Isham Bradley's relationship to the Daniel Haston family can be traced back (at least) to the turn of the 19th century in Knox County, TN.  Isham was the bondsman for David Haston's May 5, 1800 marriage to Peggy Roddy.  What we do not know is what that relationship was specifically.  Was he a relative to the Hastons or was he just a friend?  According to the Blount County, TN marriage records Isham (Isom) Bradley married Susana Matlocks on May 13, 1798 in Blount County.*  Thus, "apparently" (but see note below) he wasn't a son-in-law of Daniel Haston, as Jacob Mitchell (who settled adjacent to him in White County, TN) may have been.  Whatever the relationship was, it was strong enough for him to travel to the wilderness of middle Tennessee in order to settle adjacent to the Haston family (even before his friend David arrived to the area).  In 1811, David Haston named his third son "Isham Bradley Haston."**  The first and middle names "Isham Bradley" appear at other times down through the Daniel Haston family lines.

Source of marriage date:  Dodd, Jordan. Tennessee Marriages to 1825. [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 1997. 

*Note:  The 1850 Hickory County, MO census indicates that Juriah [Bradley] Hobbs (probable daughter of Isham Bradley) was 56 years old and born in TN.  If this was true, then she was born about four years before Isham married Susanna Matlock in 1798.  If so, Isham probably was married to someone prior to his 1798 marriage to Susanna Matlock.  Could he have been married earlier to a daughter of Daniel Haston who died in the mid-1790s?

This all assumes that "Juriah" was the wife of Henry Hobbs who qualified him to be the son-in-law of Isham Bradley, and not a subsequent wife.

**Note:  "Isham Bradley" Haston (who married his Van Buren County, TN neighbor, Rebecca Steakley, in 1834) moved to Hickory County, MO sometime before the 1850 census (between 1843 and 1845, as per the census records for his youngest children).  He resigned his official positions in Van Buren County, TN in October 1842.  In 1850 was living in the same district (District 37) of Hickory County, MO as his namesake's (Isham Bradley's) son-in-law, Henry Hobbs.  Two houses away from Isham Haston (Hastings) was Joel I. Bradley's household, who was born in South Carolina in about 1813.  Was he related to Isham Bradley?

Here are some of the facts, in addition to the ones stated above, that we know regarding Isham Bradley:

• According to the census records, he was born sometime in the 1770s. Thus, he was probably a few years older than David Haston (born 1777), since he was married at least two years prior to David.

• On July 22, 1806 he signed a petition for the creation of White County, TN.

• He purchased 50 acres on the "Big Spring," adjacent to Daniel and Joseph Haston on August 28, 1807. 

• He sold his Big Spring area 50 acres tract to Charles Mitchell on February 15, 1809.  This was the very same day on which Joseph Haston sold his 50 acres tract to his brother, David Haston.  The deals were apparently made official at the same time, since the parties of both deals witnessed for each other's transactions.  Who was Charles Mitchell?  Was he the brother or some other close relative of Jacob Mitchell?  If you have information on this Charles Mitchell, please contact us.

• Isham Bradley's name does not appear on the 1820 White County census.

• In 1824, Isham Bradley and "Lady" (his wife?) were employed to superintend the business of Bell Tavern in Sparta.  Their credentials were described as: "long experience which they have had in this line of business, and the high reputation which they sustained with their friends and the public generally..."
  Source: The Sparta Review, Wednesday p.m., September 15, 1824. (available on microfilm in the White County, TN Public Library)

• Isham Bradley appears on page 210 of the 1829 White County, TN tax list in Captain Eastland's company (which would have been on the Cumberland Plateau, east of Sparta).  He owned 175 total acres of land and was not charged for a poll tax (which might indicate that he was over 55 years of age).

• He moved to Monroe County, TN before 1830.  According to the 1830 Monroe County, TN census there was one male 5-10 years, one male 20-30 years, one male 50-60 years (this would be Isham), one male 80-90 years (his of his wife's father?), one female 40-50 years (Isham's wife) and one female 60-70 years (his or her mother?).  Various other Monroe County records (ex. court records and deeds) also indicate that he lived in Monroe County.  Isaac Haston was known to have moved to McMinn County, TN (adjacent to Monroe County) at about this same time.  However, one court record (Monroe Chancery Court Record, #124, Joseph Donohoo v. Charles K. Gillespie, Will Forester, Alexander Webb, and William Wooden) stated that by 1840 Isham Bradley had "left the country" (probably referring to that local area) with his son-in-law, Henry Hobbs.

Note:  The 1840 Monroe County, TN census indicates that he was living next door to Jason Matlock (30-40 years old) at that time.  Perhaps Jason Matlock was a brother of Susanna Matlock, Isham Bradley's wife.

• Isham Bradley lived, adjacent to Henry Hobbs, in Polk County, Missouri, according to the 1840 Polk County, MO census.  He made a January 16, 1839 land entry in the east half northeast Section 26 of Polk County, MO January 16, 1839.*  This was undoubtedly the same man who lived in Monroe County, TN in 1830, because in Missouri he was living adjacent to Henry Hobbs (stated in a Monroe Co, TN court record to be the son-in-law of Isham Bradley).  This was approximately the same time that Isaac Haston moved to Missouri, but Isaac moved to nearby Greene County, MO.  *Source: Page 224 of Goodspeed's History of Hickory County, MO (1889).

Note:  As per Goodspeed's history, Isham Bradley's place in Polk County, MO Section 26 was adjacent to that of Archibald Blue, a close associate of the notorious Hiram Turk family of the Slicker War (see below). 

• We do not know when and where Isham Bradley died and was buried.

Who were the Parents of Isham Bradley?

We have no documented answer to that question, but "John Bradley" may have been his brother or some other close relative.  A man by that name appears frequently in the 1790s & early 1800s records of Washington & Knox & Blount counties of east Tennessee.  The names, dates, and places associated with this John Bradley would seem to associate positively with what we know of Isham Bradley.  Here are just a few examples:

• John Bradley married Nancy Tate in Washington Co, TN on November 6, 1793.  Samuel Tate performed the ceremony and James Charter was the bondsman.  David Tate was the bondsman for the James Roddy who married Elizabeth Haiston (Houston?) on December 21, 1793 in the same county. 

• John Bradley and Benjamin Tipton were in Knox Co, TN court for an assault and battery case in 1792.  Source: Pages 166-167 of Knox Co, TN Court of Pleas & Quarterly Sessions, Book 0 (Docket # 255/242)

• Jonathan Cunningham took John Bradley to court in 1794.  Source:  Jonathan Cunningham vs John Bradley, Docket 209-168, Knox County, TN Court of Pleas and Quarterly Sessions (original document)

• John Bradley (along with John Woods and others) qualified to be a Blount Co, TN Justice of the Peace on November 28, 1803.

• John Bradley apparently lived on the Little River in the northern end of Blount Co, TN, which was almost half way between Maryville & Knoxville, TN.  Source:  Page 18 of Blount Co, TN County Court Record, Book I (1795-1804).

Where were Isham Bradley's Pre-Tennessee Roots?

We do not know, but perhaps Pittsylvania County of south central Virginia.

If you have additional information regarding Isham Bradley or his family,
please contact us.