My Brady Connection

First a little background about my Brady connection.  Michael John Brady is the first of my Brady linage in the U.S. arriving about 1849 and settling in Brockport, New York.  He was a shoemaker who eventually opened his own shop on Main Street in Brockport.  He died in 1889.  I am the 2^nd great grandson of Michael John Brady, through his son, John Michael Brady, his grandson Harold Benedict Brady Sr and his great grandson Harold Benedict Brady Jr.  Harold Benedict Brady Sr married Eileen Mary McEvoy, my grandmother, in 1933 and my father Harold Benedict Brady Jr was born about 1½ years later in 1934 Just discovered that they were married in 1934 and my father, Harold Benedict Brady Jr, was born less than nine months latter that same year.  By 1935, Harold Sr and Eileen are not living together and they are legally divorced in 1947.  I was led to believe the split was very bitter an as a result Harold Jr, my father, had a very limited relationship with his father and the Brady side of the family.  I did meet John Michael Brady’s daughter, my great aunt, Ethel Beatrice Herlth / Cohen (née Brady) and her second husband Edward Cohen once and they were very kind and pleasant to us kids.  From my parents few mentions of Harold Sr, I believe he was very charismatic, smart and talented.  I know he worked in real estate throughout his life and was told he was an accomplished musician (saxophone player) and talented mechanic, who I believe worked at his brother’s (Joseph Francis Brady) Cabot Street garage.  Harold Sr ultimately suffered from a severe case of alcoholism and had at least one run in with the law where he was accused of being the ring leader in the robbery of a commercial laundry (Still trying to pin down the outcome of that case).  Harold Sr died in 1954, when Harold Jr was only 19 and five years before his first grandchild was born.

Regarding alcohol, I have uncovered newspaper articles indicating that John Michael Brady and all his sons were arrested, accused or charged with alcohol related offenses.  Based on that small, non-scientific sample there may be something to the argument of a genetic predisposition for alcohol abuse.  It also seems that they all were talented, charismatic individuals with a bit of an outspoken or, perhaps, bad boy quality.

My goal will be to uncover more of the story of my Brady ancestors, find my Brady cousins and to ultimately trace Michael John Brady back to his birthplace in Ireland.

John Michael Brady

Harold Benedict Brady Sr.

Harold Benedict Brady Jr.