Elizabeth Betsy GOOSTREE (Absolum4, George3, Richard2, William1) was born Abt. 1799 in
North Carolina, and died Unknown. She married John BRADLEY January 17, 1816 in Sumner
County, Tennessee, son of John Bradley and Mary Simpson. He was born Abt. 1784 in North
Carolina, and died Bef. 1850 in Prob. Greene County, Illinois, (was not in 1850 census).
Elizabeth Betsy Goostree along with her dau. Martha, (19) was listed in the Greene County
Census (of 1850) in the house of her son-in-law Peter Lovell and her dau. Mary Ann with their
two sons. Elizabeth (Goostree) Bradley was 51 years of age. John Bradley, her husband was not
listed. John Bradley may have died by the 1850 census as he was not listed.
For more information on Elizabeth Goostree's family see the contribution Goostree Family of TN & IL.
For more information on John Bradley's family see the contribution Bradley Family.
Children of Elizabeth Goostree and John Bradley are:
Absalom Bradley (son of Elizabeth Betsy Goostree and John Bradley) was born November 10,
1816 in Sumner County, Tennessee, and died September 20, 1896 in Carrollton, Greene County,
Illinois. He married (1) Mary "Polly" Mayberry Abt. 1837, daughter of James Mayberry. She
was born Abt. 1820 in Tennessee, and died Abt. 1845 in Greene County, Illinois. He married (2)
Marilda Mayberry/Maberry October 19, 1846 in ?Pike County, Missouri or Illinois, daughter of
Sander Mayberry/Maberry and Margaret Barnett. She was born December 16, 1830, and died
October 20, 1916.
After the death of his sister and bro-in-law, Mary Ann Bradley (Lovell) and Peter Lovell, he and
his 2nd wife, Miralda, took Mary Ann and Peter Lovell's 2 children to raise, ( Alford, and James
Walter Lovell). He applied for guardianship of and recieved a pension benefit for their care of
these 2 minor children . John evidently had already left home as a young man. It is believed by the
family that he married and had settled in Ohio, and that he had no children. (?)
(More notes) Transcribed by: Carol (Pryor) Hutchins
Children of Absalom Bradley and Mary Mayberry/Maberry are:
Children of Absalom Bradley and Marilda Mayberry/Maberry are:
Mary Ann Bradley (daughter of Elizabeth Betsy Goostree and John Bradley) was born 1827 in
Sumner County, Tennessee, and died July 1858 in Greene County, Illinois. She married Peter
Lovell November 20, 1846 in Greene County, Illinois. He was born 1822 in Portland, Sumner
County, Tennessee, and died February 03, 1864 in Battle of Chicamaugua at Chattanooga,
Hamilton County, Tennessee.
To see more information on this line see the Lovell & Bradley Family
Martha Bradley (daughter of Elizabeth Betsy Goostree and John Bradley) was born September
30, 1832 in Sumner County, Tennessee, and died September 26, 1890 in Bluffdale, Greene
County, Illinois. She married William Raines April 18, 1852 in Greene County, Illinois. He was
born 1832 in Ohio, and died in Greene County, Illinois.
Children of Martha Bradley and William Raines are:
page 510 GREENE COUNTY (__elig__)
BRADLEY, ABSALOM. farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 9. P.O. Carrollton. Although not among
the early settlers of Greene County is worthy of more than a passing ( elig ) in this volume; he was
born in Sumner Co. Tennessee, on the 10th of November, 1816; the eldest son of John Bradley
and Elizabeth Bradley, whose maiden name was Goostree. Remaining a resident of Tennessee
until attaining the age of majority, he then embarked on a prairie schooner for the fertile prairies
of Illinois He was then married, having united his fortunes to Miss Mary Mayberry, a daughter of
James Mayberry, a native of North Carolina. Without entering into particulars do to the trip over
a boundless waste of prairie, we note the arrival of the family in Greene County in1837, locating
two miles west of Carrollton, on the farm now owned by Mrs. David Black. In order to show the
daring nature of the pioneer, on the arrivalin Greene County he had but seventy-five cents in
money wherewith to commence the battle of life: he first worked for ten dollars a month and
subsequently split rails, thereby emulating the example of Honest Old Abe. In 1849 he made his
first purchase of land in Greene County, ____ tling of 40 acres which he subsequently sold and
purchased 100; since this time Mr. Bradley has added largely to his property now owning 340
acres of land unequaled in this township. For a period of forty-one years Mr. Bradley has been a
resident of this county and during this time has witnessed many stirring events ________
to a western life. In 1845 Mrs. Bradley, who had shared the dangers of a ____ trip, passed to
that world of spirits __ ___ __ __ _____, leaving to the care of her husband three children
Reuben, Johnathan, and Mary. October 19, 1846, Mr. Bradley united his fortunes to Miss
Miralda Mabery, a daughter of ? B______er Maybery, of Tennessee, by whom he had ten
children, seven of whom are living, Zachariah Taylor, Laura Ann, Allen C., Dora E., Eliza F.,
Maggie E., and Robert E.
Return to Sumner County, TN Family Album