Profile of the Day: William Bradford

William Bradford

Happy Thanksgiving! While you are gathered with your relatives this holiday, share with them how you’re related to William Bradford, the leader of the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony and organizer of the very first Thanksgiving. A passenger of the Mayflower and a signatory to the Mayflower Compact, Bradford’s journal Of Plymouth Plantation is considered one of the most important historical documents of early American history. Chronicling the early years of the colony’s settlement, his journal provides an important first hand account of the founding of Plymouth colony and the lives of the colonists.

As governor of the Plymouth colony, Bradford organized the first celebratory harvest feast, even inviting the colony’s Native American allies to join in the festivities in what would go down in American lore as the first Thanksgiving.

Do you have Mayflower ancestors? Explore William Bradford’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related!

View William Bradford’s Geni Profile