Identity and wartime setting
Thomas Budd Bradford was an ordained Presbyterian minister in Rick's formally validated Bradford line. By the Civil War years he was living in Dover, Delaware, associated with the Bradford/Loockerman family property.
A biographical account states that after leaving his earlier pastoral charge around 1850, Thomas held no subsequent regular pastoral charge. His family is securely placed in Dover during the war; his son William Bradford was born there in November 1864.
What is documented
Thomas is included because he was an ordained clergyman and documented Civil-War-era ancestor. No military chaplaincy, soldier service, soldier-relief ministry, or specific wartime sermon is currently claimed without additional evidence.
Research path
The Thomas Bradford family papers and related Bradford archival collections are priority sources for wartime letters, civic activity, sermons, family correspondence, or other direct evidence from 1861–1865.