Radford
This is a rather strange situation. I knew at least one of our subscribers was looking for Radfords. We had some neighbors in Fayetteville with that surname, so I decided to see how many Radford people I could find. I could not find many, but there were a few in Fayette, Raleigh, and Kanawha Counties in West Virginia, as well as in Bedford County, Virginia.
I searched many online sources, and the results are below. The very last thing I decided to do was look for the oldest Radford death in the U.S. on Find-a-Grave. One of the oldest was Reuben Radford. He was born in Virginia but died in Georgia. Surprise, surprise, one of his daughters was Sallie Radford, who married my ancestor Henry Tye. I had her name, but not her father’s, so this is a big discovery for me. It’s certainly surprising where your instincts can take you sometimes. (Of course, this is all pending further verification. There do appear to be some problems.) I hope you find something equally surprising if you have any Radfords in your tree.1 It has been stated by other researchers that the wife’s name on Reuben’s monument is not correct. Her name was actually Elizabeth Hackworth.
Surname Focus: Radford
Radford in Fayette County at Find-a-Grave
Radford in Raleigh County at Find-a-Grave
Radford in Kanawha County at Find-a-Grave
Radford in Greenbrier County at Find-a-Grave
Radford in Monroe County at Find-a-Grave
Radford in Bedford County, Virginia, at Find-a-Grave
Radford Births in Fayette County
Radford Births in Raleigh County
Radford Births in Kanawha County
Radford in History of Charlestown and Kanawha County
Radford in History of Fayette County, West Virginia at FamilySearch.org, pages 724 (page view 740) and 576 (page view 592)
Radford in Historical Notes of Fayette County, West Virginia at FamilySearch.org, page viewer 124, 125, 126, 129, 130, 177
Radford Family Histories at FamilySearch.org
Our Noble Heritage: The Radford, Stanton, Bennett Family History
There are other Radford genealogies at FamilySearch.org, but you cannot view them online. You have to go to a facility that has Family Search books and microfilm.
From Hardesty’s Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia, Illustrated at Archive.org: (1839-1914)
Du Val Radford:
Col. R. C. W. Radford
R. W. C. Radford and Winston Radford
Bedford County in the Civil War
From West Virginia and Its People at FamilySearch.org, p. 357
From Ancestry.com: Lewis Madison Radford
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61063009/reuben-radford: accessed 9 July 2023), memorial page for Reuben Radford (1754–1819), Find a Grave Memorial ID 61063009, citing Radford Cemetery, Bostwick, Morgan County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Karen (contributor 47026177).