Annie Bradley - My Great Great Grandmother

Just this past weekend, I was thinking of my next "Most Wanted Ancestor" poster and I thought I would use my Great Grandmother Maggie Bradley AKA Madge Bradley AKA Marcella Bradley, wife of James Brady.  She was born to James and Annie Bradley in 1867 in Schuylkill County, PA.  According to the 1880 US  Census, Maggie was 15 years old and lived in Cass Twp, Schuylkill County, PA with her parents James and Annie and the following siblings: Susan, age 17, Lizzie age 11, Joseph age 9, James age 6, Mary age 4, and Ellen age 2.

I checked on Ancestry.com to see if there was any additional information available that I hadn't found before.  I found a Bradley Family Tree, which was about the Bradley family that I have been looking into.  The only mention of my Great Grandmother Maggie, is that she is listed in the 1880 Census, it does not list a husband or children - ergo no me.  Apparently the author knows less about Maggie than I do and the author is in for one heck of a surprise when he/she gets my message.  The author is in for a whole lot of new relatives.

I checked into the other info posted in the tree for the rest of Maggie's immediate family, especially Maggie's mom - Annie Bradley.  The post says that her maiden name is Pepper, born in 1840 in New York to Patrick Pepper and Magdeline Reilly, it also says that she died in PA, but no date is given.  The information also listed her living in Pottsville, PA in 1920.  For those of you who do not know, Pottsville is the home to the oldest Brewery in the USA, The Yeungling Brewery.  I click on the link for the 1920 Census in Pottsville, and find that Anna (as she is named in this listing) lives at 549 East Market St, Pottsville with the following family members: Nickolas Murtha, age 45 and Mary Murtha age 37, listed as Heads of Household, their children are Martha age 11, Mary age 9, Anna age 8, Dorothy age 5, and Anna is listed last as 78 years old and her relationship to head of household is Mother-in-Law.  So Mary Murtha age 37 is Anna's daughter.  You may notice that the ages may be off by a few years, not unusual.  You would think that over a ten year period and person would age 10 years - NOT.

I then checked the 1930 Census and find the Murtha family, but no Anna, so I am gonna guess that she has died sometime between 1920 and 1930.  My next stop is the Pottsville Free Public Library website.  There is a genealogy section of the site which includes some obits indexes.  This is where I found the obit for Anna's daughter Maggie.  There are large gaps in the indexes, every newspaper is not included, and every year is not included.  The only obits listed is most indexes are obits that people have requested from the library, and the library will list it.  I checked the Pottsville Republican - no luck, then I found the Shenandoah Evening Herald and BINGO, I find an obit listed for Anna Bradley, 14 Mar 1929 on page 3.  I called the Library and they will send me a copy of the obit, they will also check the Pottsville Republican for me.  Along with the obit, a bill for $10.00.  Actually quite reasonable, I couldn't get out of Monmouth County on ten dollars worth of gas these days.

So for the past week, I have been like little Ralphie Parker on "A Christmas Story", rushing home everyday to the mailbox to check for my Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, but my package is much more valuable, not a stupid ring.

So if this turns out to be my Great Great Grandmother, that would mean that my father, who was born in 1920, had a living great grandmother until he was 9 years old.  WOW. If true, he never mentioned her, there's a shock.  I also wonder if she attended my Grandfather Thomas' wedding in Jersey City in on 18 Nov 1914, after all she was his grandmother.  If this is my Great Great Grandmother, I am wondering if my father will be listed as her surviving great grandson.  Hopefully I will find out this week without getting a speeding ticket driving home to check the mail.

To be continued........