Scranton City Directory 1931 and Google Earth

While searching my Brady line in Scranton, I came across a Scranton City Directory from 1931.  The person I was searching for was Alberta (Wenis) Brady and her husband James Brady.  I knew they lived in Scranton, but I didn't know where or how James was employed.  So the Scranton City Directory for 1931 popped up and I opened it:

So there they are at the top of the right hand column.  It says: Brady Jas I (Alberta), waiter Wyo Lunch h 736 Washn av. You may able to see the yellow highlight.  Just a few things about this entry:

1. It says Brady Jas I - Jas is the abbreviation for James and I think the middle initial should be J, 
2. Alberta in parenthesis is his spouse's name
3. Waiter is his occupation
4. Wyo Lunch in the employer - Wyoming Ave Luncheonette?
5. 736 Washington Ave is his home address

Look how much you can learn from a City Directory.  The other thing that you can learn is to look through the rest of the page for other Bradys (cause it is done alphabetically - like a phone book).  I know it is tough to see here, but I found five more Bradys on this page who I know are related and others who may be related and I just don't know it yet. So here we go.

 Left hand column, seven up from the bottom, we have Brady, Hannah G, tchr r 613 Adams Ave.  This can be translated to Hannah G Brady, teacher, lives at 613 Adams Ave.  There is no name in parenthesis so she is not married.

Directly below her is another Hannah M Brady, (wid Wm) r 613 Adams Ave.  This Hannah's mother, and widow of Dr. William F Brady and they live in the same house.

In the right column two below James, is another Brady entry:
Brady, John F (Irene) adjuster r 613 Adams Ave.  This is William and Hannah's son John, who lives with his wife Irene (O'Hara) at the same address, and he is employed as an insurance adjuster.

Right below John F, is another Brady: John J (Anna L) h 522 Ripple St - notice there is no employer or occupation, he has retired from the International Correspondence School.

And last, but not least, Brady, Regina D tchr r 613 Adams Av.  She is listed ten names below John and Anna.  She is also a teacher and also living at home with her mother, sister and brother.

So I found all of this information from one page in the 1931 City Directory for Scranton PA.  Not too shabby.

This is my favorite part.  Using this page and all of the info that I found, I opened up Google Earth.  I told you once before about marking out specific addresses in Google earth, so this is what I did:

Now you gotta admit this is good.  I saved and marked each house with the address on the aerial shot from Google Earth, then I saved it as a PDF, and added the text to show who lives at each address with the info from the City Directory.  I mean it is not to scale or anything crazy like that, but it gives you an idea of where everyone lived in the city.

Just so you know, there are a total of 35 Bradys in the Scranton City Directory for 1931, and these are six of the one that I know are in my family.  I'm pretty sure that some of the other 29 are also related and  I would need a much larger printout to add the rest.

Before I go, I have to give credit where credit is due.  I learned how to do this by using some tips for a podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke called Genealogy Gems.  There is a whole webinar on how to get started with Google Earth on her website.  She also wrote a book on Genealogy and Google Earth - just in case you're interested.

Another trip to Scranton

My last post was about Pennsylvania Death Certificates and I showed you two of the many that I found online.  Well, I just returned from Scranton PA today, where I paid a visit to The Scranton Public Library and their microfilm reels of the Scranton Times.  I was in search of obituaries, and I found four of the ones that I was looking for.  Tonight I am going to talk about two of them.  They are for Anna Brady and her husband John J Brady (brother to my great grandfather).  The first one that I found was for Anna Brady:

Pretty lengthy obit, especially for a woman in 1932.  Apparently she was a very good woman, but if you read the article, they never mention that her first name is Anna.  Based on this obit, I think that her first name is Mrs. John.  I am always amazed by that.  There is also no mention of her maiden name, or if she had any siblings - from this I would have to assume that she was an only child.  Good thing they noted her maiden name on her death certificate or I would never have found it.  I does mention that she is survived by ten children, thirty one grandchildren and one great grandchild.  Pretty prolific bunch.

The other thing I found interesting is that it says she was born in Cool Castle, PA, I Googled it and found nothing.  But I do know that Girardville is in Schuylkill County and that she and John was married in Schuylkill County, because they are listed as married and living in Gordon in one of the Census records that I have.

My next find was the obit for her husband, John J Brady:

This obit was in the Scranton Times 18 Nov 1938.  Not as lengthy as his wife's obit, but it does mention that he retired from the International Correspondence School, and the fact that he was born in Little Falls NY.  It also mentions the large family that he and Anna left behind.  

They are both buried in Cathedral Cemetery, but I could not get anyone at the cemetery before I left today.  Cathedral Cemetery is huge and it would be almost impossible to find anyone there without having a clue where there grave is.

The last item that I have for John and Anna is a photo that was given to me by my cousin Peggy.  Peggy answered a letter that I sent to every Brady in Scranton several years ago and we met once about six years ago when she visited Long Branch.  Anyway, she mailed me a bunch of pictures and was kind enough to label them.  (she gave me a picture that I previously posted about Cecelia Brady - wife of Michael Brady).

So this is her photo credit and here is the photo:

Peggy labeled this one too as you can see.  I do not know when this was taken but it has to be before July 1932.  Pretty formal pose, and it looks like it was taken in their home.  

Now I'm gonna tell you why I always have my wife, Katrina, read my posts before I publish them.  She was reading this one and noticed that John's obit mentions twenty nine grand children (instead of Anna's thirty one).  What happened?  Did two grandchildren died between 1932 and 1938, or did someone just miscount?  I'll have to check Pa Death Certificates for any children named Brady, Sipple, or Mooney.  But I don't think it will be easy.

So I think that's enough for now, I don't want to overdo it.  I want to finish by saying thanks to Peggy.  I think that there are a lot of nice folks out there who are willing to help you out.  I have found a few, but I know there are more people out there waiting for me to find them.