Isle of Wight-Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Bradshaw, William M., 1938 

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WILLIAM MILLS BRADSHAW 

W.M. BRADSHAW, ONE OF OUR BEST CITIZENS, PASSES WEDNESDAY 

   William Mills Bradshaw, familiarly known to his host of friends as "Buddy," 
died Wednesday night about 10:30 in Raiford Hospital as the result of an 
infected foot caused by stepping on a rusty nail about six weeks ago.  Mr. 
Bradshaw was one of our county’s most valuable citizens and the largest 
individual dairy operator in the Franklin area.  He had operated the Riverview 
Dairy on the Pretlow Farm just south of Franklin for 20 years, which he had 
continually enlarged and improved until it was the show place of the entire 
community and one of the finest dairies in Virginia.  His example as a good 
and straight forward man, a farmer and dairyman had been invaluable to his 
county, and few men of our acquaintance numbered more friends than he.

   W.M. Bradshaw was born in Isle of Wight County near Beaver Dam Baptist 
Church 54 years ago, the son of the late Amos F. and Mrs. Cherry Ophelia 
Daughtrey Bradshaw.  He was a consistent member of Beaver Dam Church and of 
the Bruner Bible Class of the Franklin Baptist Church.  He was twice married, 
first to Miss Meredith Lucille Bradshaw of Nansemond County, who died 19 years 
ago, their children being: Miss Rena Bradshaw of Murfreesboro, N.C., W.M. 
Bradshaw, Jr. and Misses Helen and Lucille Bradshaw of Franklin.  His second 
wife who survives him, was before her marriage Miss Zella Howell, daughter of 
the late W.F. Howell of Franklin, and there are three children of this union, 
Ann, Jacqueline and Barbara Bradshaw, all of Franklin.  He also is survived by 
one brother, Elmer A. Bradshaw; three sisters, Mrs. Paul Carr and Mrs. C.E. 
Bunn of Franklin, and Mrs. Ernest Taylor of Portsmouth, besides a number of 
nieces and nephews and a wide family connection.

   Funeral services will be held from the residence on the South Quay highway
Friday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock by his pastor, Rev. J.T. Garland Moore, 
assisted by the Rev. R.D. Stephenson.  Burial will follow in the cemetery of 
Beaver Dam Church.  Active pallbearers will be George Watkins, George R. 
Brown, W. Hunter Scott, Roger I. Beale, Leland P. Simmons, C.A. Cutchins, Jr., 
Lloyd A. Whitley and W.T. Pace, Jr.

****************************************************************************** 

WILLIAM MILLS BRADSHAW 

HOLD FUNERAL RITES FOR W.M. BRADSHAW 

   Funeral rites for W.M. Bradshaw, whose death was recorded in last week’s 
News, were held from his home on the Riverview Dairy Farm last Friday 
afternoon at 3:30 o’clock in the presence of approximately 1,200 people, 
one of the largest gatherings ever assembled here on a similar occasion.  Rev. 
J.T. Garland Moore, pastor of Beaver Dam Baptist Church where Mr. Bradshaw had 
been a member for many years, conducted the services assisted by Rev. R.D. 
Stephenson of the Franklin Baptist Church. Mrs. F.E. Howell, Mrs. H.G. Cobb, 
Ernest Brinkley and Percy Bunch sang "Rock of Ages" and "Beautiful Isle of 
Somewhere" during the rites.  The casket was covered with a pall of red roses 
and valley lilies, other floral offerings being unusually large and beautiful. 
Burial was held in the family plot at Beaver Dam Cemetery, the pallbearers 
being: George Watkins, George R. Brown, W. Hunter Scott, Clifford A. Cutchins, 
Roger I. Beale, W.T. Pace, Jr., Lloyd A. Whitley and Leland P. Simmons.

   Mr. Bradshaw who was 54 years old is survived by his widow, Mrs. Geneva 
Zella Bradshaw; six daughters, Miss Rena Bradshaw, of Murfreesboro, and Misses 
Helen, Lucille, Ann Jacqueline and Barbara Bradshaw, of Franklin; a son, W.M. 
Bradshaw, Jr. of Franklin; three sisters, Mrs. Paul Carr and Mrs. C.E. Bunn, 
of Franklin, and Mrs. Ernest Taylor of Portsmouth; a brother, Elmer A. 
Bradshaw, of Franklin and a number of nieces and nephews.

   The picture used of Mr. Bradshaw here shows him with his youngest daughter, 
Barbara, and is typical of the vigorous out-door life he led on his fine farm 
here which he had built up and improved to a high degree of fertility, the 
large dairy he maintained there being a show place of this entire section.  A 
large number of dairymen from throughout Tidewater Virginia, including leading 
officials of several dairying organizations with which Mr. Bradshaw was 
affiliated, attended the funeral.


William Mills BRADSHAW, of Riverview Dairy Farm, Franklin, 
Isle of Wight Co. native, d. 29 Jun 1938, Franklin, age 54, 
interred in Beaver Dam Baptist Church Cemetery*, near Franklin, 1 Jul 1938, 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), July 1, 1938, p. 1; 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), July 8, 1938, p. 1 

*His parents are also buried there. 
   Beaver Dam list (BD-12 & -8), an extension of the 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/cemeteries/bvrdam.txt 

His widow's obit ("Tidewater News," Mar. 26, 1948, p. 12) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b632g5ob.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager Matt Harris. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/b632w2ob.txt