When I moved to Manchester, NH in 1986, I had no idea that that there was so much family history there. Several of Pat and Johanna’s offspring lived in Manchester for a time, and at least two (Alice and Mayme) are buried there.

I don’t know a lot about Mayme’s day to day life, or what she was like, but I can say that I LITERALLY walk in her footsteps. Usually on the way to cash a check or pick up a meatball sub. “What the hell does that mean?” you may ask. Read on…

Mary Emelda (Mayme) Bradshaw, the third child of Patrick and Johanna Bradshaw was born June 10th, 1872 in Chateaugay, NY. She appears as a child in the 1875 New York State Census and the 1880 Federal census in Chateaugay.

According to my dad, her name was pronounced “Mame” – one syllable, not “Mamie”, as you might expect. Not that it matters, I suppose, but it’s just one more little fact that we can hold onto for another generation or two.

My Uncle John wrote that Mayme and her younger sister Alice moved to Manchester some time at the late 1800s, most likely to find work in the Amoskeag Textile Mills(fear not – the next biographical post will be all about Aunt Alice). We don’t know when they left, but neither of them appear in Chateaugay in the 1900 Federal Census. Other sources say that Aunt Alice was 16 when she moved to Manchester, so a best guess would be 1890.

Mayme married John Delaney on January 27th, 1903, in Haverill MA. John was a Taylor who (according to Uncle John) had a contract for Policeman’s uniforms. They had no children.

The 1910 census shows the couple living at 123 Oakland Street. Mayme’s occupation is listed as Saleswoman – grocery store. They lived at that location through at least 1927.

In 1927 John received an inheritance from Charles Rowell, the employer of Alice Bradshaw, Mayme’s sister. Charles passed away with no heirs, and left most of his fortune to to Alice who had been working for the family for decades. The only other individual named in his will was Mayme’s husband John , who received $10,000, or about $139,000 in 2018 dollars.

By 1930 they had moved to farm in Londonderry. John is listed in the 1930 census as a Farmer, and no occupation for Mayme is listed.

I doubt that Mayme and her husband changed careers and lifestyles so dramatically out of economic need. Both were in their mid-fifties. A career change to farming in late middle age sounds more like a retirement strategy, especially given the fact that John had received the inheritance from Charles Rowell.

My grandparents visited Mayme sometime in 1930, and brought along their sons John and Gerald, who would have been in their early teens by then.

CA 1930 Mayme Bradshaw Delaney (Left) , Pat Bradshaw (Second From Left), John Bradshaw (fourth from Left), Gerald Bradshaw (Seated), “Junior” (Right) – **CLICK TO ENLARGE**

A few observations about this photo:

1) I am guessing that this was taken at Mayme and John’s house. The tidy house and surroundings seem more New England than Franklin County, NY.

2) I can’t identify the man in the middle of the photo below, but he’s probably John Delaney.

3) Pat (my Grandfather) seems at ease, and is almost smiling. In most photos he’s a pretty grim fellow. The other adults seem to be enjoying themselves too. The boys look miserable.

4) Gerald and Junior’s footwear is pretty impressive for the early 30’s. And those knickers – wow.

Here’s another picture of Mayme and her nephews. Not sure what was going on, but these boys did not seem happy to be there.

Mayme Delaney and Nephews: L-R John Bradshaw, Gerald Bradshaw (rear) “Junior”, Mayme **CLICK TO ENLARGE**

Farm life didn’t last long. John died in 1933. Shortly after, Mayme moved into an apartment in Manchester where she lived for the rest of her life. The apartment was on Elm Street, just a couple miles from her sister Alice’s home on River Road.

The apartment building (1480 Elm) is still there, about a quarter mile from where I work. I walk by it every so often on my way to the bank or to Pappy’s Pizza, which are both right across the street.

She died in 1941 at the age of 68, and is buried in the Rowell Family plot in Manchester’s Pine Grove Cemetery. Her obituary stated that she was a Christian Scientist.

Here’s a timeline of her life.

Thanks once again for reading. If there are any long lost cousins out there who can make any additions or corrections, please let me know.

P.S. – Comments are always most welcome

P.P.S. If you would like to subscribe to the blog, and recieve email notifications when posts go up, you can enter your email address in the form on the top right of the screen.

Here’s another post on the family of Richard Martin Bradshaw (1882 – 1957), focusing on his daughter Eileen. It’s a great story. Thanks once again to Jerry Juracich for writing this. All the words below are his. It’s such a great piece, with so much detail, I wouldn’t presume to change a thing.

Here’s a link to the first post about Richard (Brad) Bradshaw

How Eileen met her dad, Richard Bradshaw

In 1918 Eileen Evelyn Bradshaw was born in Alamosa Colorado. Her mother, Myrtle Chase and Eileen’s father, Richard M Bradshaw divorced before Eileen’s earliest recollections. What Eileen knew of her father came from whatever her mother told her. Eileen lived with her mother, Myrtle until Myrtle died of breast cancer in 1927. No one knew how to find Eileen’s dad, Richard, so after her mother’s death Eileen lived with her mother’s people, the Chases in north east California and Southern Oregon. The Chases were poor people and none could afford to give her a permanent home. Eileen lived with one aunt and uncle after another until she finished high school. Eileen then attended St. Joseph’s Hospital College of Nursing in San Francisco and graduated with her RN.

In 1940, Eileen married John N Juracich. At the time Eileen was in St. Joseph Nursing School and John was in the Navy. Sometime after this, the ship John was on was torpedoed and sunk and the crew was forced to abandon ship. John and many of his fellow crewmen were rescued. A few years after this, when John had reached the rank of W-4 warrant officer, John was on another ship that got torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Italy. After being rescued, based on his previous experience, John knew of the chaos that would follow. As an officer, John was able to send a telegram to Eileen telling her he was okay. In the ensuing chaos the Navy listed John among the dead and the San Francisco papers carried the story. Because John had been erroneously reported as dead, when he got out of the Navy, the San Francisco newspapers did a brief bio on him. The bio included the fact that he and his wife, the former Eileen Bradshaw now had a son.

Richard Bradshaw left Colorado and ended up in the San Francisco bay area in California. Somewhere along the way Richard married Edna Cresswell. Edna saw the article in the San Francisco newspaper along with Eileen’s maiden name, Bradshaw. She realized this could be the long lost daughter her husband had told her about. At that time Richard and Edna had a summer place in Almaden, California, about 25 miles from Los Altos, where John and Eileen lived. Father and daughter reunited. Of course there was some mistrust at first, but over the years they became very close. When Richard could no longer live alone he moved in with John and Eileen and spent his final years in their home.

Told by Jerry Juracich, Eileen’s son.

Month: November 2018

Mayme Bradshaw Delaney 1872-1941

How Eileen Met Her Dad

How Eileen met her dad, Richard Bradshaw