Sacramento County
Biographies
JAMES BASCOM
BRADFORD
JAMES BASCOM BRADFORD, San Joaquin Township, was born in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana, in 1826. His father, George Bradford, was born in Middlesex County, Connecticut, in 1787. He left home at an early age, went West, and upon reaching manhood settled in Washington, Indiana, and engaged in merchandising; he, like other pioneers of the West, engaged in flat-boating to New Orleans, making his first trip in 1818. The Bradfords are of New England stock for several generations. James’ mother, nee Mary F. Bruce, was born in Mason County, Kentucky, in 1793. The Bruces were among the early settlers of that State. James Bruce’s paternal grandparents were Charles and Diana Bradford, and their children were Lucretia, George, Robert, Charles, William and James. The grandmother’s maiden name was Diana Stevens, whose brother was Colonel of a cavalry regiment in the Revolutionary war, and fed and clothed his regiment at his own expense during one winter. James Bruce’s maternal grandparents were Alexander and Sarah Bruce, and their children were John, Charity, Joseph, Catharine, Mary F., Squire, Sarah, Kiziah Alexander, William and Rachel. James B. received the usual district-school education of the period; came to California in 1850 and engaged in mining for about a year in Placer and Shasta counties. He then established a trading-post at Yankee Jim’s, a flourishing mining camp in Placer County. He put up his buildings and kept a general supply of all things needed by miners, keeping six or seven mules to make daily trips to the claims, delivering goods within a radius of ten miles. He continued in that business for two years. In 1855, with his brother, William B., went into business in Sacramento, keeping a feed and sale stable. In 1858 he resumed the mercantile business at Michigan Bluffs, Placer County. In 1880 he moved to Downieville, Sierra County, furnishing supplies as before. In 1862 he went to Aurora, Nevada, where he engaged in trading and mining for several years. In April, 1866, he located 160 acres of Government land, and built a house on it where he still lives. His brothers, W. B., and P. B., occupy adjoining farms, all devoted to vineyards, for which they are found to be well adapted. J. B. Bradford was married to Miss Sarah G. Kilbourne, September 20, 1871, at Danville, Illinois, by Rev. A. L. Brooks. Mrs. S. G. Bradford was born in Venice, Ohio, in 1842, and was the daughter of Jonathan and Susan M. Kilbourne, both of whom are still living in 1890, aged respectively seventy-three and seventy. Mrs. Bradford’s paternal grandparents were Joseph and Rebecca Kilbourne, of Vermont. Her maternal grandparents were Isaac and Elizabeth Johnson Lutes, of New Jersey. Grandmother Lutes is ninety-four years old, and loves to hold reunions of her descendants on the anniversary of her birth, at her home near Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford are the parents of two boys: Perley Kilbourne born July 8, 1872, and George Bruce, born April 5, 1875.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Pages 713-714. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.