Bradshaw, Samuel Mays, 1852-1925

BRADSHAW, KITTERMAN, NIEUHUIS, NIX

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:33

From the Rock Valley Bee, August 14, 1925:

DR. S. M. BRADSHAW CALLED

Dr. S. M. Bradshaw passed away at his home in Rock Valley early Sunday morning, August 9th, aged seventy-two years, nine months and ten days. He had not been in the best of health for a week or more, but was up and around and down town as usual almost every day. His sudden death was due to heart trouble.

Dr. Bradshaw was a man who was very highly thought of wherever he was known, and his sudden death is a great shock to his family and friends. He will long be remembered by those who knew him best. He was a man of quiet and unassuming disposition. He always had a kind word of greeting to those whom he met, and was always thoughtful for the welfare of others, and he will be greatly missed by his many friends here.

The subject of this sketch was born in Kentucky in 1852. When he was five years old, his parents moved onto a farm in Perry county, Indiana, where he grew to young manhood, and received his education in the public schools and in the academy at Marengo. He taught school for a few years, but later took up the study of medicine in the Louisville Medical College, from which he graduated in 1856[i.e., 1886]. He located at Little Rock, Iowa, and after a few years of practice there, he moved to George, Iowa, where he practiced his profession with marked success for several years.

Dr. Bradshaw was a member of the United States Medical Board for the examination of applicants for pensions. He resigned this position after a membership of six years. While in George he was a member of the Board of Health and also of the School Board for several years. He also practiced his profession at Boyden, Iowa for some time, from there moving to Rock Valley in 1913.

In 1878 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Kitterman. Six children were born to them; one, Mrs. E. T. Gilman, preceded her father in death in April 1922. In September 1907, the wife and mother was called to her reward. Seven years later Dr. Bradshaw was married to Miss Elsi[Elsie] Nieheuis[Niehuis] on the 24th day of November 1914, who is left to mourn. He also leaves little Edward who has made his home with them; his son Marcus of South Sioux City; Mrs. Betty Parden of Paullina, Iowa; Lee, of Stockton, California, and Josephine Hart of Grand Island, Nebraska; 17 grand children, besides other more distant relatives and many friends.

Funeral services were held in the Methodist church in Rock Valley Tuesday afternoon, Rev. Bergman having charge of the services.

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A similar obituary was published in the Alton Democrat, August 21, 1925, Rock Valley news. It adds that little Edward has made his home with them since the death of his mother, Mrs. Edd. Knoor.

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RESEARCH NOTES

His death certificate has Samuel Mays Bradshaw, doctor, born October 29, 1852, in Kentucky; parents Thomas Bradshaw and Sarah Nix, their birthplaces not known; wife Elsie Bradshaw; informant, Betty Pardon; died in Rock Valley, of which he had been a resident for 20 years, on August 9, 1925, at 4 a.m.; cause angina pectoris, which he had had for two months; buried Rock Valley cemetery.

The 1920 U.S. census shows him living in Rock Valley with wife Elsie (43), born Holland, and sister-in-law Effie Postma (47), born Holland, a housekeeper, private family.

The Sioux County marriage register, 1914-1915, shows him, age 60, marrying Elsie Niewhuis[Nieuhuis] of Rock Valley, age 38, born Chicago, Ill., daughter of Sebe Nieuhuis and Elizabeth Van der Meden[?], in Rock Valley on November 24, 1914.

The Directory of Deceased American Physicians on Ancestry.com shows him as an allopath, graduated from the Louisville Medical College in 1886, licensed in Iowa in 1889.