Edward T. & Eliza (Coleman) Bradford and their family

Edward Thomas (E.T.) Bradford (1827-1912) was a long-time Mason (in two lodges), Grand President of the First Grand Independent Benevolent Society of Kansas, and an active member of St. Luke AME church for 32 years. Known as “one of the kindest and most intelligent men of our community,” he “had a good word for all” with his “sunshiny spirt, high morals, and civic ideals.”¹

Bradford’s early birth-year in Missouri and that of his wife Eliza, born in 1836 in Virginia, imply they were born into human bondage. Two valuable relics from the distant past in his possession add mystery about his childhood: a spoon reportedly “made out of a buffalo [or ox?] horn by soldiers in the Revolutionary war” and a whetstone “made out of petrified hickory bark” by his unnamed grandfather.² The couple’s early circumstances remain uncertain because, unlike the vast majority of African Americans, their story suggests they may have been earned their freedom before Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

From Missouri to Springfield, Illinois and Back

Born near Brunswick, Chariton County, Missouri in May 1827, Edward married Eliza Coleman in 1856 in Randolph County east of Chariton.³ The 1850 census for Randolph County listed Eliza’s parents Reuben and Eliza Coleman, both born around 1807 in Virginia. Reuben, a mulatto shoemaker, held personal property valued at $200. Four of their eight children were also born in Virginia: Landrum [sic] (b. 1830), Thornton (b. 1832), Mary (b. 1834), and Eliza (b. 1836). The fact that their remaining four children were born in Missouri beginning in 1839 implies that the family may have been moved here by their enslavers. However, this rare 1850 census also indicates they may have been emancipated by this time as evidenced by the following relocation.⁴

According to Reuben’s obituary, the Coleman family moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1856, where Abraham Lincoln resided until 1861. Known as a “prominent citizen” and shoemaker, Reuben Coleman (1807-1880) “was a man of good character, a member of the Union Baptist church, and always carried himself in a straightforward manner.”⁵ On February 12, 1858 (Lincoln’s birthday), Reuben’s son Landen C. Coleman, also a shoemaker, now age 28, chaired a public meeting of Black citizens. They wrote a lengthy resolution that protested the 1857 Dred Scott decision, opposed a plan to remove them to the colony of Liberia, and reaffirmed their birth rights to US citizenship.⁶

Edward Bradford also lived in Springfield, Illinois “for some years,” likely with Eliza and her Coleman family. Having joined a Masonic order in 1856 (or 1860), he reportedly wore his Masonic apron to Lincoln’s funeral.⁷ His Masonic order at this time may have been the Knights of Tabor, a benevolent organization founded in 1857 by Rev. Moses Dickson who also helped formerly enslaved people move to Lawrence, Kansas during the Great Exodus.⁸ In addition to being a charter member of the Lawrence Knights of Tabor lodge, local members of the Far West Lodge No. 5 of the York Masons National Compact also felt proud to have him as a venerable member.⁹

The 1860 census enumerated Edward and Eliza back in Missouri, farming in Prairie Township, Chariton County among 49 other free Blacks. Virginia-born Jane Bradford (b. 1802), possibly Edward’s mother, and her large family farmed nearby. It was here that the couple began raising their children John (b. 1862), Elizabeth (b. 1867), and Mary Jane (b. 1868) born in or near Salisbury. The 1870 census listed the value of Edward’s real estate property at $2,000 and his personal property at $600 (or over $62,500 in 2024 dollars).¹⁰

Living in Lawrence

In 1880, Edward, Eliza, and their children moved to the Third Ward in East Lawrence.¹¹ One year later, Mr. Bradford built a house at 1312 Rhode Island, the family’s long-time residence, while working as a teamster.¹² For “social and literary improvement,” Mrs. Bradford and Lizzie joined the short-lived Ladies’ Social Union Reading Club with several other women and held a meeting at this residence.¹³

Bradford’s involvement in local politics appeared limited. Even so, in 1887, he served on a resolution committee to strike the word “white” from the Kansas constitution.¹⁴ Days later, his eldest son John died quite suddenly at age 25. John Bradford, a delivery driver for a grocery store, had been known as a “bright, honest, capable, sober, and industrious man.”¹⁵

St. Luke AME Church became the family’s primary source of racial uplift as Edward “filled every office,” such as treasurer for 14 years, along with his daughter Lizzie.¹⁶ While serving as a trustee with Henry Fuel, Parris Barker, and Henry B. Ware among others in 1894, Rev. Jefferson F. Sage and the board invited “both white and colored” residents to donate money toward repairing and redecorating the church’s interior for a grand jubilee.¹⁷

After attending New York School, Lizzie, who went by Amanda Elizabeth, married Amie Thomas (1861-1942) from Illinois in 1889.¹⁸ After working as a teamster, Mr. Thomas served as an appointed police officer for six months in 1909, until his white partner became implicated in a bribery charge. Both officers were forced to turn in their resignations.¹⁹ Having lost a salaried job, Amie, Amanda, and their five children moved in with Amanda’s parents at 1312 Rhode Island.²⁰

Notably, Edward T. Bradford was elected Grand President of the First Grand Independent Benevolent Society (F.G.I.B.S.) of Kansas and Missouri for at least two one-year terms in 1896-97 and again in 1900-01, as well as serving as lecturer (1899, 1903). The primary purpose of this organization was to provide funeral services with death benefits for its members. Annual assemblies were held in late July in different cities before celebrating Emancipation Day on August 1st. For example, during Bradford’s involvement, Lawrence sponsored the general assembly in 1897 with a grand celebration at Bismarck Grove and again in 1903.²¹

Together with other esteemed couples and individuals, the Bradfords attended several special occasions and club meetings. For instance, in 1885, Amanda gifted a set of silver spoons to Miss Frances E. Deane, a popular elementary teacher, at her wedding to Robert Buckner, and Edward and Eliza celebrated Mr. and Mrs. Warren W. Brooks’ 15th wedding anniversary in 1889.²² In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas participated in literary meetings of the Eureka Club at the residence of Robert and Addie White, also F.G.I.B.S. officers.²³

As one of Lawrence’s “most highly respected citizens,” Edward T. Bradford passed away at age 85 in 1912. “A very large crowd” attended his funeral, conducted by the F.G.I.B.S. and two Masonic lodges, at St. Luke AME Church. One year later, Mrs. Eliza E. Bradford (1836-1913) died at age 77 at the home of her daughter Amanda Thomas, 1104 Mississippi. The couple were buried next to one another in Section 9, row I, graves 12 and 13 at Oak Hill Cemetery.²⁴

In regard to their three surviving children, Amanda E. Thomas (1867-1932), born in Salisbury, Missouri, passed away at age 65 in 1932 while living with her husband and their daughter in Des Moines, Iowa. She rests in Section 6, grave 120 next to her daughter Ella (Thomas) Talbert (1896-1947) in grave 121 at Oak Hill Cemetery. After Amanda’s death, Amie Thomas (1861-1942), remembered as a “friendly and competent” police officer, went to live with his daughter Mrs. Loretta Brent in Jacksonville, Randolph County, Missouri, where he was reportedly buried.²⁵

As for Mary J. Bradford (1868-1941), she had married George W. Gross (1869-1940) on September 20, 1886. George was an energetic Republican like his political father James Gross (1851-1907) and worked as a USPS mail carrier until 1895. In 1896, he decided to move his family to Colorado to take up farming sugar beets in Rocky Ford east of Pueblo and later resided in Denver as president of the NAACP chapter.²⁶

Finally, Oliver R. Bradford (1870-1960), a teamster, married Alzadia “Sadie” H. Earl (1870-19??), born in Rhode Island, on December 31, 1912. They joined Mr. and Mrs. George Gross in Colorado in 1917. Three years later, Oliver and Sadie were living in Hugo, Colorado, where he worked as locomotive firefighter. The couple moved to Denver by 1930.²⁷