William Bradford was now twenty-one years of age, a man, and is believed to have invested a part of his inheritance in some type of mercantile business. However, he did retain enough funds to purchase a house in Leyden, Holland where the Puritans had now escaped too to pursue their religious freedom. In Leyden he also worked as a weaver.
Also while in Holland, Bradford learned the Dutch language as well as a certain amount of Latin and Hebrew. Furthering his knowledge, he studied literature and acquired a fair-sized library. These collected books he brought with him to America.
In 1617, in Holland, although Bradford was only twenty-seven years old, the elders of his congregation chose him to become a member of the committee that would make the arrangements for the group's venture to the New World that would take place in 1620. Seven years earlier he had wed Dorothy May, his first wife, in Amsterdam. Together, with the others of their church, they left Holland and sailed for England to joined others waiting there to make a new home in America.
Recommended Readings:
Sources:
Athearn, Robert G. The New World: American Heritage New Illustrated History of the United States, Volume 1. Dell Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1963.
Bradford, William. Samuel Eliot Morison, Editor. Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991.
