Alameda County Biographies

JOSEPH RICHARD BRADWAY, M.D.

Transcribed 2-28-05  Marilyn R. Pankey

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

	Joseph Richard Bradway, M.D., of Oakland, was born in Carlisle, Schoharie county, New 
York, June 5, 1818, a son of Benoni and Althea W. (Vandervere) Bradway, natives of New York 
State.  The father, born about 1792, a carriage maker by trade, became a manufacturer in that 
line, chiefly at Carlisle, until he moved to Delavan, Wisconsin, in 1844, where he continued 
that business until his death in 1846.  Grandfather Richard Bradway, born in New York or just 
across the line in an adjoining State, of Huguenot ancestry, settled in America, was also a 
carriage maker, and died about 1808, comparatively young, leaving five children, of whom one 
son lived to the age of seventy, another to that of fifty-five, and the eldest child--the 
father of Dr. Bradway--to fifty-four.  His widow, Huldah (Rouse) Bradway, born about 1772, of 
mixed Spanish and Portuguese ancestry, lived to the age of eighty-four.  The maternal ancestry 
of Dr. Bradway is of Knickerbocker and English blood, his grandparents being John and Polly 
(Sweetman) Vandervere, both natives of New Jersey and there married.  Soon after that event 
they settled in Schoharie county, New York, the husband being then aged twenty-two.  His chief 
occupation was farming, and he lived to the age of about seventy.  His wife was a daughter of 
Captain Sweetman, of the Revolutionary army, who settled in New Jersey after the close of the 
war for independence, and there lived to a good old age.
	J. R. Bradway, the subject of this sketch, attended the district schools to about 
fifteen years of age, then the Schoharie Academy for two terms, and the Gallupville Academy one 
term.  Then he taught school for two seasons, and at the age of twenty entered the Rensselaer 
Institute at Troy, New York.  Two years later he was graduated a Bachelor of Natural Science, 
and also received a diploma as Civil Engineer.  He followed the business of land surveying for 
some time, and in 1842 opened a select school in Delavan, Wisconsin.  Having for some years 
entertained a preference for the medical profession, which had been emphasized by his studies 
in natural science in the Rensselaer Institute, he now took up the study of medicine, under the 
guidance of Dr. H. Hunt, the leading physician of Delavan, continuing these private studies 
under such favorable auspices for two years while conducting his school.  He went to Chicago to 
complete his professional education at Rush Medical College, where he graduated in March, 1847.  
Returning to Delavan, he there practiced in partnership with his former preceptor, Dr. Hunt, 
until 1853, when he came to California across the plains and settled at Red Bluff.  Medical 
service, and indeed all services, were liberally rewarded in those days, and Dr. Bradway's 
practice was soon worth $1,000 a month.  He remained in Red Bluff until 1872, when he settled 
in Oakland, where he has continued in active practice until the present time.  From 1873 to 1878 
he was associated with Drs. Baldwin & Riley, under the style of Baldwin, Riley & Bradway.  From 
1878 to 1885 the firm was Riley & Bradway, and from 1885 to 1891 Dr. Bradway has practiced alone.  
He is a member of the Alameda County Medical Society, and of the California State Medical Society.  
He has also been at one time a member of the American Legion of Honor, and of the I.O.G.T., taking 
an active interest in the temperance reform for many years.
	Dr. Bradway was married in Delavan, Wisconsin, in 1848 to Elvira I. Irish, born near 
Auburn, New York, February 15, 1824, a daughter of Joseph E. and Abigail (Miner) Irish, afterward 
of Wyoming county, New York, and still later of Delavan, Wisconsin.  Mr. Irish's chief career was 
that of a farmer and he lived to the age of eighty-two.  His father was Elder Irish, of the Baptist 
church, well-known in his day in Western New York as a prominent figure in that church.  Mrs. A. 
(Miner) Irish, born in Rhode Island, a daughter of Captain Peris Miner, of the Merchant Marine, 
reached the age of eighty-three; and his father also reached old age.  Mariella Bradway, the 
adopted daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J. R. Bradway, born in California, September 24, 1860, is a 
graduate of the Oakland high school, an excellent musician and an accomplished lady, whose devoted 
attachment to her adopted parents has been a source of unalloyed happiness for many years.

Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2, pages 50-51, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.