Delbert’s father, Thomas Taylor Bradford, was born in 1846 by some accounts, managing to live a long life, dying in 1938. Thomas had two children by his first wife, Martha, and six more by his second wife, Eliza.
Delbert, born in 1917, was the last of that second batch and he’s the lone survivor. Thomas, the stories go, was very young when he followed his brother, Jack, into the Civil War. Bradford, who lived in Putnam County, Tenn., joined the 8th Tennessee Mounted Infantry Regiment.
Why a Union regiment in the heart of the South? Delbert thinks it may have been due to his father’s volunteering.
While his service time was short —from January to August of 1865 — he managed to serve as a spy because of his young age. He was said to have saved his regiment from capture one time.
Delbert was just 21 when his father died. But Delbert remembers his father telling him about being directed to pick up apples from a farm and the lady there telling him that “the Confederates are right over the hill.”
Delbert said his father actually talked little about the war. “I wish I had asked him more questions,” Delbert said, “but I didn’t.”
Delbert served in the military, too, during World War II, as a medic in North Africa and Italy.
He was employed by NCR and built his own home in Moraine. His son, Randy, who also lives in Moraine, said his father built the house a little at a time when he could afford the lumber.
Delbert and his wife, Mary, have been married 59 years. They also had a daughter, Janie, who is no longer living.
About the Author