John Bradford moved to what became Halifax County around 1745 and lived near the town of Enfield, NC. He married Patience Reed in Edgecombe County in 1750.

In the meantime, the determined spirit of the people of Halifax was seen in all parts of the province, resisting English rule, in North Carolina's long stride toward independence.

John Bradford was elected to represent Halifax County in the Colonial Assembly during 1766-1768. He was sent as a delegate to the first Provincial Congress in Newbern on the 25th of August, 1774.

He was elected to represent Halifax County at the 3rd Provincial Congress held in Hillsborough in August and September of 1775.

John Bradford served on the Halifax Safety Committee. He was once again a delegate to the 4th Provisional Congress on April 12, 1776, where the Halifax Resolves were adopted. This radical and important resolution was this nation's first real step towards American Independence. The Halifax Resolves were a call to action: uniting these thirteen separate colonies against Great Britain. This bold action was the precursor of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Bradford again was a delegate to the fifth Provincial Congress.

On September 9, 1775, Bradford was commissioned as Colonel/Commandant over the Halifax County Regiment of Militia: an officer in the Revolutionary War; later, he became a judge and was elected as a State Senator from Halifax County in 1777, and served as a member of Congress in North Carolina.

At Col. John Bradford's death in 1787, his son, Henry Bradford, inherited the house and 345 acres of the original Land Grant, given his father by Lord Granville.