General Info:
NEW IN 2017: brand new exhibition, "Four Bradford Daughters: Lives Well Lived." The culmination of a multi-year project to reinterpret the house to tell the story of the four Bradford daughters! Contemplate the tumultuous 19th century through the experiences of the Bradford daughters. Family-friendly activities and introductory video available. Sarah Hickling Bradford supervised the initial construction stages of this Federal-style home while her husband, Capt. Gershom Bradford, was held captive by the French. This dramatic beginning was the start of a lively and full household in which the Bradfords raised their young children and maintained an extended family. But the story of the Bradford House did not end with Gershom’s death….in fact, for the remainder of the 19th century, the house was owned and operated by women - his wife and daughters. In an age when female autonomy was rare, the accomplishments of these women should not be underestimated. During the 19th century the Bradford family was active in many of the social movements of the day, including anti-slavery, temperance, vegetarianism and alternative medicine. They knew and were related to famous Transcendentalists. They were educated and vibrant. Indeed, all four Bradford daughters raised in the house were accomplished women: Maria was an educator who married the abolitionist minister, Rev. Claudius Bradford; Elizabeth was a painter and amateur botanist; and Lucia and Charlotte were both Civil War nurses. Charlotte’s extraordinary career spanned stints on Civil War transport ships, in major D.C. hospitals, and finally as the Matron for the Home for Wives and Mothers under the U.S. Sanitary Commission and her mentor, Dorothea Dix. In addition to a household of Bradford furnishings, the family also preserved thousands of letters, log books, journals and other documents, making them one of the best documented families in Duxbury. Their stories, both particular to the family and yet universal to the time they lived, are told against the backdrop of this unique house.