Floyd Chapman was elected to a third term as mayor in 1932 but died in office that same year. The council then chose George D. Bradshaw, the founder of the Bradshaw-Diehl department store and one of the city’s most prominent businessmen, to finish out the rest of Chapman’s term.
Born in Wayne County in 1872, Bradshaw attended the county’s schools and graduated from the Leavenworth Institute in Wolcott, New Jersey. He first planned to study medicine but embarked on a business career instead.
In his “Cabell County Annals and Families,” George S. Wallace described him as “a fine example of a businessman in politics.”
