George Benjamin Bridges was born in 1762 on the Cape Fear River, near Elizabethtown, Bladen, North Carolina. After serving several tours in the Revolutionary Army as a drummer boy, he married Nancy Edwards in Newberry co., South Carolina in 1788. Around 1798, the young family moved to Kentucky, where they stayed until around 1813, when they relocated to IL.
In 1814, George purchased 160 acres of land from the federal government, T3N R7W, SE section, in Jarvis Township, Madison, IL. Two of his sons, William and George, lived not too far down the road from him in O'Fallon township, St. Clair, IL. Three other sons (Allen, Charles, and Joseph) lived in various counties throughout IL, including Sangamon, McLean, and Madison, before eventually moving to and settling in Harrison co., MO. A database of all of George's descendants, when found, is being maintained by Jim Bridges, the author of this webpage.
Six generations of Bridges, beginning with George's son William, have lived in St. Clair co., IL. As of 1995, however, the last descendant remaining in St. Clair county, Ralph Richard Bridges of Lebanon, passed away.
The Bridges family has been traced back to Charles Bridges, a portrait painter, b 1670 in England, several of whose paintings hang in William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Click here to go to a webpage carrying an in-progress nationwide census listing of the surname BRIDGES.