Susan Bradford Eppes Papers

Susan Branch Bradford Eppes was born at Pine Hill Plantation, Leon County, March 8, 1848 and died July 2, 1942, in Tallahassee. Eppes was the daughter of Dr. Edward Bradford and a descendant of William Bradford, former governor of Massachusetts. Her mother was Martha Branch Bradford, daughter of John Branch, who was governor of North Carolina and territorial governor of Florida.

Eppes is known for her historical writings and civic activities. She was a member of the Swedenborgian church, member of Anna Jackson Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Southern Women's Memorial Association, Honorary State President of the Florida Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Caroline Brevard Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and honorary member of the Tallahassee Woman's Club.

Mrs. Eppes started her studies in the school at Pine Hill Plantation, maintained for the children of the four Bradford brothers, whose plantations were adjacent. She began keeping a diary when eight years old, and records of events of those years furnished much of the material for her book, Through Some Eventful Years (1926). Other works by Eppes include The Negro of the Old South (1925), and Verses from Florida (1938).

Susan Branch Bradford married Nicholas Ware Eppes on November 1, 1866. Their children were: Edward Bradford Eppes, Susan Ware Eppes, Francis Eppes, Martha Branch Eppes, Elizabeth Cleland Eppes, and Allice Bradford Eppes.  Nicholas Eppes was a great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson who attended military school at Tallahassee and was Captain of the Cadets at the West Florida Seminary.  He later became Leon County's Commissioner of Public Instruction.