Pedigree of:
Ellen Jane Knight
1839-1899
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Ellen Jane
KNIGHT
1839-1899
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See the photo of Ellen Jane Knight
Notes and Links
Ellen Jane Knight*; b. Apr. 21, 1839, Ypsilanti MI; d. Aug. 7, 1899, Wash. DC; bur. Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletwn CT.
- m. James Henry Bradford* (1836-1913), on Aug. 19, 1865, Easthampton MA.
- Ellen Jane and James Henry had 5 children:
- Sophia Bradford; b. premature Apr. 11, 1866; d. Apr. 11, 1866.
- Mary Knight Bradford; b. Jan 29, 1868, Westboro MA; d. Feb. 9, 1946, Washington DC, bur. Rock Creek Cemetery.
- Harry Bonnell Bradford* (1870-1952)
- Ruth Bradford; b. Dec. 21, 1871, Middletown CT; d. Feb. 11, 1873; bur. Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown CT.
- Horatio Knight Bradford; b. Apr. 21, 1876, Middletown CT; d. May 4, 1914, Ft. Bayard, NM; bur. Arlington Nat'l Cemetery.
- Faith Bradford; b. Sep. 4, 1880, Rochester NY; d. 1970, Wash. DC.
Brief Biography:
Ellen Jane Knight* (1839-1899)was born in Ypsilanti MI, but left Michigan when her mother, Joan Sophia Bonnell*, died. Ellen, known familiarly as "Nellie" was 21 years old at that time when she went to Easthampton, MA, to live with her [half] uncle, Horatio Gates Knight. Horatio was the son of Sylvester Knight [Sr.]* and his second wife, Rachel Lyman of Norwich MA, daughter of Captain Lyman of Easthampton, MA, whom Sylvester [Sr.] married in 1808. Horatio was a prosperous and well known businessman and politician of his time. He rose to become first Treasurer, then President of the firm of Williston & Knight, a manufacturer of cloth covered buttons. He became a Lieutenant Governor of MA, and was a trustee of Williams College. He served as Chairman of the Hoosac Tunnel Commission and was Commissioner of the Draft for the Civil War. He served in both houses of the Massachusetts Legislature. He was a delegate to the Republican convention in Chicago that nominated Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant to the Presidency.
See the Portrait of Horatio Gates Knight
Ellen was educated at the Williston Academy, where she met James Henry Bradford*, whom she married in 1865. The Smithsonian Institution has a collection of her clothes in its Museum of American History and Technology, donated by her daughter, the late Faith Bradford of Washington DC. Ellen Jane's wedding dress, and her gymnasium outfit at the Williston Seminary are among the items preserved at the Smithsonian. She was a very small women, barely 5 ft. tall, wearing size 2-1/2 shoes. Her artistic talents in literature, poetry and song writing were demonstrated in a poem published in Century Magazine, and a profitable adaptation into a "series of tableaux with readings" of a then long forgotten book, Ben Hur, which was presented as entertainment in more than 100 cities. Ellen died of dysentery and was buried beside her daughter, Ruth in the Indian Hill Cemetery in Middletown CT.
See the Drawing of the Williston Seminary
References:
- Bradford Genealogy by Faith Bradford
- A Line of Bradfords 1460-1988 by Bradford Stone
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Contact the author: e-mail link: Phillips Verner Bradford
Note: Ancestors of Phillips Verner Bradford are denoted in the text lists with an asterisk (*) following the names.