Brady Family Update

2021-Jan-01

I hope this update finds you and your families well during this continuing coronavirus pandemic.  We are hunkered down, safe and healthy here in Connecticut but, quite honestly, are going more than a little stir crazy at this point.  This update should have been issued near the beginning of this pandemic, but somehow, while isolating at home for large stretches of time, I have fallen further behind in getting things done.  My apologies and while there is a limited amount of news about our Brady ancestors, hopefully this update will occupy you for at least a brief period of time.

Scott

Mystery Photo Update

While I still am confident this is a photo from the wedding of George Francis Hennessy and Irene Cecelia Brady who were married in New Britain, Hartford, Connecticut, USA, on 1914-Aug-17 some of my identifications were certainly incorrect.

While I thought George’s mother, Bridget Hennessey (née Woods), was in the photo a review of several Ancestry.com trees indicate that she died in 1907, about seven years before the wedding.  That led to some revision.  I now think the female behind George’s (sitting center) right shoulder is in fact Ethel Beatrice Herlth / Cohen (née Brady), the maid of honor.  This is, in my opinion further supported by an additional photo shared by Jackie Ciccone.

This photo also appears to be from the same event.  In the back row, second and third individuals from the left, appear to be Timothy Joseph Hennessy and Ethel, the best man and maid of honor.  I believe George, the bride groom, is the on the far left of the back row.  I have a feeling the woman in the black dress, 5^th from the left in the same row could very well be Catherine S. Brady (née Moffitt), Irene’s mother.  You may notice the photo has been colorized.  Look for more on that later in this update.

If anyone has any other identifications or corrections please let me know.

New Photos

Jackie Ciccone, the wife of Brion Ciccone the adopted son of Valentine Robert Ciccone and Rita Alice Ciccone (née Hennessy), has shared some additional photos on her Ancestry.com Jackie Brown Ciccone family tree in addition to the above photo.  A couple of my favorites are included below after being colorized at the MyHeritage.com site.

This is the best picture I have seen of Catherine S. Brady (née Moffitt), who is standing behind the two boys.  Her husband John Michel Brady is on her right, with a young Rita Alice Ciccone (née Hennessy) to his right.  The dog’s name is unknown.

Based on the clothing, and assuming Rita is 10 to 12 years old in this photo, the picture would have been taken about 1925-1927.  If that time frame is correct, the two boys could be grandchildren Lloyd John Hearth and John Michael Brady (left to right), although there are other possibilities.  I believe the woman on the right side of the photo is a sister of Catherine’s, likely Ellen F. “Nellie” Moffitt, who was enumerated as living with the family as late as the 1920 census.  If it is Nellie, it is the first image of her I’ve seen.  The photo was definitely taken by the front stoop of the Brady family home at 9 Holcomb Street, Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

An additional image, possibly from the wedding day, of Rita Alice Ciccone (née Hennessy) on 1953-May-25 in Danville, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA.  The unidentified woman to the right may be her maid of honor / witness.

The Poppy Bridge

The Arrigoni Bridge crossing the Connecticut River, connecting Middletown to Portland.

© Thomas Ozga

Harold B. Brady, Jr., arrives at the top of the Arrigoni Bridge.

My sister, Collen Marie Santaniello (née Brady), is a middle school science teacher.  Due to the COVID-19 shutdown of school systems, she recently created an online lesson on technology and engineering systems by asking students to study a bridge they had crossed.  She required students to select a bridge, describe the type of construction and encouraged the addition of any personal stories about the bridge.

She provided this example to her students:

“The Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown, Connecticut, is a bridge I have crossed often and is my favorite bridge.  It is an arch bridge and that was chosen to fit the curve of the Connecticut River in Middletown and because it was very strong.  At the time there was no other way but ferry to cross from Middletown to Portland.  This type of bridge was used for its decorative properties (arches) that would increase tourism in the area.  My family calls this, “Poppy’s Bridge” after my father, who was an electrician for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.  He would have to climb up there and fix the lights up at the top (See attached phots).  They ate lunch up there too!.  This bridge reminds me of him every time I see it!”

Our father, Harold Benedict Brady, Jr., was in his 29^th year with Department of Transportation when he died of a heart attack in 1991.  As noted, Harold was an electrician in the department’s first district responsible for repairing and maintaining traffic signals and street lights.  At the time of his death only four of his twelve grandchildren – all under three-years-old – had been born, yet the story of his work on the bridge, also known as the Portland Bridge and which his kids called “Dad’s Bridge,” have been passed on to a generation who did not have the opportunity to hear the story from the man himself.

A couple of recollections he shared with us about the work on the bridge:

To change/repair the aerial navigation lights on top of each span’s arch – which are located approximately 180 feet from the surface of the river, dependent on the current tide – the electricians used their truck’s ladder to reach the mounted vertical ladder located about 20 feet above the roadway.  The proper climbing angle for ladders is 15° off vertical, which makes for a more ergonomic and safe climb.  Climbing 70 feet of vertical ladder is very tiring and certainly less safe.  The mounted access ladder had a fall protection system where each climber would attach his/her safety harness.  Harold said they often didn’t clip in as it was a “pain” to have to unclip and reattach the harness where the system was mounted to the bridge structure, about every 10-15 feet.  You might guess that a lot of his visits to the top of the bridge took place before OSHA regulations were created!

Charlie Houska and Harold B. Brady, Jr., celebrate after a successful trip to the top.

Harold told us the climb and work on the top of bridge did not scare him.  However, he did admit that working on the marine navigation lights mounted on each span below the bridge made him uncomfortable.  While working on the marine navigation lights placed him only half as high as working on the aerial lights, Harold said that having to climb over the railing of the bridge and head down was much scarier than climbing to the top.

Note: I would love to include additional stories about other relatives.  They stories can be any subject – a funny story, a favorite pastime or hobby, a brush with fame or infamy.  While seemingly mundane to us, these insights into an ancestor are very rare and highly appreciated.  They really personalize the individual and add so much more to their memory that the standard date of birth, date of death, place of burial, that so often is the only information included in a family tree.  Please feel free to contact me with any story you may want to share.

Newest Michael John Brady Descendant

George Bard, 4 months, doing his best Ferris Bueller impersonation

During a mostly forgettable year, there was one exciting new addition to the Brady family tree, when, in 2020-Jul, George Scott Giuseppe Bard was born at Boston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA, to Peter Kule Bard and Rachel Ann “Rae” Brady.

George is the 4^th great grandson of Michael John Brady, our first Brady in the United States, and his newest descendant.

Wesley Robert Brady, Sr.

Wesley Robert Brady, Sr., was the great grandson of Michael John Brady, our first Brady in the United States.  He was born in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, USA in 1933-Jun to Earl John Brady, Sr., and Evelyn Doris Brady (née Evitts).  Wesley married Rosaria Lucille “Sadie” Brady (née Guarnaccia) in 1952-Aug.  They resided in Colchester, New London, Connecticut, USA, where they had two children – Mary Lu and Wesley, Jr.  Wesley was a carpenter and operated W.R. Brady & Son Building Contractors for many years.  Wesley was a corporal with the 808^th Engineer Aviation Battalion in the U.S. Army and a Korean War veteran.  Wesley died in 2002-May.

Maryssa Beth Edele (née Reed), Wesley’s granddaughter, was kind enough to allow us to share the cover of this U.S. government publication entitled “Our Weapons” issued circa 1953/54 featuring Wesley aiming a bazooka.  The image has been colorized at the MyHeritage.com site.

Online Access to Historic New Britain Newspaper Fills In Tree Branch

Recently the Library of Congress Chronicling America digitized newspaper project (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) added a run of “The New Britain Herald” to their online archive.  While the run currently only extends to the early 1920s, it is fully searchable and a totally free resource.

Using this digitized version of the “The New Britain Herald”, I was able to flesh out the family line for Francis James Brady.

I previously knew that Francis James Brady was the son of Francis Edwin Brady and the grandson of Michael John Brady – our first Brady in the United States – and that he was born in New Britain about 1900 and was on the censuses until 1940.

The articles provided at Chronicling America provided the first clues for his wife, children and grandchildren.  These clues, as well as Ancestry.com hints, led to Michael Mulcey providing the photo of Francis James Brady and his wife, Rhea Gertrude Brady (née Metty) included here.

A number of interesting stories were revealed, like how in 1915 Francis played the Minuteman in his elementary school production of Heroes of `76 or regarding the tragic automobile accident that killed Francis’ son, William Francis Brady, while he was serving in the U.S. Navy in Virginia.

While there is still much to be added to his story, we now have an outline from which to conduct additional research.

The attached Outline Descendant Report for Francis James Brady includes the individuals that have been added to that branch of our tree.  If you are interested obtaining articles about Francis and his descendants, email me at bradyjordanfamilytree@gmail.com

Colorizing B&W Photos

James Denis Brady and Bridget Ann Brady (née Cummins) with granddaughters, circa 1911

As previously mentioned, there is a new process for adding color to older B&W photos.  I have had a chance to use two online colorization applications.  ColouriseSG (colourise.sg) and colorize powered by DeOldify at MyHeritage.com (www.myheritage.com/incolor) are both currently free services with simple interfaces.

You simply load your B&W or sepia toned images into the application and wait.  In seconds a colorized version of the image is created that can then be downloaded.

Photographs that are of higher resolution and have good contrast and brightness balance produce the most pleasing colorizations.  Both services create color images with a very similar color replacement results.  Experimentation with color images converted to B&W and processed on both sites show there is an overall muting of the color palette.  The colorization of flesh tones is the strong suit of these applications while lighter and brighter colors are muted.  Yellows and oranges appear off white or grey, reds are often reduced to a pale rose color and greens are almost black at times.

Even with these limitations, the colorization process can add a warmth to these old images.  Try it with your images.

I’m including several images that have been though the colorization process.

                

Photos (top to bottom): Lillian Agnes Queenin (née Brady) and Francis Edwin “Frank” Queenin, circa 1925; John Michael Brady from Dau’s Blue Book for Hartford, Conn. 1922; and Eileen Mary Brady (née McEvoy) and Harold Benedict Brady, Sr. circa 1930

Closing

Here is hoping that 2021 helps restore some normalcy to our lives and ends the hardships so many have experienced during 2020.

I plan on visiting some of the Brady graves in Mount St. Benedict Cemetery, 1 Cottage Grove Road, Bloomfield, Hartford, Connecticut, USA during the year and will provide a date and time for a fall visit at which I would invite all to attend.

Again, thanks for you patience and assistance and, as always, please contact me with any questions or information you may have about our ancestors.  I may not have the answers but we can certainly work together on finding them.

If you need copies of back issues, email me at bradyjordanfamilytree@gmail.com, my new genealogy only email address, or check out brady-jordangenealogy.blogspot.com.