William Bradford (November 4, 1729 – July 6, 1808) was a physician, lawyer, and United States Senator from Rhode Island. He was born at Plympton, Massachusetts to Lt. Samuel Bradford and Sarah Gray, and was the great-great-grandson of the William Bradford who had been Governor of the Plymouth Colony. He first studied medicine at Hingham, Massachusetts and then practiced at Warren, Rhode Island.
William moved to Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, Rhode Island, and was elected to the colonial assembly in 1761 . (He would be elected to additional terms at various times up until 1803, and served as Speaker of the Assembly in several terms.) He expanded his abilities with the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1767, and established a practice at Bristol. He served as deputy to the Governor from 1775 to 1778 . He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776, but did not attend.
Bradford served on the Committee of Safety of Bristol County, Rhode Island and from 1773 to 1776 on the Committee of Correspondence for the Rhode Island colony. When the British Navy bombarded Bristol on October 7, 1775 his home was among the buildings destroyed. He afterwards went aboard ship to negotiate a cease fire.
After the United States government was established, Bradford was elected to the United States Senate and took office on March 4, 1793. He was the President pro tempore of the Senate from July 6, 1797 until he resigned from the Senate in October of that year. He returned to his home in Bristol and died there in 1808 . Originally buried in Bristol's East Burying Ground, his grave was later moved to the Juniper Hill Cemetery.
In 1790, his daughter Nancy Ann married future U.S. Senator James DeWolf. He was the great-great-grandfather of artist and publisher Charles Dana Gibson.
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