BRADFORD, WILLIAM , American colonial printer, was born in Leicestershire, England, on May 20, 1663. He learned the printer's trade in London and in 1682 emigrated with William Penn to Pennsylvania, where in 1685 he introduced the "art and mystery" of printing. His first imprint was an almanac, Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense or America's Messenger (1685). In 1690, with William Rittenhouse (1644-1708) and others, he established in Roxboro (Pa.), now a part of Phila delphia, the first paper-mill in America. In the spring of 1693 he removed to New York, where he was appointed royal printer for the colony, a position which he held for more than 5o years. On Nov. 8, 1725, he issued the first number of the New York Gazette, the first paper established in New York and from 1725 to 5733 the only paper in the colony. Bradford died in New York on May His son, ANDREW SOWLE BRADFORD (1686-1742), removed from New York to Philadelphia in 1712, and there on Dec. 22, 1719, issued the first number of the American Weekly Mercury, the first newspaper in the Middle Colonies. Benjamin Franklin, for a time a compositor in the office, characterized the paper as "a paltry thing, in no way interesting"; but it was continued for many years and was edited by Bradford until his death.
The latter's nephew, WILLIAM BRADFORD (I 722-91) , established in Dec. 1742 the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, which was for 6o years under his control or that of his son, and which in 1774-75 bore the oft-reproduced device of a divided serpent with the motto "Unite or Die." He served in the War of American Independence, rising to the rank of colonel. His son, WILLIAM BRADFORD also served in the War of Inde pendence, and afterwards was attorney-general of Pennsylvania (1791), a judge of the supreme court of the State, and in 95 attorney-general of the United States.