Ellis Richard Bradford and Martha Jane Ragsdale

These are my Great-Grandparents, Ellis Richard Bradford and Martha Jane Ragsdale. My momma always told me the story about how they met and were married. Great grandpa was 21 and great grandma was 14 when they met. And papaw told her, he says “Martha-Jane, I am going to come back in one year, and I’m gonna marry you” and she say’s “Okay”. Romantic, I know. Well, he did, he came back in one year, and they got married. He was 22, and she was 15. A few days after they were married, her daddy came to their home with a shot gun "I come to bring you home, Martha Jane". Martha met him at the front porch, "Dad, I am married now, and this is where I belong." He turn around and went home. By my calculations, that would be 1912. Some time later, Mamaw did get home sick. Papaw, who mamma always said was the most affectionate and sweetest man, he put his foot down. He put his hands on his hips, and he told her "Martha Jane, you are my wife. Now, you can go home, if that's what you want, but if you do, you ain't comin' back" My papaw (my mom’s dad) was, was the youngest of their nine children. Obviously, she stayed.