This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Bradford Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3YF.2ACIB/1865 Message Board Post: James Bradford, with his son Samuel, founded Bradford National Bank in Greenville, Illinois in 1867. James came to Greenville from New England in 1824. He held several local public offices and served as the first mayor of Greenville. He served in the Illinois legislature as well. James Bradford died January 29, 1889. At that time, his son Samuel took over operation of the bank until his death in 1891. Samuel's son, John S. Bradford, began his run as president of the bank at this time - a position he held for 34 years. When John S. Bradford died on July 7, 1925, his widow, Myrtle Taylor Bradford, was unanimously elected president to finish his term, which ended on January 13, 1926. The Greenville Advocate noted: "Mrs. Bradford is probably the only lady in the state who has been elevated to the presidency of a bank." At the bank's annual meeting on January 13, 1926, Nancy Rogers Bradford was elected president and reelected on January 12, 1927. She was the mother-in-law of Myrtle, the mother of the late John S. Bradford, and the widow of bank co-founder Samuel Bradford, who had died in 1891. Born in Virginia in 1836, she had married Samuel in 1867, the year the bank was founded. Nancy Rogers Bradford was the last member of the Bradford family to hold a position at the bank. We are putting together a book on the bank's history, and I would like any information on the above names. Please let me know if you are able to help. Thank you. Randy Alderman, Bradford National Bank