was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, on the twentieth day of December, 1833. He was sent to school at that place till arriving at the age of twelve years, when he was removed to Daviess county. His father, William A. Bradshaw, was born in Shelby County n 1809, and was raised by his uncle, James, in Shelbyville, until fourteen or fifteen years of age, when he was sent to Owensboro and placed, as a clerk, in the dry goods store of James Bradshaw and Anthony Kirkpatrick. Here he remained until he was twenty-three or four years of age, when he returned to Shelbyville. In 1813, he married Miss Fanny Buntin Allison, of Vincennes, Indiana. He then returned to Shelby County, and engaged in farming up to 1844. Then, again, he returned to Owensboro, and there died November, 1876. His wife died in the same place in 1856, leaving six children, Robert Allison--subject of this sketch--Mary Elizabeth, Sally, William, Catharine and Frank. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Dr. Robert Allison, a native of Kentucky. In 1812 he married Miss Mary A. Buntin, of Vincennes, and removed to Henderson, Kentucky, his then home. Subsequently he removed to Shelbyville, and then to Vincennes, where he died, 1820, leaving his widow and three children. His wife, the grandmother of our subject, was the daughter of Captain Robert Buntin, the commandant of Post Vincennes. When a child, she was exceedingly popular with the officers of the army, and spent much of her time with an aunt, who was the wife of Colonel Francis Vigo, a noted Spanish merchant, and for whom the County of Vigo, Indiana, is named. She was a great favorite of the Colonel, and witnessed the council of General Harrison and Tecumseh. She was well acquainted with General Harrison, Judge Parke, Territorial Representative in Congress, Colonel Hamar, General St. Clair, and others. When thirteen years of age she was sent to school at Lexington, Kentucky. An Indian trail was the only road between the two places, and the trip required two weeks' time. Her wardrobe was carried in saddle-bags by the horse she rode. She had two school girls as companions, with her brother as escort, each, of course, riding on horseback, while a fifth horse carried a tent and camp equipage. Mrs. Allison was three times married, and spent the greater portion of her life in the South. In 1827, although having been baptised by a Catholic Bishop, Mrs. Allison united herself with the Presbyterian Church, and proved a devoted member to the day of her death. She was an untiring reader, and most exemplary woman. Robert Allison Bradshaw married in Owensboro on the twenty-ninth day of January, 1856, Miss Rebecca May Bell, and unto them have been born seven children; six of them are yet living, Robert Bell, Mary Eliza, Frankie Allison, May Belle, William Archer, Sallie Kate, and John Matthews.
Robert Bell Bradshaw, eldest son, was born on the fifth day of November, 1856, in Daviess County. He was educated in Owensboro and subsequently married in 1883, at Vincennes, Indiana, Miss Alice Stewart, granddaughter of Rev. Dr. Alexander, who was the officiating clergyman. A pleasant coincident in the family is the fact that Dr. Alexander, just fifty years prior to that time, officiated at the marriage of his grandfather, William A. Bradshaw, in the same place Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw have two daughters, Nora Belle, and Clara. Mary Eliza married James Samuel Taylor of Henderson, now of Richmond, Virginia, a prominent tobacconist, and has one daughter, Laura Holloway.
Robert A. Bradshaw lived in Owensboro thirty-two years, and, in 1876, moved to Uniontown, Union County, where he resided up to 1883, when he removed to Henderson. Before arriving at legal age he made several trips with horses and cattle to Natchez and New Orleans. For twenty years of his life in Owensboro, and during his entire residence in Uniontown, Mr. Bradshaw followed the tobacco business, and has been thus engaged in Henderson since his residence here. In politics Mr. Bradshaw was an old line Whig, then a Know-nothing, and since the war a consistent Democrat. He was never an office holder, from the fact he was never an applicant for one. In 1873, at Owensboro, he joined the Presbyterian Church. He was an Elder of the Uniontown Church, and on the ninth day of November, 1883, was elected an Elder of the Second Presbyterian Church of this city. He has for a number of years been a member of the Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor. Mr. Bradshaw is a quiet, reserved man of business, the soul of honor, far seeing, and judicious in all that he does.
-The History of Henderson County, Kentucky by Starling 1887 page 815-17;