Brady Boys Discovered

While I haven’t made much progress in tracing our Brady linage back to Ireland, I haven’t been totally stymied in adding a few new facts to the Brady family story.

My first discovery focused on Francis J. “Frank” Brady.  Frank is the son of Francis Edwin “Frank” Brady and the grandson of Michael John Brady, our first U.S. ancestor.  His birthdate had been estimated using census records.  It is clear he was born in New Britain, Connecticut and lived there until at least 1920 where the census enumerates him as a single male living in the household of his father and working as a timekeeper in a cutlery factory.  Obituaries for family members record him as living in New Britain in 1956 and Meriden in 1969.  I was able add a little more to Frank’s story after finding his senior entry in the New Britain High School yearbook, called the Beehive, for 1919.  The senior entries for that year include a date of birth and Frank listed his birthday as February 29, 1900.  Unfortunately, 1900 was not a leap year!  My initial thought is that Frank had a bit of Brady mischievousness.  I base that on my father who despite being a reserved and quite person, was apt to play a prank or otherwise have a good chuckle.  I’m assuming the correct birth date is February 28^th or close to it.  Best of all the entry included a picture of Frank.

1919 New Britain High School Beehive entry for Francis J. Brady

My second discovery focused on one of our John Michael Bradys.  The John in question is the son of Joseph Francis Brady, Sr., grandson of State Senator John Michael Brady, and the great grandson of Michael John Brady, our first U.S. ancestor.  Research had already confirmed John died in Hartford, Connecticut in 1957.  John died of smoke inhalation during a mattress fire in his boarding house room.  At the time of his death he was 34 years old, divorced with one daughter and working at a local auto body shop.  He is buried in the Brady family plot at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery, 1 Cottage Grove Road, Bloomfield, Connecticut.  I was able to find an entry for John in the Weaver High School (25 Ridgefield Street, Hartford, Connecticut), Portal 1941 yearbook.  It includes a photo, a nickname – Jackie – and the fact that John was in the school band and “blows a mean trumpet”.  For me the musical hints are the most compelling.  Mary Jane Katherine Egan (née Brady), John’s niece, recalled impromptu musical recitals during her visits to the family home on Holcomb Street in Hartford.  My mother recalled her father-in-law, and my grandfather, Harold Sr., being a skilled saxophone player.  We can now place John as our family trumpet player!  While not a ringer for my father Harold Jr. – John’s nephew – I do think there is a family resemblance especially from mid-nose down.

1941 Weaver High School Portal entry for John Michael Brady

Hope you enjoyed the latest updates.  

J.M. Brady Hartford Estate

During recent research on my great-grandfather, John Micheal Brady, I came across this advertisement in a 1924 edition of the Hartford Courant: 

John Micheal Brady's home was located on Holcomb Street in Hartford, Connecticut.  Further research revealed a plat map, showing the home and associated lot was listed in Catherine S. Brady's (nee Moffitt) name (Catherine was John's wife), while all the remaining lots on the block belong to John.  John was a fairly successful real estate developer and was responsible for a number of large developments in New Britain, Hartford, Wethersfield and Clinton.  

I was surprised to see this advertisement for I was familiar with the house.  I served twenty-six years with he Hartford Fire Department and for six years worked at Engine Company 14, which was the first due engine for this neighborhood.   It is a beautiful house that sits directly across the street from the Oak Hill School for the Blind, one of the first institutions in the country to serve blind individuals.  The 4,078 square foot single family home was built in 1890 and still stands majestically on the crest of Oak Hill.

135 Holcomb Street, Hartford, CT - 2016

I've recently been in touch with a cousin, who's mother was John's grand-daughter and remembers visiting John's home as a child.  She remembers the family playing music together.  I believe this would have been the house she visited as it appears John lived here from about 1920 to the early 1930s.  

My daughter, Rachel, came up with the idea of searching for the house on real estate sites and we found twenty photos of the house at Trulia.com. You can view them by clicking the photo box overlaid on the image of the house.  You'll have a chance to see a home that has been loving maintained (or restored), as well as appreciate the socioeconomic standing of John at this stage of his life.  I can image John and Catherine and their seven children enjoying this home.

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.