KAM BRADBURY

The following bio was taken from page 120 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

My grandmother, Lucinda Jane Whitley, nicknamed Aunt Jennie, was born April 15, 1850 in Tennessee. She died May 1, 1926. My grandfather, William Franklin Bradbury, was born June 17, 1850 and died March 23, 1917. Both are buried in the Cemetery at Laneville.

Grandfather married Grandmother July 23, 1874 in Rusk County. He was a farmer. They had a beautiful home and several acres of land in the Redland Community two miles east of Laneville. They had five boys and two girls: John Runnell, Benjamin Franklin, Charlie Grover, William Homer, Eddie Pruitt, Nellie Bell, and Nancy Margaret.

My daddy was John Runnell Bradbury, nicknamed Kam, who was born March 28, 1881 and died July 20, 1940. He married Mary Josephine Bane, who was born May 27, 1888 and died February 23, 1973. Both of my parents are buried in the Laneville Cemetery.

There were four of us Bradbury children, two boys and two girls: Bernard Allen, Claudie Pierce, me, (Zona Mae), and La Nell.

Bernard married Bernice Reeves of Mt. Enterprise. They had three boys and two girls: a boy died in infancy, Roland, David, Janice, and Mary Sue. All married and have families of their own. Bernard and Bernice live in Henderson, Texas.

I was born August 6, 1909 and was married to Douglas Dawson, August 3, 1937 at Mt. Enterprise with Brother Jenkins performing the ceremony.

We lived in Minden where Douglas owned the telephone company. In 1942, I was appointed postmaster at Minden and still hold this position. Douglas died February 14, 1976 and is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery.

Douglas and I had one daughter, Marcia Delores, born February 10, 1947 in the hospital at Henderson. She went to grammar school at Minden and to high school at Mt. Enterprise and took a business course in Henderson. She married Doyle Wayne Williams. They have a home in Minden.

My brother, Claudie, married Louise Haney from Laneville. They have two sons, Dean and Johnny Mack, both of whom are married. Dean lives in Tyler and Johnny Mack lives in Laneville. Claudie is a truck driver, farmer and cattle raiser. He and his family raise lots of vegetables, which they can and freeze to provide food for the family. They built a brick home where our old home place used to be located.

My sister, La Nell, married Finis Lee, a Church of Christ preacher. He was from near Sherman. They met at San Angelo, Texas where she was training to become a nurse. They have five children, four boys and one girl: La Phonia, W. F. Jr., Robert, Ronnie, and Rodney. All are married except Ronnie. The Lees have lived in West Texas and in Oregon, and are settled in California, where they have been for several years.

Submitted by Mae Bradbury Dawson