This is my Great Grand Uncle, brother of my Great Grandfather - James Brady. William is one of my better documented Brady family members from this era. I actually have a date of birth from a Passport Application and a physical description - but no photograph. These Bradys were very good at avoiding cameras - come to think of it my father never liked having his picture taken either - maybe there is something in the DNA. Anyway, William was born 6 Sep 1862 in Gordon, Pa. I know all you Civil War buffs out there are saying "Wow that's eleven days before the Battle of Antietam" That's right, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War and happened in Sharpsburg, MD, about 600 miles away. In another ten months (July 1863), the Civil War will be knocking on their back door at the Battle of Gettysburg- only 80 miles away. Good thing Billy Yank turned them away or I'd be eating corn pone and hominy grits today - actually I kinda like grits sometimes. With the war that close, you would think that I would find a Brady fighting in the war somewhere. Actually I think I can hear my great great grandmother saying something sweet to my great great grandfather - "where the hell do you think you're going? You want a war, I'll give you your bloodiest day if you try to leave me here alone with these kids." (Okay, that conversation is fictional, but I never realized how close the war came to their home until now).
Sorry, I digress. Let's get back to the story. William was the fifth of the eight children born to Thomas and Bridget Brady in Gordon. According to a biography in an old book I found on line (and never bookmarked - so I can't find it) he attended school in Gordon and Ashland, graduating from high school in Ashland at age fifteen (showoff). He received a B.A. from LaSalle College in Philadelphia in 1882 (BIG showoff). Then he took a course in Villenova Seminary, stayed for a year and decided, at that time, to study medicine - I guess a year in the seminary will do that to a guy. So then he entered Jefferson Medical College in 1882 and two years later, he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Unless my math is off - which happens with guys like me who don't like showoffs and take 27 years to graduate from college - he became a Doctor at age 22. I told my brother-in-law, who is a doctor, about this accomplishment and his reply was that there was not as much to learn then. Excellent point.
So, now he is a doctor. He spends a year working at the State Miners Hospital at Fountain Springs near Ashland, Schuylkill County. When he finished his time there, he traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to continue to study abroad (no, I don't know her name - HA, just kidding). First he goes to Dublin, Ireland and graduates from the Maternity Hospital. I guess if you want to learn about maternity, Ireland is the place to go. Then it is on to Paris, France for two and a half years, and Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria for a year each. He spent five years studying abroad and meeting the leading medical men of "the old country", while becoming fluent in French and German during his visit. Germany is where this document comes from (okay so it was on Ancestry.com):
This is one of my favorite finds, it gives dates, a physical description, and his signature. So this document says that he is in Berlin 25 Jul 1888, applying for a passport for Identification purposes - probably so he could go back home. It gives his date of birth as 6 Sep 1862, and that he left the US on 7 Sep 1888 (it also disputes the biography I found that says he went to Ireland for a year first - oops). But it gives a physical description saying that he is 25 years 10 months old, 5' 8" tall, high forehead, grey eyes and a medium nose. (what is a medium nose?) He has an oval face, fair complexion, brown hair, and a beard and moustache.
Well, I think that is enough for now. Stay tuned for part two.
By the way, I just realized that the biographical sketch that I found is actually all in his obituary in the Scranton Times 18 Sep 1917.
No comments:
Post a Comment