Bradley, Revolutionary War veteran, grave site recognized by the DAR

Photo by Janet Morales

While the Revolutionary War was one of the American colonists fighting for their freedom from Great Britain, many of those soldiers followed the path westward after the war to settle in what we know call the Midwest. Descendants of one such person, Leonard Keeling Bradley, gathered Sunday at his remote gravesite to honor him with a new stone complete with the DAR insignia.

A military-type service was provided Bradley complete with honor guard, musket salute and Taps. Colors were provided by members of the Sons of the American Revolution. The ceremony was courtesy of the Margaret Miller chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Laura Van Houten, DAR Chaplain gave the invocation. Elaine Meyr, DAR Regent, dedicated the new marker. Pauline Brown, oldest living descendant of Bradley, was given the honor of unveiling the marker. A wreath was laid on behalf of the DAR and one on behalf of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR)

David Brown read a brief biography of Leonard Keeling Bradley, his “patriot ancestor”.

Leonard Keeling Bradley was born about 1756. He grew up in an area of North Carolina that would have been a wilderness at the time. Many settlers, including the family of Leonard Keeling Bradley’s future father-in-law Samuel Boone, fled the western areas of North Carolina during the French and Indian War due to Indian attacks.

As documented in his Revolutionary War pension statement, he was very active during the war having enlisted for seven tours with the terms of service varying between three and nine months while serving under Generals Marion, Lincoln, and Sumpter. He was involved in battles and skirmishes with the British, American Tories, and Cherokee Indians, and suffered an injury while engaged in a hand to hand saber duel with a British Dragoon.

As a resident of St. Jude’s Parish in Surry County, North Carolina, he first enlisted in January of 1776 as a Private. By his third tour in June 1778, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant while his sixth tour found him serving as a Lieutenant in defense of Charleston, South Carolina during the British siege of that city. He along with many other soldiers surrendered to the British as prisoners of war on 12 May 1780. According to a document still in his possession when applying for his Revolutionary War pension, Leonard Keeling Bradley was paroled on May 20, 1780. He entered into his final tour again as a Lieutenant in September of 1781, and remained in service until March 1, 1782.
Following the close of the Revolutionary War, Leonard Keeling Bradley moved westward to Kentucky. He married, on June 20, 1785, Mary “Polly” Boone, a niece to legendary Daniel Boone. She was the daughter of Samuel Boone and Sarah Day.

After Leonard Keeling Bradley’s marriage to Polly, they lived in Fayette Co., KY where he farmed and did some survey work. In 1796, he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Fayette Co., KY by Kentucky Governor Garrard. Leonard and Polly Boone had 12 children of whom 11 lived to adulthood. They included Terry, Elizabeth, Samuel Boone, Thomas, Keeling, Edward R., Levi Day, Squire Boone, Milton, Newton, Louise Lura, and Calvin. Pauline Brown, an integral part to Sunday’s event, is a descendant of Squire Boone Bradley and his wife Lucetta Estes Sharp.
Around 1825, Leonard Keeling Bradley moved his family to what is today Randolph County, Mo. Some of his children moved with him in 1825 while others followed a few years later. It is in Randolph County where he applied for his Revolutionary War Pension, which gives us documentation of his patriotic service during the Revolutionary War. He died on December 2, 1834 and was buried here at the Bruce Cemetery.

Meyr said 70 years ago the DAR dedicated a stone to Leonard keeling Bradley. Many of those in attendance were his descendants. Approximately 60 were in attendance Sunday, many of whom were Bradley descendants.

The date of this ceremony was historic in its own right, the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the twenty-first century. History is the act of passing information forward, teaching the next generation the stories and memories of the past. Sunday was one such day. The entire ceremony was geared to remembering, not only Lt. Bradley, but past members of the D.A.R. and Bradley’s extensive family.