Mary Bradbury and Thomas Bradbury had eleven children.
The couple married in the 1630s and built their family in Salisbury, Massachusetts, where Thomas became a prominent community member. Their children included Wymond, Judith, Thomas, Mary, Jane, Jacob, William, Elizabeth, John, Anne, and Jabez. Several died young, reflecting the high mortality risks of seventeenth-century colonial life.
The number is preserved not only in later genealogical summaries but also in Thomas Bradbury’s defense of Mary during the witchcraft proceedings. He described having spent decades with his wife raising “eleven children of our own,” as well as helping care for four grandchildren. That testimony offered a picture of Mary as industrious, charitable, and devoted to her household.
The Bradburys’ family history also shows why Salem-era accusations affected entire communities rather than isolated individuals. Their children and descendants connected the family to other prominent New England households, including the Pike family. The figure eleven refers to their children together, not to grandchildren or other dependents living in the household.