Bradford Hale 1st cousin 2 times removed or 2 generations back from Elizabeth Speedy who married Stanley Roose. Bradford Hale on RootsMagic tree.
Bradford Hale was born in Prairieton, Vigo, Indiana. His father’s family, the Hales, and mother’s family, the Angells, were original settlers in Prarieton. Bradford’s grandfathers are featured in the book “History of Vigo and Parke Counties together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources” by H. W. Beckwith. Available at the Vigo County Public Library and on Ancestry.com .
In 1862, at age 18 Bradford enlisted and entered the Civil War. He was part of three regiments:
33rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry
54th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (3 months, 1862)
85th Regiment, Indiana Infantry
The 85th regiment “took part in all the operations before Atlanta and was present at its fall. It engaged in the destruction of railroads and also in the building of roads and bridges.” Source: Index with transcription Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
Bradford ended up at the infamous Confederate Andersonville Prison or Camp Sumter- known for seriously inhumane conditions. Bradford was exchanged the day President Abraham Lincoln died April 15, 1865. The camp was officially liberated May 1865 and today it’s a National Historic site in Georgia, at Wikipedia Andersonville Historic site.
After the war Bradford worked, married later in life and had a daughter. By 1885 he was 44 and a rancher in Chafee Colorado.
Part of Bradford Hale’s military record at the National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online.
Name: Bradford Hale
Enlistment Date: 18 Jun 1862
Rank at enlistment: Private
State Served: Indiana
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company F, Indiana 54th Infantry Regiment on 18 Jun 1862.Mustered out on 18 Sep 1862 at Indiana
Name: Bradford Hale
Side: Union Regiment
State/Origin: Indiana
Regiment Name: 85 Indiana Infantry.
Regiment Name Expanded: 85th Regiment, Indiana Infantry Company: E
Rank In: Private
Rank In Expanded: Private
Rank Out: Private
Rank Out Ex –
Civil War Trust Saving America’s Battlefields provides maps, photos and great detail on the Civil War.
A copy of Bradford’s headstone application c. 1936. Bradford’s great grandfather was Israel Angell, a Revolutionary War Colonel who wrote to and received letters from General George Washington. I wonder if Bradford knew this.

Hale, Bradford. U.S. Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963
National Archives at Washington, D.C.Applications for Headstones,
compiled 01/01/1925 – 06/30/1970, documenting the period ca. 1776 – 1970
ARC: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985,
Record Group 92. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
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