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General Joseph Bridger (before 28 Apr 1631 – before 8 May 1686) was a military and political figure in the
General Joseph Bridger (before 28 Apr 1631 – before 8 May 1686) was a military and political figure in the Colony of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
. Some sources relate him as "Colonel" (Col.) Bridger.
Born in Gloucester, England
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of ...
, in 1631, he was the son of Samuel Bridger, the auditor of the College of Gloucester. Bridger served as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...
from Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Isle of Wight County is a county located in the Hampton Roads region of the U.S. state of Virginia. It was named after the Isle of Wight, England, south of the Solent, from where many of its early colonists had come. As of the 2020 census, th ...
in the 1657-8 session, as well as in 1663. According to some sources, Bridger was later a co-acting Colonial Governor of Virginia
This is a list of colonial governors of Virginia.
Some of those who held the lead role as governor of Virginia never visited the New World and governed through deputies resident in the colony. Others, such as Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, hel ...
in 1684, and 1685.
During Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Colony of Virginia, Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon (Virginia colonist), Nathaniel Bacon against List of colonial governors of Virginia, Colon ...
, Bridger was an adherent of Governor William Berkeley.
Several of Bridger's descendants also served in the House of Burgesses.
He died in 1686, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He was interred at St. Luke's Church, in Smithfield, Virginia
Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census.
The town is most famous for the curing and production ...
.
Family
Joseph Bridger married ca. 1654 Hester Pitt, daughter of Colonel Robert Pitt of Isle of Wight Co., Va. The children of Joseph Bridger and Hester Pitt were: * Capt. Joseph II (ca. 1654 - by 1713/4) who married Elizabeth Norsworthy * Martha (ca. 1658 - 1714), married Thomas Godwin * Col. Samuel (ca. 1663 - by 1713), married Elizabeth Godwin * Col. William (ca. 1668 -1730), married Elizabeth Allen * Elizabeth (ca. 1665 - 1717), married Thomas Lear * Mary (ca 1667 - ), married Capt. Richard Tibboth * Hester (1665 - ca. 1722), married George WilliamsonSee also
Among Governor Bridger's descendants were: *Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...
, mountain man
A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...
and explorer of the American Northwest
*Robert Rufus Bridgers
Robert Rufus Bridgers (November 28, 1819 – December 10, 1888) was a Confederate politician during the American Civil War.
Biography
Bridgers was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on November 28, 1819. He graduated from the Universi ...
, North Carolina politician of the Civil War era
*Bridger family of Virginia The Bridger family of Virginia is notable to American history. Relevant figures include Joseph Bridger and Jim Bridger, as well as some less-known contributors to American colonial, pioneer, and Civil War history.
Joseph Bridger
The foremost pr ...
References
External links
* https://bridgerfamilyassociation.wordpress.com/bridger-family-association/ * http://tk-jk.net/Bridgers/Shaggy/fog0000000027.html * https://books.google.com/books/about/Seventeenth_Century_Isle_of_Wight_County.html?id=Z2AAvycdC94C 1631 births 1684 in the Thirteen Colonies 1685 in the Thirteen Colonies 1686 deaths 17th century in Virginia 17th-century Anglicans English Anglicans American Anglicans Bridger family Colonial American generals Colonial governors of Virginia House of Burgesses members English emigrants Military history of the Thirteen Colonies People from Gloucester People from Isle of Wight County, Virginia Christians from Virginia {{US-mil-hist-stub