Wednesday's Child~Mimi's Cousin Jack

Jack Bradford
Headstone
Sumter City Cemetery, Sumter, South Carolina
Photo Credit: Find A Grave Contributor-Viki
Used with permission

Jack Bradford was a cousin of my paternal Grandmother, Mary (Baker) Hudson (1920-2010) My father remembers her talking about playing with Jack when she was little. Tragically, Jack died in 1930, when only 10 years old. An obituary from the day of his death says that he died after a brief illness. It also lists Jack's parents and siblings.

Jack Bradford Obituary
The State (Columbia, SC) 24 Feb. 1930 pg. 3
Original from Kate Baker Ryan Bible

A search for a death certificate gives answers about his death but opens up more questions. A search for Jack Bradford produced no results, but there was one for Milton Robert Bradford. 

"Jack" probably was a nickname. The dates of birth, place, and death are the same. The cause of death is listed as appendicitis. That fits with the obit saying that he died after a short illness. Parent's names, however, are listed as unknown. The informant Horace Bradford, one of his brothers named in the obituary. How could Horace not know the details to fill in the parent's information? 

Family stories say that Jack was taken in by the Bradford's after a family member gave birth to him out of wedlock. A look at the structure of the family that raised him for 10 years seems to support that rumor. 

 William Hartwell Bradford (1870-1941) and Gertrude (Wells) Bradford (1870-1961) are named as Jack's parents in his obituary.  Simple math shows that Gertrude would have been 50 when he was born. Not impossible, but unlikely. There is an 8-year gap between Jack and a son born in 1912. All point to a child taken in to raise. This could answer the question as to why the parents names were not filled out on the death certificate. 

Either Horace did not know who the birth parents were, or he was protecting someone. 

Milford Robert Bradford
Death Certificate
24 February 1930
Ancestry.com image

A picture of my Grandmother, who I called Mimi, shows her with a boy who looks close to her age. It was most likely was taken on her Grandparents farm just outside of Sumter, South Carolina.
Is this Mimi's cousin Jack she remembered playing with? 
For now, his identity is unknown, but perhaps someone seeing this post will be able to let me know. 

Mary (Baker) Hudson
About 1930
Sumter County, South Carolina
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Are there Wednesday's Children in your tree who are a bit of a mystery? I would love to hear about them!

Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.

Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!