I found an obit for one of Elias' children that listed the birthplace as Fordan, NY. There is no such place, but it is phonetically identical to Fort Ann, NY. I found what i believe to be 4 possible fathers: Zephaniah, James, Nathan and David. All were living in the FOrt Ann area and all had sons the right age in the 1810 and 1820 census. I have done some extensive searching of wills in the several counties in that area and west to Lewis and Jefferson. No will shows up for any of these guys. Is this similar to work you have done? I am working with someone else and we are looking more into WI records to see what other clues we can find.
On a side note, do have a source that links Jeremiah Bradway, Sr to THomas Bradway, his father?