| Sources |
- [S73] Rawlings Funeral Home, Book 2, 5 Mar 1959.
Ann Cox obituary
- [S47] Sevier County, Tennessee and its Heritage, Sevier County Heritage Book Committee, (1994, Don Mills, Inc.), 163.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 14 Nov 2003.
The Broady family farm, located on Pullen Road near Middle Creek Road in Sevierville, is under development at an undisclosed price, and will be ready for sale next spring.
The 170-acre farm will develop residential home lots, which are being prepared for auction by Thompson Carr & Associates in Sevierville.
Originally the property of the late Dr. Robert A. Broady, the farm is now owned by his two sons, Bill and Joe.
Joe Broady said his father's property holds a special significance.
"Over the years, our father dedicated so much of himself to the Sevier County area that it just seems natural to do something for others with the farm," said Broady. "It's a beautiful piece of property, and will provide people a wonderful, calm place to escape to while they raise their children or enjoy the fruits of their hard work."
Having deep roots in Sevier County, Broady maintained a love for farming, which was the reason why he purchased the property on Pullen Road. He had spent his early college years training to become an agricultural missionary and decided to put his training to good use.
Through the years he worked to develop a high quality milk-producing herd of dairy cattle, at one time exceeding 300 head.
The son of a Presbyterian minister, Broady decided to become an agricultural missionary to Africa. Hearing the need for medical missionaries during his second year of medical school, he decided to become a doctor and a medical missionary, graduating from Maryville College and entering the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
After he and his wife, Ellen, spent five years in China as medical missionaries, the Broadys returned to Seymour with their three sons. During that time both Maryville and Sevierville needed physicians, with Sevierville having the greater need.
The Broadys moved to Sevierville, and soon purchased land on Bruce Street from the Methodist Church and built Broady Hospital. They lived and worked there.
In 1965, the Broadys voluntarily closed their hospital. At the time, Congress passed the Hill-Burton Act, allowing rural counties without hospital beds to receive federal funds that would pay 50 percent of costs of building a hospital. Once the hospital was closed, the county would qualify for federal funds. As a result, the Sevier County Medical Center was started, improving the quality of medical care.
Broady passed away in 1994. During his career, he had delivered more than 7,000 babies and treated more than 53,000 patients.
Bill Broady, who serves on the Sevier County Economic Development Council, said the farm will be named after their father in some capacity, either in his name or in some relation.
"I think he would be proud of what is being done," said Bill Broady. "He was very proud of Sevier County and wanted things done the right way. I think he'd be very pleased. jkindred@themountainpress.com
- [S78] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume I, 1930-1954, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 9 Feb 1949.
Nancy Katherine Broady obituary
- [S118] History of early Sevier County Doctors , Beulah Linn, (www.sevierlibrary.org/genealogy/doc/doc.htm).
Dr. Robert A. Broady born June 5, 1903 in Forest Hill, Ind. was the son of Rev. William Cowan Broady and Nancy Catherine Hartman Broady. He received his High School education at White Pine, Tn., and his bachelor's degree at Maryville College. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical College and interned at the Presbyterian Hospital there.
Dr. Broady married Ellen Cox, daughter of Sam and Anna McChesney McCroskey Cox. Ellen was also a graduate of Maryville College and received a degree from the Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing. After their marriage they spent five years in China as medical missionaries.
On Jan. 1,1938, Dr. Broady began his medical practice in Sevierville. His first office was located over the old Wade's Department Store. Later he built the Broady Hospital on Bruce Street and had his offices there where he continued practicing until his retirement in 1983.
Dr. and Mrs. Broady delivered 7105 babies during their career. During influenza and measles epidemics, Dr. Broady's driver would sleep while Dr. Broady visited the patients, and Dr. Broady would sleep while they were driving from one patient to another. Some times they would get no more than fourteen hours of sleep a week.
Dr. and Mrs. Broady had six children: Robert, d.1942 by drowning; Bill; John, d ied i n a car accident; twins, Joe and JoAnn; and Barbara.
Information from:
Dr. and Mrs. Broady
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 21 Nov 2011.
Upland Chronicles: Broadys served Sevier County community well
by CARROLL McMAHAN
Dr. Robert A. Broady and his wife, Ellen Cox Broady.
Broady’s Hospital opened in 1940 on Bruce Street in downtown Sevierville.
Dr. Robert A. Broady while in medical school in Philadelphia, PA.
The first baby delivered by Dr. Robert A. Broady after he set up his Sevierville practice in 1937, was born to a woman who lived off Wears Valley Road.
Dr. Broady and his wife, Ellen Cox Broady, parked their car and walked about a half-mile to the patient’s home. When they returned to their car, their gas tank had been drained almost dry. There was barely enough gas to get them home. They were never paid for the delivery.
Dr. Broady went on to deliver 7,107 babies before he retired. Weighing approximately 15 pounds, one baby literally broke the scales.
During the half century Broady and his dedicated wife served the citizens of Sevier County, they treated approximately 53,000 patients. It was not uncommon for them to treat three or four generations of the same family.
Born in Forest Hill, Ind., on June 5, 1903, Robert Alexander Broady first met his future wife, Ellen Cox, while they were students at Maryville College. He was studying to become a missionary specializing in farm business and she was taking courses to become a teacher.
Broady changed his plans when a missionary spoke about his work in Africa and the great need for physicians. So he enrolled at the University of Tennessee and took the courses necessary to gain admission into medical school.
Since he expected to be sent to the mission field representing the Presbyterian Church, Broady decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia where the church headquarters was located.
Broady interned at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia. Although he was unaware at the time, Ellen Cox had decided to enter the medical field. She was teaching nursing at Philadelphia General Hospital. When he met her again, he was excited to see someone from home. They immediately began dating and married in 1930.
Broady finished his internship in 1932 and the couple, along with their year-old son Robert Jr., went to China where they served as a missionary team for five years.
The Broadys spent their first eight months in Peking studying the Chinese language and customs. In 1933 they were assigned to the American Presbyterian Medical Mission in Hang-yang, in south central China. The hospital compound at Her-yang consisted of 37 beds and represented the only source of western trained medical care available to an area of about one million people.
The days at the mission hospital were very busy. All of the water had to be boiled and filtered three times prior to use. In addition to caring for those in the hospital, Dr. Broady treated about 80 patients each day in out-patient clinics.
Dr. and Mrs. Broady were due a furlough to the United States in June 1937. They departed from China for a long anticipated visit with relatives in Tennessee to show off the two additions to the Broady family: 3-year-old Bill and year-old John.While on a stopover in Hawaii as they were on their way home, they were informed the Japanese had attacked Peking, making their return to China impossible.
The Broadys established a medical practice in Sevierville across the street from the courthouse in an upstairs space above Wade’s Department Store. They borrowed money for Sevier County’s first X-ray machine.
One day a man too weak to climb the stairs was carried upstairs to Broady’s new office. Broady immediately diagnosed adrenal cortex disease and administered adrenal cortex extract, a medicine that had only recently been put on the market. The man recovered so swiftly that he picked up the two men who had carried him upstairs and carried them downstairs at the same time. Therefore, Dr. Broady’s reputation as a good doctor was established and his practice began to steadily grow.
In 1940, the Broadys opened a new hospital on Bruce Street. Dr. Broady delivered babies and operated on people from all over the county. At the time, there was not another hospital between Knoxville and Asheville.
The Broadys’ growing family which eventually included a set of twins, Joe and Joann, and Barbara lived in a corner of the hospital until 1950 when they built a new home next door to the hospital.
The hospital’s capacity was 19 patients although it sometimes had as many as 25. When the facility became overcrowded, Ellen would send the children to stay with her brother, Roy Cox.
Using her nursing training and excellent managerial skills, Ellen ran the day-to-day operations of the hospital. Both Dr. and Mrs. Broady were on call seven days a week, 24 four hours a day.
Dr. and Mrs. Broady somehow found time to play an active role in their community as well. They were dedicated members of the First Presbyterian Church in Sevierville and the Rotary Club. Dr. Broady served as alderman and vice mayor for Sevierville and he played trumpet with several community groups. Ellen loved flowers and was known for her beautiful garden.
To supplement their income, Dr. Broady built up a 300-cow dairy farm. The herd out-milked all others at area fairs, one reason being that for several days prior to a fair a radio would be played loudly during milking, acclimating the cows to the noise at milking time.
The Broadys experienced two unimaginable tragedies just over a year apart. On July 10, 1945, Robert Jr. was killed when he was struck by an automobile while riding his bicycle on Chapman Highway. Thirteen months later, John Cox Broady drowned in Douglas Lake on Aug. 27, 1946.
Broady’s Hospital was a fixture in Sevierville for 25 years. They closed it when Sevier County Hospital opened in 1965. However Dr. Broady continued to maintain his practice in the former hospital building and made regular rounds in the new hospital until 1982.
Ellen Broady was instrumental in the establishment of the new hospital’s Ladies Auxiliary, the initial volunteer organization, known as the Pink Ladies, in which she devoted thousands of hours.
The Broadys had been married 57 years when Ellen passed away in 1987. Dr. Broady survived her by seven years and penned his memories which he completed in 1992. Dr. Broady died on Jan. 18, 1994. He was 90 years old.
Dr. Robert Broady and Ellen Cox Broady tirelessly served their community for a half century. Few people have ever made a greater, more lasting impact than the foreign missionary couple who made Sevierville their home.
— Carroll McMahan is the special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce. The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column or have comments; please contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or email to cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or email to ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name Robert A Broady
Event Type Census
Event Date 1940
Event Place Sevierville, Civil District 5, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender Male
Age 37
Marital Status Married
Race (Original) White
Race White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Head
Relationship to Head of Household Head
Birthplace Indiana
Birth Year (Estimated) 1903
Last Place of Residence Hengchow, Hunan, China
HOUSEHOLD
ROLE
GENDER
AGE
BIRTHPLACE
Robert A Broady Head M 37 Indiana
Ellen C Broady Wife F 35 Tennessee
Robert A Broady Son M 8 Pennsylvania
Billy Broady Son M 6 China
John Broady Son M 4 China
Joe Broady Son M 0 Tennessee
Joan Broady Daughter F 0 Tennessee
"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-27883-7003-2?cc=2000219 : accessed 28 April 2016), Tennessee > Sevier > Civil District 5, Sevierville > 78-6 Civil District 5, Sevierville Town, Murphy Collegiate Institute, Pi Beta Phi School (Boarding), Sevier County Jail > image 28 of 34; citing NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012).
- [S74] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume IV, 1987-1999, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 18 Jan 1994.
Broady, Dr Robert Alexander 90 widowed by Ellen Cox Broady b. 6-5-03 Forest Hill IN d. 1-18-94 SCH res 214 Bruce St Sev Physician f. William Cowan Broady m. Katherine Hartman educa 12 + 8 Eusebia Cem Survivors: 2 sons Bill Broady 4044 Hitching Post Rd P-Forge Dr Joe Broady 2 dau Jo Ann Cassery Barbara Hodges 11 gc 3 ggc 1 sis Mary Heald MI mem 1st Presbyterian Ch grad of Maryville College & Univ of PA Med School missionary in China 1932-1937 opened 1st hosp in Sev Co in 1937 mem Sev Rotary past mem of city council & vice mayor.
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