Michael Brady

We interrupt this Wanted Bulletin to bring you news on a developing story.  This Investigator has just learned the whereabouts of some distant relatives (so distant that we are probably not even related).  To properly report this story, I must take you back in time to October 1858 in Butler Twp, Schuylkill County, PA - is this sounding familiar?  That's right, it is the year before my Great Grandfather James E Brady was born, and at this time, my Great Great Grandparents, Thomas A Brady and Bridget Convey have just become the proud parents of a baby boy, Michael (N?) Brady.  Michael was born in Butler Twp, and at some point he moved to Long Island City, NY, which is where he was listed as living in obits for his father in 1905 and his brother William in 1917.  Michael is obviously an adult at this point, which tells you that I know as much about his youth as I do about James' youth.

Well, back in 2006, I sent a letter to every Brady listed in the phone book in Scranton, PA, looking for living descendants of my ancestors (relatives).  Mostly I got no reply, but in some cases I got an answer saying that we are not related, but wishing me good luck.  I did have good luck, I got a phone call from a Granddaughter of my Great Grandfather James' brother John Brady, and she had some information for me. My cousin Peggy and I met in Long Branch and discussed the family. She was there for a retreat and Long Branch, NJ is only 15 - 20 minutes from my home.  Peggy, who had done some research a few years back, was with her (our) cousin Mary, and we exchanged information.  Peggy told me about Michael and that he married a woman named Cecelia and they lived in Wildwood NJ.  She later sent me a photo of Cecelia on the front porch of a rooming house that she ran in Wildwood, NJ.

This is a copy of the picture, and maybe you can see the number 327 on the pillar next to her, and I think the sign hanging over the entrance says "The Cecelia".  Well, with this I started to check Cecelia Brady in the US Census in Wildwood, and found her in the 1930 Census living at 327 E. Magnolia Ave, Wildwood, NJ, and it says that she is widowed.  Now I go to the NJ Archives and I located a  Death Certificate to Michael N Brady of 327 E Magnolia Ave died 28 Jan 1929 of prostate cancer, and his occupation was listed as carpenter.  It also says that he is buried in New Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia.  Then I found Cecelia's Death Certificate, she died 30 Jul 1934 at the same address in Wildwood, but it listed her residence as 821 S 3rd St. Philadelphia, she is also buried in New Cathedral Cemetery.  Her father's name was Alex Clark born in Ireland, and her mother's name is unknown.  I called the cemetery and (after sending a check for $15.00) I received a list of people buried in this plot.  When I checked the plot, Section T, Range 4, Lot 19, I found mostly Shanahans: Tim, Catherine, John, Mary, John Jr, as well as, Michael and Cecelia Brady, Mary Ellen Rothwell and Mary Ellen Gill.  I was expecting Bradys or Clarks.  Who were these people that my distant uncle was buried with?

I got the answer, or some of it, last week while I was working on my second Most Wanted Ancestor.  Just for fun, I ran Michael Brady in Ancestry.com, and lo and behold I found him listed on a family tree submitted by someone else.  In the tree, it listed Michael as 2nd husband of Cecelia.  John Shanahan was married and had two children, his wife Mary, died in about 1880.  He married Cecelia Clark and she helped raise his two children (John, Jr and Mary).  John died in 1912, and somewhere between 1912 and about 1925, Cecelia married Michael Brady and together they lived in Wildwood, NJ and she ran a boarding house.

So the answer is that the Shanahans are the family of Cecelia's first husband, kind of odd that Michael is buried in a family plot of his wife's first husband's family.  That means that John Shanahan Sr. is buried, not only with both of his wives, but also with his second wife's second husband.  You can't make this stuff up.