I don't know if I mentioned this before, but when my Bradys lived in Gordon, there was a family named Davis who lived right near them. The Davis family was always listed right near the Brady family on each federal census. In 1900 and 1910, my great grandfather James Brady is listed as a boarder living with the family - this is after the rest of the family moved to Scranton. I also noticed that one of the witnesses at my Great Grandfather's wedding was a Davis, and I think one of my Grandfather's Godparents was a Davis. This got me to thinking that the Davis' are related somehow.
When the database of Pennsylvania Death Certificates became available on Ancestry.com, I located a death certificate for Patrick J Davis of Gordon. He died on 14 May 1916 of apoplexy. The Doctor was signed the death certificate is Thomas McCutcheon - the same doctor who signed my great grandfather's death certificate,. The funeral home was Burke Brothers - also the same - and place of burial or removal is listed as Ashland - also the same as Great Grandpa. The informant of the death certificate was listed as Mary Davis - not his wife, but probably a daughter. This added to my curiosity. So I went to Pottsville to look for the obituary for a dead neighbor of my dead ancestor. Man I think I got it bad now. I checked for the obit and could not find one, so this is another similarity.
My next move was to go to the Courthouse and check for a will. Again, I hit a dead end - please pardon the pun. But then I thought "what about his wife Catherine? maybe she had a will" Mind you, I never found a death certificate for her in Pennsylvania, but I figure it couldn't hurt to check - I even had time left on the parking meter. There were three Catherine Davis' listed and I quickly ruled out two of them, and the third one was for a Catherine Davis who died in New York, but had property in Gordon. This is when the bells started ringing, then I saw the executrix - Mary Davis. This had to be her. So I open the envelope, and the first line made me certain. It said "I, Catherine Davis, widow of Patrick Davis". So now I know why I couldn't find her in the Pennsylvania database - because she died in New York City - didn't see that coming.
She listed her three daughters: Mary Davis, Delia Davis and Rose Davis of the City of New York as the executerixes, as well as, Nellie Holleran of the Borough of Ashland, County of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania. No I don't know who Nellie Holleran is. Anyway it says that she leaves property in Gordon to be sold and the proceeds divided among her three daughters. One of the last lines in the will states "decedant died October 15, 1922, which is actually 92 years ago tomorrow, but the will was not probated until August 1930 - makes you wonder what the delay was. I wonder if the daughters just came across the will one day and did not even realize that the property was in their mother's name. One more thing before I move on, she signed will was "her mark", which was an "X", so she could not write
Next stop is the Recorder of Deeds, right here in the same building - but two floors up. I found the deed to Lot 12 in Gordon issued on 1 Jan 1869, describing the sale of the lot by David McKnight and his wife Elizabeth of the City of Reading, County of Berks, State of Pennsylvania, andJames McKnight of the same place, party of the first part, and Patrick Davis of the Town of Gordon, County of Schuylkill,party of the second part - no mention of his wife - for the sum of $125.00. I may have mentioned this in a previous post about the Bradys, but in case I haven't, I previously found the deed for property in Gordon between Thomas A Brady and the same McKnights for Lot 11. The kicker is that the sale took place on 1 Jan 1869. Don't have to hit me with a brick, these two families bought lots next to each other on the same day and from the same people. There has got to be a connection between these families - but what. Looks like I opened a whole new can of worms and now I have some fishin' to do.
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