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At Meridian, Miss., on October 11, 1921, there passed in the great beyond Capt. John James Bradford, Company G, 3rd Mississippi Regiment, the last surviving captain of those who made up the gallant 3rd Mississippi. Born March 12, 1838, Captain Bradford came of the lineage of the Old South, his great-grandfather having having taken part in the French and Indian war, while his grandfather, John Bradford, a wealthy South Carolina cotton planter, fought for American independence under Gen. Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox." His father, Gabriel Bradford, moved to Alabama and took part in the Florida, or Seminole War, which terminated the career of Osceola, the famous Indian chief. On the maternal side was equally heoric ancestry.

John J. Bradford was born in Conecuh County, Ala., the son of Gabriel and Mary Wingate Bradford, and while he was yet an infant his parents moved to Gainesville, Miss., locating on Pear River in Hancock County, where many of the family connections had found homes. There he grew up in peace and plenty, and while attending school at Salem, Miss., he met Miss Kate Carter, a daughter of the Old South, whom he claimed as a war bride in 1864, at Augusta, Miss.

After leaving Salem, John Bradford studied law and had begun its practice when the war came on. He recruited a company from the boys of his community while an intimate friend, Captain Seal, made up a company along the Gulf Coast, and these two companies were known as the "Buttermilk" and "Mullet" brigades. Captain Bradford's "Buttermilk Brigade" afterwards became Company G, 3rd Mississippi Regiment, Loring's Division, and gave a good account of itself, taking part in the siege of Port Gibson.

In the late seventies Captain Bradford moved to Augusta, Miss., and settled on a tract of land inherited by his wife. They made their home, rearing eight children and living happily. After the death of his wife, he made his home with his children, but a life of inactivity did not please him, and some two years ago, although over eighty years of age, he went into the real estate business in Meridian, Miss. It was there that he died most suddenly, his illness being of but a day or two after most excellent health. Surviving him are five daughters and three sons: Mrs. S. J. Ferguson, New Augusta, Miss.; Mrs. George Dennis, New Augusta, Miss.; Mrs. W. D. Griffin, Cedartown, Ga.; Mrs. R. P. Fikes, Saluda, N. C.; Miss Genevieve Bradford, Washington, D. C.; Abner G. Bradford, Philadelphia, Miss.; J. Roy Bradford, Sapilpa, Okla.; Robert Bradford, La Grande, Oregon. Captain Bradford also leaves a sister-in-law, Mrs. Rachel Fullilove, New Augusta, Miss.; eleven grandchildren also survive him and a brother-in-law, Ex-Lieutenant Governor Prentiss Carter, of Hattiesburg, Miss.

Captain Bradford took great interest in all Confederate affairs, attending all reunions, and he was a life-long subscriber to the Confederate Veteran.

[His niece, Mrs. H. F. Lewis, New Orleans, La.]