The Bradshaw family of the late 1800′s originated in the Waverly area. Josie and Arthur Bradshaw had a son, John who was born in 1913 in Waverly. Shortly there after Arthur purchased a 10 acre farm off of Rt 460 between Suffolk and Windsor. It was here that Hazel and Ruth were born and all three children grew up on that farm. John Bradshaw came to Chuckatuck as a student at Chuckatuck High School during which he met Dorothy Chapman, a native of Chuckatuck and in 1936 they were married. From 1940-1961 they lived in Chuckatuck next to the Gilliam home and raised two boys, Drexel and Dwight. Drexel graduated from Chuckatuck in 1955, Virginia Tech in 1960 and entered the Navy for the next 29 years, retiring in 1991 as a Captain. Dwight graduated from Chuckatuck in 1962, Virginia Tech in 1966, and Medical College of Virginia school of Dentistry in 1976. He has his dental practice in the Suffolk area and remains active today.
Family Members
Dr. J. Dwight Bradshaw was born on August 18, 1944 in Portsmouth, Va. He is the son of John W. Bradshaw and Dorothy Chapman Bradshaw. He attended Chuckatuck Elementary School and graduated from Chuckatuck High School in 1962. He entered Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the fall of l962 and graduated in December 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. He worked as a chemist for Standard Brands (Planter’s Peanuts) for four years, taught school for one year and worked briefly for the newly formed Sidney Harrell Funeral Home. He entered the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry in the fall of 1972 and graduated in 1976 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. After a one year General Practice Residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio he moved back to Suffolk and started his dental practice at 5501 Bennett’s Pasture Road in 1977. He is a member of the Tidewater Dental Association, the Virginia Dental Association and the American Dental Association.
Robbie Bradshaw
Jennifer Bradshaw
Rachel Darden Bradshaw
Dwight Bradshaw
Drexel A. Bradshaw was born on May 12, 1966 in San Diego, California and has lived in Florida, Virginia, Italy, the Netherlands, and Colorado. He earned his B.A. and J.D. and moved to San Francisco to practice law. He was inducted into the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum which limits membership to attorneys who have won multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for their clients. Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members. N He is married and has three children and is an avid sailor. He has completed solo and double-handed passages between the West Coast and Hawaii.
Drexel Bradshaw was born on August 31, 1938 at the old Lakeview hospital in downtown Suffolk. He moved to Chuckatuck with his parents in 1940 and lived there until graduation from Virginia Tech in 1960. In 1962 he joined the Navy and received his Wings of Gold in 1963. Two tours in F-4 Phantom Jets in Vietnam followed very closely on the USS Kitty Hawk. He retired from the Navy in 1991 as a Captain having served as the Commanding Officer of VF-102 the Diamond Backs, and his last duty station was the Commanding Officer of FASOTRAGRULANT in Norfolk, VA. Drexel went to work for ISI building interactive courseware for F-14 and E-2 crewmembers until 2001 when prostate cancer reminded him that he would not live for ever. He retrired from his commercial work in 2001 and has enjoyed his boat Destiny and RV taking some extensive trips
Joyce Bradshaw
Interview with Dwight Bradshaw
John Dwight Bradshaw, born August 18, 1944, in Portsmouth, VA.
Being the brother of an older person, he kind of tagged along. Daddy always liked boats. He remembers playing ball in the church yard and wondering why they did not break a window.
He enjoyed going to the Marl Hole.
He remembers vacationing at Burrels Bay. Lived four houses from Mammy. They walked through the backyard via Mrs. Gilliam's house and Miss Patty's.
First thing he remembered? He remembers when he was six and the Moores got a TV. They used to watch Howdy Doody.
He remembers Mrs. Bagnell as his first-grade teacher. He also remembers Duke going to school and being in the room with Dwight.
He walked to school every day with Susan Moore.
He remembers Mischeaux Raines running the store with a drink box filled with water that would shock you.
He remembers going to Gwaltney's, Johnson's, and Moore's stores.
He remembers the elections at the old Pitt store. He has the ballot box at his home.
He talks about Drex wanting a BB gun, and he put him up to going and asking Momma to buy him one.
Ray and Margaret Howell, the Woolfords, lived along the road next to the school.
Mr. Morris was the principal when he started school in 1950/51. Mr. Gillette was principal for a year or so.
He remembers going to the Saunders at Meadow Brook and riding the horse named King.
He went to the 5-mile farm once or twice to hunt with Bill. He also remembers sleigh riding on the pond.
A fond memory of the snow is getting pulled by a car down the Ferry Point farm lane.
He talked about Daddy cutting down a Christmas tree with a shotgun.
He was a junior in high school when he moved to the Point (where he lives now).
Ray Knight let Dwight shoot at the pigeons when they would fly out of his house/garage.
He remembers the Johnson family well when the Savages from Suffolk would come to visit.
They had a path from their house to the church right through the front yards of their neighbors.
He said he learned a lot from me about trouble, and if he was not involved, he was close by. He remembers something about the paper route. He also learned from Drex what not to do in school.
He talks about the trip down to Hobson to deliver papers when they found one of the Pounds in the ditch with the windshield wipers going and asked if he needed help. He said it was raining so hard that he just could not see where to drive. The sun was shining with no rain in sight.
He remembers helping Drex help feed the livestock when Mr. Rippey went on vacation.
He talks about the cows chasing Drex across the field in front of the Saunders farm.
He remembers Grady Norfleet shooting a goose with a .22 caliber rifle. Grady had a small speedboat.
He talks about the ceramic manger scenes that he gave Momma, and Frankie gave one to Edith.
He remembers swinging on the front porch of Mammy and Granddaddy’s and Sonny coming home in his uniform.
Growing up in Chuckatuck was a wonderful experience. Nobody had to worry about kids' safety. He remembers going to a minstrel show.
The Tuckers lived in the house next door to the Gilliams for a while, where Fred Eley and Sonny and Jean lived. The Stallings lived there for a while.
He rode to school with Betty West.
He talks about the trip when Bill and Marion, Momma and Daddy came to Tech to visit, and they asked him what they did after the dance. He said they went to cabin parties. Momma wanted to know what they did, and he said dance. Bill said, "Dorothy, they do a different kind of dance." She said, "What kind?" and he said, "The mattress polka."
He talks about all the buses Daddy owned.
After graduation from high school, he went to VPI. No reason not to go to Tech since I had gone there. He was in the Corps for two years. He graduated in 1966 in Biology. He was interested in marine science. He went to work for Standard Brands in Suffolk as a chemist.
He was there for four years, then stopped and went to work for the funeral home for less than a year. He knew that he did not want to do that, so he went to teach school. After a year and the discipline issue, he went back to Standard Brands. He started at MCV in 1972 and graduated in 1976. He went to Cleveland for a year as his residency. He has been in his office now for 34 years.
Arthur was born in 1978, and his grandmother basically raised him since Jennifer had to go to the hospital.
The first motorized equipment he rode was the Cushman motor scooter that was Drex’s. That was bought on Moore’s Farm Lane. He also remembers my Indian motorcycle and when it was sold.
When Daddy was in the Navy, Dwight was in the 4th grade. They lived in Wickford, Rhode Island, for one summer with Daddy. Drex stayed at home with Mammy and Granddaddy.
He remembers Mamma putting up pine around the door at Christmas. He also remembers Hurricane Hazel breaking off a limb, and it came right through the front porch.
A big adventure for him was when Momma let him ride down to Wayne's in Sandy Bottom.
Daddy remembers when 460 was a dirt road.
Audio Interview
48:00 - Remembers getting his shotgun and talks about the incident with Daddy getting the wrong gun to go hunting.
He remembers Peggy Rudisil being in her class for 3rd and 4th grade. Momma went and helped out with the children.
51:00 - Austins and Allens lived in the two-tenant house on Al Glasscock's farm. Marshall Austin and Addie Rawls Moore were related.
54:00 - He talks about being sneaky with the automobile. Ben Tucker needed a ride home, so Dwight took him in the Dodge station wagon. Daddy asked him about it, and he fibbed as it seems Daddy was at Mr. White’s when Dwight went by the school, really stepping on it.
He remembers going to Edna Brooks' for Halloween. It seems that Edna Brooks won the contest, and Dwight was upset, but Mamma said his was really the best.
Dr. Ferguson had two waiting rooms, while Dr. Thomas and Dr. Eley did not.
60:00 - He talks about Dr. Thomas helping the boy down on Ferry Point Farm when the tractor fell on top of him and pinned him in/almost under the water.
68:00 - He talks about Drexel holding an otter that he caught back near the Duck Hole.
He remembers going down and staying with Jean and Sonny in the middle house on the Raines farm.
72:00 - Dwight and Frankie go hunting around the Marl Hole, and the game warden catches them and calls Frankie "Buster." Nothing happened, but Sheldon Rountree was looking for a license, which Frankie did not have.
From 75:00 on, just general discussions and looking at pictures that they got from Jimmy Moore.