Richard Martin “Brad” Bradshaw 1882-1957

This post about my great-uncle Richard  Bradshaw has been a lot of fun to write, not only because of its gregarious subject, but also because his grandson Jerry Juracich  was gracious enough to collaborate with me.  Jerry knew Richard (or “Brad” as he was known to his contemporaries), and shared some personal recollections.

Richard Martin Bradshaw was born in Chateaugay, NY on November 11, 1882.

In 1890 he was living in Chateaugay, NY at the age of 8 with this Parents,  (Patrick and Johanna) and Brothers Patrick (born 1881),  Agnes (born 1884), and Matthew (born 1889). He was the closest in age to my grandfather Patrick.

We don’t know much about his early years as a young adult, but he certainly moved around a lot.

By 1902, at the age of about 20, he had moved to New England. Various articles in the “Chateaugay Record and Franklin County Democrat” indicate that he lived in Providence Rhode Island in 1902, Boston, MA in 1906, and  Worcester, MA in 1909.

The May 14^th 1909 edition of the Chateaugay Record stated that “Richard Bradshaw, Son of Patrick Bradshaw left on Monday for Seattle, Wash. , here he expects to locate.”.  It would seem that he didn’t quite hit his target, since the 1910 Federal Census shows him living in Portland, Oregon.  His occupation is listed as Hardware Salesman.

He married Myrtle Chase in 1916.  Their Daughter Eileen Evelyn Bradshaw was born April 22^nd, 1918 in Alamosa, CO.

His 1918 draft card showed him living in Alamosa, CO married to Myrtle.  The occupation listed was “Traveling Salesman for the W.C. Nevin Candy Company”.

Sometime later, Richard and Myrtle Divorced.  Richard lost contact with Myrtle and Eileen.

Richard stayed in contact with his brother William  (Billy), who lived in Nevada, Colorado, and finally San Francisco, CA.  Richard is the only one of Billy’s siblings mentioned in his  1927 obituary.

The 1930 Federal Census shows Richard living in San Francisco, CA.  By that time he was Married to Edna (Cresswell) .  He was working as a Sales Manager in the Ice Cream business.

In 1933, the Oakland, CA City Directory shows Richard and Edna living at 4801 Melrose Avenue.  His occupation is listed as Manager at the Samarkand Ice Cream Company.

In August, 1938, he attended a family reunion in Chateaugay NY.  He brought Edna, and his niece Leona Bradshaw Cannon (daughter of his brother Billy).   Click here for a link to the article in the August 19^th , 1938 edition of the Chateaugay Record.

 This picture was taken on the front porch of the family farm during the reunion.  Richard is in the front, third from the left. They’re a grim-looking bunch for the most part.  My dad (age ten or so, first boy on the right) is probably scowling because he and this brothers and father had to sleep in the hayloft.  Getting hay in your knickers is no fun.  Richard, squinting at the camera is the only one displaying even the slightest bit of amusement.

His 1942 draft registration card shows him living with Edna at 1700 Fremont Way, Oakland.  He was running two taverns in Oakland, both named Brad’s. One was at 4900 Bond St.  The other was at 2045 Hopkins Place (now in Berkeley).  The Bond St. Brad’s was at the intersection with Bancroft Ave. which formed a small triangular wedge of land and the tavern occupied the entire wedge.  Richard once advertised by buying an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records stating that Brad’s was the only tavern in the world occupying an entire city block.  The Hopkins Place Brad’s was also on a small triangular wedge of land, but it was a little bigger and had some parking.

Richard reconnected with his daughter Eileen when she was in her twenties.  They remained close for the rest of his life.

In 1992 I corresponded with Richard (Brad’s) daughter Eileen Bradshaw Juracich.   According to Eileen, her father…

“Had a wonderful Irish sense of humor.  Loved to be with people.  In one of his taverns, named “Brad’s”, the baseball legend Billy Martin was a frequent visitor.  Edna and Dad sponsored a Sunday bus to the Oakland baseball games.  In their other tavern, movies of their guests were taken Wednesday night and shown to standing room only audiences on Saturday nights.  They had a Summer Cottage in Almaden, CA where he was the unofficial “Mayor” on Almaden day.”

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Jerry Juracich, Eileen’s son and Richard’s grandson.   He sent along the following recollections:

“Grandpa kept a trailer house in our back yard in Mountain View.  Sometimes he’d hook up the trailer and go on trips.  He told me Mercy Hot Springs was a fun place.  This is about 100 miles from us, so I visited it once in about 1995.  Not much there other than some geyser springs – Oh well.  He told me about going to New Orleans and Havana, Cuba.  I’ve been to New Orleans a few times and it is fun!  I’ve never been to Havana.

We lived on an apricot and cherry ranch with a long gravel driveway and we often had 3 mean dogs.  The dogs would kick up a fuss if a stranger came up to the house.  For some reason, when Grandpa Bradshaw visited, the dogs didn’t challenge him.  He’d tell them to stop smelling and licking and he’d smack them with his tobacco pouch.  He’d fallen asleep in his chair in our living room once and I walked in and one of the dogs was sitting beside him licking his arm.  He’d smack me with his tobacco pouch too.

I remember yelling “Grandpa’s here.” Living on an apricot and cherry ranch was pretty boring, so when Grandpa showed up it was a big deal.  He’d bring candy and gifts and a bottle for my dad and him.  Plus, I think my mom was a little easier on us when he was there.

In the winter of 1955/56 we had severe flooding.  The phones to Almaden were out and my mom was worried about how her dad was doing.  He lived in a summer cottage named “La Casita Escondido” that backed up to a creek.  My mom and I drove out to ‘rescue’ grandpa.  Near Almaden, the water completely covered the road.  It was a great adventure for a 12 year boy.  Grandpa lived on the other side of the creek from the main road.  There were 2 bridges that could be used to get to Grandpa’s house.  The first one was a wooden single track that had already washed out by the time we got there.  The second was a cement bridge which is still there, even today.  We drove to Grandpa’s house, but he wasn’t there.  Then by a stroke of genius or something, mom checked the neighborhood bar/restaurant.  Many of the old guys, including Grandpa were there, smoking and drinking and watching the creek rise from the bar’s back window and generally having a grand time.  Grandpa did not want to be rescued, but mom insisted, and he came back with us to Mountain View.

Grandpa Bradshaw and I shared a room in my parent’s house in Mountain View, CA where he eventually died.  I think he had survived 3 or 4 heart attacks, but not this one.  He was buried at the catholic cemetery in Santa Clara, CA on Winchester Blvd.”

Richard died on April, 23, 1957.

Here’s a timeline of his life.

Thanks again to Jerry for calling me out of the blue and sharing his memories with me.   As I’ve said many times in this blog,  the Chateaugay branch of the Bradshaws has been out of contact with the rest of Patrick and Johanna’s descendants for many decades.   It was a real treat to hear from a long-lost cousin and get his personal recollections.  It made this post much different from those about older siblings Katherine and William.  Those posts were more like archaeological research – trying to build a story by digging up fragments of historical data.  This post about Richard feels  more like  biography than anthropology.

Genealogical research aside, it’s been great to connect with Jerry (and also his sister Kate who I found through Ancestry DNA).  Thanks, cousins!

As always – I comments are welcome.  Let me know what you think!