors, and although his advantages were somewhat limited he was an earnest and industrious scholar and managed to secure a good practical education during he short winter terms. The rest of the year he spent in helping his father in the difficult work of clearing the home farm from the heavy timber, and thus he was reared amid pioneer surroundings, being trained to habits of thrift, economy and industry . He remained with his father until he was twenty-three years of age, at which time he was married and purchased seventy-six acres of his present land at forty dollars an acre. To this he has since added from time to time, until he now has 160 acres in this tract, valued at $150 an acre. In 1906 he bought his eighty-three acre farm, for seventy dollars an acre, and on this unimproved property he erected a modern home and barn. The barn on the home place was erected in 1876, a large red structure, well suited to the usages to which it is put, and in an excellent state of repair. The family home was built in 1881, contains eight rooms, is comfortable and commodious, and is surrounded by a well-kept lawn, flourishing evergreens, and a substantial iron fence. The barn yard is kept as a lawn. Mr. Bradford has not engaged extensively in farming of late years, although in 1912 he raised, 1.000 bushels of corn, cut thirty tons of hay and marketed twenty-five hogs. The greater part of his time, however, has been devoted to raising fine stock, and at this time he has thirteen head of Polled Angus and Shorthorn cattle, and six head of Belgian horses, among the latter being "Sam," valued at $300. The house and barn are supplied with a generous water supply by a windmill pump and drilled well. Among other thins Mr. Bradford is caring for a growing orchard of apples and young fruits. Mr. Bradford has been successful because he has been industrious, energetic and persevering, and not because of any happy chance. From earliest boyhood he has known the value of hard work, and his career has been one of benefit to himself and to his fellow-men.
On November 8, 1868, Mr. Bradford was married to Miss Sarah E. Creviston, daughter of Daniel Creviston, an old pioneer settler of Grant County, and a native of Ohio. Four children have been born to this union: Anna Dell, who died at the age of three years; Layton, who resides at home with his parents; Lydia A., the wife of Otto Thompson, of Huntington County, Indiana, who has two children, Sherwood and Ethel; and Verley, farming the eighty-three acre tract, who married Effie Mae Hollowell, and has two children, Maurice T. and Helen E. In political views Mr. Bradford is a Republican, and for three years served as superintendent of the Huntington Pike. With his family he attends Morris Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914