Sacramento County
Biographies
ROBERT N. BRAMHALL, M. D.
The district of Fair Oaks has in Dr. Bramhall an honored member of the medical profession and a
successful practitioner of the science, who since coming to this locality as a
permanent resident in 1902 has identified himself closely with all the
activities of the community, has contributed to the development of the fruit
industry and has promoted enterprises for the material, educational and
professional advancement of Sacramento county. His residence, with its beautiful
setting of lawn and trees and its attractive location on a slight eminence, is
regarded as one of the most substantial and convenient in the entire district.
Thoroughly modern in all of its appointments, it is utilized not only for a
home but also for an office. Surrounding the neat two-story residence are two
and one-half acres almost wholly studded with native oaks.
Dr. Bramhall was
born in Abingdon, Va., March 18, 1878, and removed with his parents to Chicago
when he was six years of age. His fine mental endowments came to him as an
inheritance from his father, Col. Frank J. Bramhall,
a man of unusual ability, born, reared and educated in New York City, a
graduate of one of the law schools of the metropolis and for years an attorney
of that great city. An appointment as collector of internal revenue for a
district in Virginia caused him to remove to that state and there he remained
for some time discharging the duties connected with the office. Later he filled
a like position in Tennessee. When he resigned therefrom
he removed to Chicago, where he was engaged in business. Ultimately he removed
to California and was among the first to select a tract at Fair Oaks, where he
cleared the land and planted fruit trees. The last years of his eventful life were
quietly passed at his home in Oakland, this state.
During the residence of the family in
Chicago, Robert N. Bramhall received a classical
education and also completed a course in electrical engineering, following that
occupation for only a short time. Always he had been attracted by the science
of materia medica, and he
abandoned engineering to take up the study of therapeutics, which he prosecuted
in the medical department of Northwestern University. On the completion of the
regular course in 1902 the degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by the
faculty. Immediately afterward he came to California and joined hid father at
Fair Oaks, where he has since devoted his attention to the practice of his
profession and has built up and extensive patronage extending over the entire
settlement and for miles around.
The family of Dr. Bramhall
comprises his wife and daughter, Elinor Eugenia. His marriage was solemnized in Chicago July
15, 1902, and united him with Miss Emma E. Smith, who was born in Iowa, but grew
to womanhood in Chicago and received a classical education in the city of
Boston. Descended from an old family of New England, she comes of distinguished
lineage, her grandfather, Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, D. D., having been the
author of the national hymn, America. From childhood she has been an
adherent of the Baptist denomination and a contributor to its benevolent and misssionary movements. The family have
a high social standing at Fair Oaks and enjoy to the highest degree the
confidence of acquaintances. The Doctor's life is indeed a busy existence. As a
relaxation from his professional duties he finds pleasure in looking after his
orange and olive grove, which covers fifteen acres in Fair Oaks Colony. These
manifold duties do not prevent him from discharging with fidelity every duty as
a citizen and every responsibility as a neighbor, and he is always found to be
a firm supporter of every principle of justice in civic and social affairs.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 860-861. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.