Gordon and Minersville, PA

After getting all of that information about the Bradys and Bradleys, my next move was Gordon and Minersville, both small towns in Schuylkill County- Gordon was the Brady hometown and Minersville was the Bradley hometown.  Actually the Bradys lived in Butler Township and their section later became Gordon.  The Bradleys lived in Cass Township, and I think their section of town became Minersville.

First stop Gordon Borough Hall to see if anyone there can help me find the lot where my great great grandfather lived.  When I pulled up outside the building, it looked dark.  The door was not locked so I walked in, but the offices were locked.  I called out "Hello", and surprisingly enough I got an answer.  I rounded the corner where the voice came from and I saw a man with all kinds of tools in the bathroom.  He smiled and asked if he could help me, so I told him I was looking for someone to help me with an old deed and finding the property.  He told me that he was the plumber and the employees in Borough Hall left for the day at 1:00 PM.  I asked where Plane St was and he pointed to the front of the building and said "that's Plane St out front", so I said "how about Birch Alley?"  He did not know, so I left and found a woman walking in the area.  I asked her where Birch Alley was and she did not know either, but she suggested I check at the Post Office. (As it later turned out, she was walking on Birch Alley - but in all fairness, there were no signs).  I checked at the Post Office and found that Birch Alley is the street just east of E Plane St.  It actually makes sense, but I wasn't thinking about it like that.  The Post Office had a map fit on a regular sheet of paper - small town.  So I have a general idea of the location of their property.

Next stop - Minersville.  You'll never guess where I planned to go in Minersville - St Vincent de Paul Church and Cemetery.  Okay so maybe you did guess.  This time I went to the church office before venturing across the street to the cemetery.  I spoke with two very nice women and explained that I was looking for James Bradley 1876 to 1928.   Well, they looked through their records and checked for any Bradleys and where they were buried in the cemetery - which consisted of Row number.  The way that the headstones are laid out, that is not a real  big help, but it did help me enough.

These women found Joseph Bradley, which I showed you before, James Bradley, the one I am looking for, and another Bradley.  She said that the records say that there is a metal cross near Joseph Bradley, which is the resting place of James Bradley (I think that this is James and Joseph's father James) my great great grandfather.  She also said that there is a Stephen Bradley, who is a Civil War veteran (be still my heart).

So off I go, into the cemetery, but this time I have an idea where to look.  After only a few minutes, I spot this metal cross in the general area where Joseph and Jennie Bradley are buried.  Then I saw on the cross bar (probably not the right term) the name J. Bradley on a small plaque.

Now that is cool, mounted on that small concrete block and two pipes strapped together with the plaque.  It may not be as cool as George's grandfather's homemade stone in Holy Sepulchar, but it is cool.

Next I found the stone for Stephen Bradley - but I don't know if he is even related.  He could be James's brother - just judging by age -  but I'm not sure about that.  But it is a well marked grave so I thought I would include it anyway.

Wow, they were not joking when they marked this grave.  It says that he died 16 Oct 1886, aged 39 years, which makes his born in 1847.  It has a foot stone with the initials S. B., an American flag and that is a GAR marker on the post of the flag.  The GAR marker (GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic) signifies that the deceased served with the Union Army (north) during the American Civil War.  It has the dates 1861 and 1865 (the years that the war started and ended).  I am going to have to research this guy to see if we are  related.

My last find was the elusive James J Bradley who fought in WWI.  He was the last one that I found, and he was buried on the very edge of the cemetery.  So far to the edge that he was very close to the fence where the land drops off to the town below.  Nice view.  The stone was also sinking into the ground so only his name was visible.  I had to find a stick and a stone that looked more like a piece of slate to dig away the dirt to see the bottom of the headstone.

Now you can see the year of birth and the year of death, below that it says Co B 103rd Engrs 28 DIV, which is the unit that he served with in WWI.  It took awhile, but I found him.  So I had a real good day, and I still made it to my sister's house in time for dinner.

Schuylkill County Courthouse

I returned to Schuylkill County on Thursday and I spent the better part of two hours in the Schuylkill County Courthouse.  (I know how long I was there by the number of quarters I put in the parking meter) I went downstairs first to the county archives, where I got copies of some Bradley records.  I got marriage records for Joseph Bradley, who is the brother of my Great Grandmother Maggie (or Madge) Bradley.  Joseph was married twice - the second marriage was after the death of his first wife.  His first marriage is recorded in a ledger book with three marriages on a page.  It gives some information about both parties.  It says that Joseph was born 12 Jul 1873 in Cass Township and that he is a blacksmith by trade.  Katie Deegan was born 4 Jul 1873 in Cass Township and her occupation is listed as "at home".  The license was issued 7 May 1896 and returned 1 Jun 1896.

His second marriage is on a whole page in the ledger and has a whole lot of information.  It separates the form into Statement of Male and Statement of Female.  It asks where the male was born but not the date. It asks for parents names (and mother"s maiden name), residences, and place of birth.   Residence of father is "dead" - short and sweet with the same answer for occupation of father, man they don't mince words.  It also asks if this is the first marriage and it says that he was married once before.  Then it asks for date of divorce (which has a line through it) or death of wife or wives - July 8 1913. So now I know when Katie Deegan died.  Then we go to the Statement of Female ( only male and female statements, no male-male or female-female) and her name is listed as Mrs. Jennie Kessler, born in Gilberton, PA, age 43, lives in Minersville and works as a domestic.  She was also married once previously (just in case you didn't catch the Mrs. in her name) and her first husband died 16 Oct 1918.  Her father is listed as Thomas King, dead, but gives an occupation as miner, born in England.  Her mother is listed as Margaret Delaney (King) living in Minersville, domestic, born in Forestville PA.  Lots of genealogical information to follow up on.  The license was issued 13 Feb 1924 and returned on 20 Feb 1924.  Neither form gives the actual date of the marriage.

Then I found a marriage for Joseph's niece, Anna Murtha (his sister's daughter).  Anna married a man named John Conway, age 31 of Pottsville.  His parents Thomas Conway and Mary Barron are both deceased, and his occupation is listed as Clerk.  Anna has parents listed as Nicholas Murtha, deceased, and Mary Bradley, who lives in Pottsville.  The license is issued 21 Oct 1940 and returned on 6 Nov 1940.  This says that they were married at St Patrick's Church on 26 Oct 1940 by R.P. Campbell, Minister of the Gospel.  A quick Google search indicates that the Church of St Patrick is located in Pottsville.

That courthouse visit of about fifteen minutes reveals a lot of information and clues to follow up on, but I know what you are thinking.  Here we go again -  these are not direct ancestors of mine so why put in all of the effort?  My answer is that I could find some real live cousins who might have some info that I missed.  That would be interesting to find some cousins living in Pottsville or Minersville and find out more about how they lived in the area back in the day.

The other thing I did while I was in the court house was go to the Recorder of Deeds and search for the deed to the property  where my great great grandfather Thomas A Brady lived in Gordon - and with some help from the staff - I was able to locate the deed.  It says that he purchased the property on 1 Jan 1869 from David McKnight and his wife Elizabeth, of Reading PA for $250.00.  He purchased lots 12 & 13, located in the Town of Gordon, in Butler Township between Birch Alley and East Plane St and the property measures 100' X 164'  Pretty good size.  I couldn't find the selling of the property, but a nice gentleman helped me to see that although he purchased the property in 1869, the deed was not recorded to until 1903.  He said that back in the day, it may have just been to much trouble to go to the County Courthouse just to record the deed, so they waited until it was convenient.  The problem is that Thomas was living in Scranton in 1903 and died in 1904.  This stymied me until Katrina suggested that he may have given it to a family member who did not record it until 1903.  Perhaps he knew that his father was ill and decided to record the deed in case he passed away and he may somehow lose the property that was unrecorded.  It just so happens that his son (and my great grandfather James Brady) lived in Gordon until his death in 1914.  This would also explain why I could not find the sale of the property - I was looking for Thomas Brady in the Grantor index, but it may have been James' property to sell by then. Sometimes you just don't think about it like that, but it is very possible - I think Katrina should have been the Detective in this outfit. 

I checked further on usgwarchives.net and found a history of Gordon, PA.  A line in this history states that in 1775 three tracts of land were patented to David and James McKnight - the same men that my great great grandfather bought the property from.  I thought that was pretty cool.

The other thing that I think is great about all of these documents is that they all have signatures of the people involved in the events recorded.  To be continued...........

Cape May County Records

So last Friday I decided to take a drive to Cape May to check out some records there.  I did a post before about my great grandfather's brother, Michael and his wife, Cecelia.  Michael and Cecelia lived in Wildwood, NJ and owned house at 327 East Magnolia Ave.  Michael died in Wildwood on 28 Jan 1929, and Cecelia died in Wildwood on 31 Jul 1934.

I started at the Cape May County Library in Middle Township.  I looked through several local weekly papers for an obituary, and found nothing.  I had grand visions of finding an obit listing families and maybe a story about what he had been doing there.  And, be still my heart, maybe a picture.  But alas, he was truly a Brady, and left no paper trail.  So I checked for Cecelia and again - nothing.

Dejected, I left the library and there it was - across the parking lot was a smaller brick building with a sign that said "County Records".  Without even thinking, I was drawn to the doorway and entered.  Inside was the County Clerk's Office and deed books.  I solicited the help of one of the clerks, and she checked the index book of Grantees (people purchasing property) and there were three Michael Bradys.  She could tell by the listing that only one of the three were married, so that is the one I picked.  I had to go upstairs and find the very large deed book and went to the page listed.  There it was!  It took a while to decipher the document amid all of the legalese, but essentially it says that Michael N Brady and his wife, Cecelia Brady of the city of Philadelphia, purchased the property from Stephen P Loux and his wife Rebecca Loux (also from the City of Philadelphia).  They paid the sum of one dollar and other valuable consideration, lawful money of the United States of America.  The sale took place on 13 Aug 1923.  So now I know that Michael and Cecelia were married before August 1923.  The deed goes on to mention a building and the previous owner, yada, yada, yada.  I don't know, but it sounds like Stephen and Rebecca Loux may have been related somehow, just based on a sale price on one dollar. (or somebody lost a bet).

Next, I got the same clerk to help me with the Grantors Index to locate the sale of the property by Cecelia after Michael's death.  Well, it turns out that she didn't sell it, and it was sold by the executor of her estate on 14  May 1936.  Sale price - $2,850.00.  Sounds like a good profit (2,850 %).  I had been told by my cousin Peggy from Scranton that Cecelia had operated it as a rooming house.  The deed goes on to say that both owners "departed this life" and one of the executors renounced his right to be the executor.   Since the property was part of the estate of Cecelia, guess where my next stop was.

You guessed it - the Cape May County Surrogate - which was located around the parking lot in the same complex.  My intention was to get a copy of the entire will - until they told me that the price is $3.00 per page.  I don't think so.  I got three pages of the will itself - without the legal papers, copies of the letters of the executors, lists of persons notified, etc...  The will is in very small print on a legal size document, but can only be printed on letter size paper - not easy to read.

The will has some pretty good genealogical information.  It starts out with the whole sound mind and body deal, and paying off debts and funeral costs as soon as convenient, then we get into who gets what.

She leaves $3,000.00 to her step daughter Mary Murphy, wife of August Murphy of Third and Queen Sts in Phila.
Thomas Murray located at ???? So. 13th St in Phila. - $4,000.00
Cecelia Shanahan beloved niece gets $250.00
Mary Gill, beloved niece gets $250.00
Catherine McCaffrrey, beloved niece gets $250.00
Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph on Willlings Alley between Third and Fourth Sts in Phila - $100.00 for masses for the repose of the souls of my deceased husband, John Shanahan (first Husband) and myself.
To the Denomination Sisters of 1600 Haddon Ave Camden, NJ for the saying of the perpetual Rosary for the souls of my late husband Michael N. Brady and myself - $50.00
To St. Bonaventures Monestary of Monestary, NY the sum of $200.00 for masses for the repose of the souls of my father and mother, Alexander and Mary Clark (didn't see that coming).
And last but not least - To St Charles Seminary Overbrook,  for perpetual masses for Alexander Clark and Annie, his wife (Really didn't see that coming)
There are other bequeathings including one to a beloved niece Cecelia Ortan, 2645 Mavine St Philadelphia.

So I learned her parents names, her step daughters, and nieces and her father's second wife.  Not too shabby, but all of these folks are not blood relations to me.  So in the end, it took me an entire day of driving and researching, gas money and fees to Cape May County to learn about a very collateral line (limb) on my family tree.  But it was fun and I do enjoy the hunt.