Paul Bradshaw

Birth: He was born in Iowa about 1898.  

Family Information:

Son of William E. and Mary Emma Bradshaw.

Brother of Ray, Carl and Oral Bradshaw.

Married Nellie Kemp while living in the colony.

Description: His WWI draft registration card dated September 9, 1918 describes him as being of medium height and slender build, with brown hair and blue eyes. At that time he was working as a brush maker for L.A. Compton in Chicago, Ill.  

Pre-Colony History: In 1900, he was living with his parents in Batavia, Iowa. In 1910 and 1920, they lived in Locust Grove, Iowa and he worked as a paper boy (1910) and laborer in a broom factory (1920).

He came to the colony with his father and brothers, Carl and Ray, from Iowa -- some time after the death of his mother in 1930 at Batavia, Iowa.  

Home in Colony: According to maps, the Paul Bradshaw family lived two houses north of Hwy. 1211 on what is now Third St. 

Job in Colony: In 1931 Lentz was leading the woodsmen crew consisting of Maurice Collins, Charley Derleth and Paul. At that point they were cutting four miles west of the village, sawing and splitting pine wood for boiler fuel.

He often worked at the Ice Plant -- in March 1932 he and Willard Emry worked the shift from 7 AM to 3 PM there. 

Other Info:

In March 1932 E.G. Webb was unanimously elected president of the new Llano Welfare League. Webb said "Llano Colony is a democratic group and the Welfare League is designed to be an avenue of expression for all who wish to support the management in its desire to promote the progress and happiness of its people and interest or lack of interest in the work of the League will therefore be the measure of one's concern for the welfare of the community.

After the first meeting, however, the Welfare League seems to have become a group of adverse critics, their weekly meetings becoming programs of complaint. Plus, evidence was soon uncovered that Webb had come to the colony with the goal of taking control. He and his cohorts were asked to explain themselves, but rather than do so, they moved to nearby Leesville, LA and continued their campaign of vilification and defamation, mainly directed at George T. Pickett.

In July 1933 a notice was placed in the "Llano Colonist" denying any connection to these former colonists, including Paul Bradshaw.

Post-Colony History:

In 1930, he and his wife, Nellie, were living in Chicago where he worked as a receiving clerk for an electrical manufacturer and she did general office work at a coffee house.

In 1935, Paul, Nellie, and his father returned to the colony, arriving around midnight after their drive from Newton, Iowa where they had been living since leaving the colony three years prior.

In 1938, they lived at Deming, New Mexico where the couple had their own sandwich shop. Paul was employed at the Deming Army Air Field during WWII and in 1949, both he and Nellie were employed by the T&M Dairy.

Death: He died in 1964 at El Paso, Texas.  

Sources: US Census: 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930; US Draft Registration: WWII; "Llano Colonist": July 11, 1931, March 19, 1932, May 19, 1932, May 28, 1932, June 8, 1935, August 17, 1935; "Deming Headlight": September 16, 1949, April 2, 1964