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.