BRADFORD, Joseph, journalist, born near Nashville, Tennessee, 24 October, 1843i died in Boston, Massachusetts, 13 April, 1886. His real name was William Randolph Hunter. He was appointed to the United States naval academy in 1859, but did not take a full course. In 1862 he entered the navy, and served with distinction until 1864, when he resigned on account of illness. He turned to the stage, making his first appearance in Baltimore, and at that time assumed the name of Joseph Bradford, Bradford having been his mother's maiden name. He remained upon the stage several years, during which time he was connected with stock companies in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston. But, although he achieved a fair measure of success in the profession, especially in a certain type of eccentric light comedy, which he played with great delicacy and beauty, his natural bent was toward literature. The last fifteen years of his life were mainly passed in Boston, and were devoted to dramatic, journalistic, and general literary work. Among his most successful plays were "Our Bachelors," "One of the Finest," and "The Cherubs." All of these had long runs, and the first two are still popular. His humor was exemplified in a series of satirical verses, mostly political, published in the Boston dailies. Some of his serious poems, notably those on the deaths of Victor Hugo, Vice-President Hendricks, and General Grant, were widely copied. A collection of his poems, edited by his widow, is now (1886) in press.