DR. R.F. SHAW
The following bio was taken from page 385 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.
Transcribed by Claudia Schuster
Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator
On January 2, 1927, Dr. Reube F. Shaw and his wife, Jessie, purchased the old Wettermark place, believed by some historians to have been built as a new school building, but abandoned for some reason. It was then bought by Bolling Hall and his wife, Caroline, because it was the only building available for their large family that came to Texas in 1846. (See Bolling Hall account.) This house was the original building of the first Henderson hospital. On April 12, 1928, Dr. Shaw and his wife deeded the land to the Henderson Hospital Association, a private corporation created for the purpose of establishing and operating a hospital in Henderson with Shaw, Dr. J.H. Spivey, Dr. J.D. Sadler, and Dr. C.A. Dawson as financiers and stockholders.The new hospital opened July 5, 1928 with eight patient beds, a combination operating and delivery room, and a kitchen. In 1939, a non-profit organization was formed to take over the assets and the operation of the hospital. The new corporation was known as the Henderson Memorial Hospital and had as its first board of directors: Doctors Shaw, C.G.Engle, J. H. Spivey, J.E. Ross, G.A. Deason, L.M. Shipp, and H.A. Suehs.
Dr. R.F. Shaw died in Rusk County on March 4, 1968 and is survived by the following relatives: his wife, Jessie Lewis Shaw; two daughters, Reube Jean Richardson and Marilyn Bonner; three sisters: Ima Shaw Searcy, Wyleta Shaw Blankinship, and Mina Shaw Ward; and one brother, Weldon Shaw.
Submitted by Joan Lloyd