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LEDBETTER BRADLEY who resides on section 35, Gardner Township, is one of the earliest settlers of this part of the county and with its history and progress he has been prominently identified. He was born near Rutherford, N.C., on the 17th of March, 1826, and many of the scenes of his childhood days in North Carolina are still engraved on his memory although he was only eight years of age when he left his native State. His father, Terry Bradley and his grandfather, Simmons Bradley, were also born in North Carolina and were of English descent. The latter was a farmer but not a slaveowner. Terry was reared to manhood upon his father's farm and after attaining to mature years became owner of landed possessions in Rutherford County, but in 1834 he disposed of his property in North Carolina and emigrated to Sangamon County, Ill. He purchased the farm now owned by our subject, then comprising one hundred and sixty acres and after seeing his family comfortably settled in the log cabin turned his attention to the development of the land which he continued until his death in the spring of 1835. His wife, whose maiden name was Chloe Elliott, was also born in Rutherford County, N.C., of which State her father, John Elliott, was a native. He was a slaveowner and wealthy planter of that State, and died in the prime of life leaving a family of ten children to the care of his widow, who remained on the old homestead until her death which occurred in 1864, at the age of eighty-five years.

Eleven children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. Bradley - Simmons who died in Gardner Township; Mrs. Sarah Riggs, who died in this county; William whose death occurred in Missouri; Winnie, who is married and lives in Dallas County, Tex.; Richard died in Kansas; Jonathan who was living in Texas at the time of the breaking out of the late war, was pressed into the rebel service and, though ill at the time, was forced to travel and died on the march through Louisiana; Melinda who died at the old home; Mrs. Rhoda Brundage, whose death occurred in Dallas County, Tex.; Ledbetter of this sketch; Mrs. Elizabeth Duff and Mrs. Elmira Morgan, of Wilson County, Kan.

As before stated, the Bradley family emigrated to Illinois in 1834, making the journey in wagons across the country. They crossed the Ohio River at Louisville and the Wabash at Terre Haute, camped out at night and in the latter part of October reached the city of Springfield, which however was at that time a mere village. The country was yet comparatively wild and unsettled, game of all kinds was plentiful and wolves and foxes were yet seen. The educational advantages which our subject received were such as the early schools of that day afforded. School was held wherever a building could be obtained for the purpose during the first ten years after his arrival in the county, after which it convened in the Methodist Church, a log building, very crude in construction. The clothes of the family at that time were made by the mother and sisters and the arduous task of developing the wild land fell to the lot of father and sons. Mr. Bradley was early inured to hard work and his labors were for the benefit of his parents until twenty-one years of age when he began life for himself. He operated the home farm, giving one-third of the income derived therefrom to his widowed mother. Subsequently he purchased the shares of the other heirs. Oxen were used in breaking and plowing the land and the farming implements of that day bore little resemblance to the improved machinery of the present. He continued farming in this county until 1851, when he went to Texas; the first of the family to locate in that State. The journey was made by rail, flatboats and on horseback. He located in Dallas County, where for two years he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, being very successful in his undertakings. In the meantime his brother and two sisters with their husbands went South, which left his mother alone and in consequence he returned to Illinois, resuming the management of his farm, to which he has added many useful and ornamental improvements that greatly enhance its value. He is now the owner of two hundred and seventy-three acres of fine land, all under a high state of cultivation, with excellent buildings, beautiful groves and springs of never-failing water, and his home is pleasantly situated within five miles of the State Capital.

The experiences of pioneer life are not unknown to Mr., Bradley. He has witnessed almost the entire development of the county and here has met with prosperity which ranks him among the substantial citizens of the community. The first money ye ever earned was paid to him by Abraham Lincoln. During his boyhood he spent a great deal of his time at the home of his uncle in Springfield Township, where Mr. Lincoln once came to purchase a cow. He asked the uncle if "Led," as the lad was then called, could not help him lead the cow to town. Assent was given and on reaching his home Mr. Lincoln asked, "What do I owe you?" The lad replied, "Nothing, sir," but Mr. Lincoln, reaching down into his pocket handed out a quarter telling him to go and buy candy. Ledbetter felt rather backward about accepting the money, but Mr. Lincoln insisted and he thus earned his first quarter. He was then a lad of nine years. Another time he had a business transaction with Mr. Lincoln. It was customary in those days to cut and split a load of wood which was then taken in town to sell. Mr. Bradley driving with a load to Springfield one cold winter's morning was overtaken by a storm. The wind blew, the snow was falling heavily and the youth, having not yet effected a sale did not know what to do. Just then Mr. Lincoln came along and seeing the predicament that he was in at once purchased the load. It was such little acts of kindness as this that endeared the future President to the hearts of the people.

In 1856, in Gardner Township, Mr. Bradley was united inmarriage with Martha T. Archer, daughter of Robert Archer and a granddaughter of William Archer, a native of Tennessee who owned a large plantation and a great number of slaves in that State. Her father when a young man, prior to the admission of Illinois as a State, came to this county on horseback, carrying his clothing in the old-fashioned saddle bags, together with a set of tinker's tools. He located in Sangamon County and made the first settlement in Gardner Township on what is now section 26. Surrounded by Indians on every side, he built a log house and began farming. At the time of his death, which occurred in 1850, he was the owner of a good farm of two hundred and twenty-six acres. His wife, whose maiden name was Matilda Duff, was a native of South Carolina, and a daughter of Abraham and Gertrude (Combs) Duff, who were also born in that State. Her father was a farmer and blacksmith and removed from Kentucky to Illinois in the early part of the '20s. He settled in Belleville, but afterward came to Sangamon County, where he broke land and planted a crop and then returned for his family. He was a member of the Methodist Church and his wife belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterian. They were the parents of three children - Elizabeth J., who became the wife of R. Brown and died in this county; Bennett C., who died at the age of eighteen years; and Mrs. Bradley, who was born on the 14th of April, 1830, about a quarter of a mile from her present home. The girls of those days all learned to spin and she became quite an expert in that line.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bradley were born seven children - Bennett C. who owns and operates eighty acres of land in Macon County, Ill.; Annie who became the wife of Thomas Gregory, died in Macon County, and was buried in Gardner Township; Elizabeth is at home; Lonie is the wife of Isaac Gregory, Gardner Township; Walter is a farmer in the same township; Laura and Jackson are at home. For the long period of twenty years Mr. Bradley has served as School Director and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. He has made his way in the world, gaining a comfortable competency, has reared an intelligent and respected family of children and has made for himself a place among the ranks of the best citizens of the county. In politics he is independent, inclining toward Democratic sentiment, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Church. The Bradley household is noted for its hospitality and the pleasant entertainment which is furnished its guests, and the friends of the family are many.