Iron and Steel

I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to say that his parents were in the iron and steel business.  He said "My mother irons, and my father steals", then he'd laugh.

 Remember this article that I posted before?

I found this in the Scranton Republican 14 Aug 1907.  In my post I was wondering what he was doing in Buffalo, NY, why and with whom?  Well, I recently read a book around the history of Scranton, Pa.  In about 1840, the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Co. started and business was not real good until about 1846 when the company made a deal with the New York and Erie Railroad to produce "T" rails.  This brought the railroad industry to the area.  The success of the industry grew, and by 1894 the company produced 500,000 tons of steel rails.  Then came labor strife, and in 1902 the company up and moved to a suburb of Buffalo, NY.  By the way, the suburb is now known as Lackawanna.  Sound familiar?  So I am thinking that August Brady was working in the iron and steel business and moved to Buffalo because that is where his work went.

I found an additional article in the Scranton Republican, from 22 November 1907, just three months after the death of August:

Just a simple one line in the Scranton Republican tells me that perhaps Raymond, his brother, also went to Buffalo to work for the steel company.  It's funny how these little articles in the paper that you never knew anything about can give you more insight into where your family was, when and why.  I have to be honest here and say that I really haven't researched much about Raymond, but I do know that he ends up back in Scranton, where he dies in 1953 of coronary disease at age 64.

There is one more part of this story.  August and Raymond had another brother, Thomas A. Brady.  Thomas shows up in the 1910 census in Lackawanna, NY working as an electrician in the Steel Mills.  He lives with his wife, Florence and two children.  Also living with them are Florence's two brothers.  In 1920, Thomas and Florence live in Gary, Indiana with their three children and minus Florence's two brothers.  You may be scratching your head and thinking "why Gary, Indiana?" (I did the same thing for while, until I googled "Gary, Indiana")  That is when I found out that Gary Indiana was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as the home for its new plant, the Gary Works. The family stayed in Gary and is still in Indiana.  I am not exactly sure where, but I think it is in Indianapolis. 

So maybe my dad wasn't joking after all.  His mom and dad were not in the Iron and Steel business, but apparently some of his ancestors were.

Brooklyn

Last week I was checking on my DNA connections on ancestry.com and I saw a new cousin connection.  I recognized the surname as soon as I saw it.  I came across this name about a year and a half ago while researching my great grandfather, Edward McConville.  I accidentally found his brother, John living and eventually dying in Brooklyn in 1936.  I contacted my new found 3rd cousin through ancestry and got a reply a couple of days ago.  So this got me thinking about Edward McConville and his soon to be wife, my great grandmother Hannah Sullivan.  They both lived in Brooklyn when they arrived in the US.  Edward arrived in 1868 from Manchester, England, and Hannah arrived between 1871 and 1880 from London.  This also explains the 18% of my DNA coming from Great Britain.

I started wondering what Brooklyn must have been like when they got off the boat in New York.  I know that Edward arrived in 1868.  This was just in time for the Orange Riots.  I never heard of them either, but apparently back in the old country in about 1690 there was a battle between the forces of deposed King James II of England and the forces of Dutch Prince William of Orange, who had risen to the throne of England and Scotland, along with his wife.  The battle took place near the River Boyne and the army of William was victorious, which helped with the rise of Protestants in Ireland.
The Orange Riots pitted the Irish Catholics against Irish Protestants (called "Orangemen" because of William of Orange) in New York City.  On July 12 1870, the "Orangemen" had a parade to celebrate their victory 200 plus years before.  The parade route came upon a group of Catholic laborers, who were upset by the chants of the Protestants.  Stones were thrown at the marchers, and a riot broke out, gunfire was exchanged with three people killed and several more injured.  The following year, the parade had been banned, but the Governor overturned the ban and the parade was on.  This time, the State Militia was in attendance.  The "Orangemen" marched to about the same area and encountered Catholic laborers, a shot was fired, and the riot was on.  This time sixty civilians were killed and 150 wounded.  After this, the parade was banned for good.  No wonder you shouldn't wear orange on St. Patrick's Day.

Hannah and Edward were married in Brooklyn (Red Hook, according to Aunt Florence) in June 1888, and at some point before 1900, they moved to Jersey City, NJ.  The Brooklyn Bridge, which was under construction when Hannah arrived, was finally completed in May 1883.  Maybe Roebling's erection led them into Manhattan and on to New Jersey.  Can you imagine what it must have been like to watch the building of the Brooklyn Bridge for over 13 years, and to see it completed.  When the only traffic would have been on foot or horse and wagon.  They probably could not imagine the masses walking across the bridge on September 11, 2001 to escape the collapse of the Twin Towers.  By the way, according to Wikipedia, more that 120,000 vehicles, 4,000 pedestrians, and 3,100 bicyclists cross the Brooklyn Bridge every day.  The bridge is owned and operated by DOT and there are no tolls on the bridge.

Meet Pearl Brady

Towards the end of my last post, I told you that the informant on Allen Brady's death certificate in 1950 was listed as Pearl Brady.  Then I wondered who Pearl Brady was, because I had never heard of her before and she had not come up in my research until very recently.  Here is the answer.

Pearl was born (according to the 1900 US Census) in April 1888, in Canada to Peter Gariepy and Sarah Morrison.  The family moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan prior to 1900 and were enumerated in that census at 109 Leroy St.  She was the fifth of six children and her father was a stone cutter.

I could not find the family in 1910, but I found Pearl being married in the same city on 1 Apr 1918 to Frank St. Germain, an iron worker, also born in Canada.  They remained in Sault Ste. Marie.  By 1930, they are living in Hobart Township in East Gary, Indiana where Frank is an iron worker in the steel mill.   By this time, they have a son, Donald.  By 1940, the family has moved to Calumet, a section of Gary, Indiana and Frank is now a steel construction contractor.

In October 1946, tragedy strikes.  I found a death certificate for Frank St. Germain, and it appears that he is killed in some type of construction accident.  Now Pearl is widowed, as well as, Allen Brady, who was widowed in 1943.  Perhaps they knew each other previously through church or through friends, but the next item I found is this:

You got it, Allen and Pearl marry on 26 Feb 1949 in Lake County Indiana.  Shortly thereafter on 23 Sep 1950, only a year and a half after being married, Allen dies in Gary, Indiana, and the informant on his death certificate is his wife, Pearl Brady.

Just to complete the story, Pearl dies 31 Jan 1968, in Ross Twp, Indiana of a cerebral hemorrhage and hypertension.  The informant on her death certificate is her son, Donald, who became a steel worker just like his dad.

Allen Edward Brady 1897 - 1950

I was thinking last week of writing another post, after all it had been a few months and I need to get back in the swing of things.  So I was looking in my tree for someone to do some research on, and I settled on Allen Edward Brady.  He was the last child born to John J Brady and Annie Butler Brady. He was born 21 Sep 1897, in Scranton, Pa.  The day of his birth is the same day that the New York Sun published it's famous "Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus" editorial.  So I guess his life started on a good note.

Allen lived in Scranton, and the next time I see him is 12 Sep 1918, still in Scranton and registering for the draft for WWI.  According to his draft registration he is living at 522 Ripple St with his family in Scranton, but he works for the Illinois Steel Co. as a "Pit recorder".  Here is the odd part -  the Illinois Steel Co. is located in Gary, Indiana.  So he lives in Scranton, works for the Illinois Steel Co and that is located in Gary, Indiana.  I assume he served in WWI because the 1930 census indicates that he is a veteran of WWI.

In 1920, the census says he is still living in Scranton and working as a store clerk.  Then on 10 Oct 1923, he marries Margaret A Powers in Gary, Indiana.  By the time of the 1930 census, Allen and Margaret live on W. 45th Ave in Gary, with Margaret's widowed father and her two brothers.  Allen works as a painter on the steam railway to support his wife and three daughters: Alice, Patricia, and Nancy.

By 1940, Allen is a paint contractor, and it looks like he works for the city of Gary, where they still live.  Now Allen rents a home on Broadway, where he and Margaret raise their three girls.  Now the story gets sad, in 1943.

10 Jan 1943 finds us in Baker County, Florida where a marriage license is filed for Allen E Brady and Margaret A Powers.  In case you fell asleep halfway through this, they have already been married for 19 years.  Maybe they are just renewing their vows.  That is what I thought until I found Margaret's death certificate in Indiana, while typing this post  She dies on 15 Oct 1943, at the age of 42, nine months after marrying her husband again.  She had apparently been ill with pulmonary TB for 5 years.  Why this reunion took place in Florida I don't know, I thought maybe they moved there for the weather or something, but she dies in Indiana nine months later.  So I have no idea.

Now Allen is widowed with his three girls in Indiana and 1950 rolls around.  We find Allen's death certificate.  He dies 23 Sep 1950, two days after his 53rd birthday.  He dies of a coronary occlusion, which I think may be a heart attack, and an autopsy was performed, but there is no indication of the results of the autopsy.  He was employed as a supervisor for the Gary Housing Authority and the informant on his death certificate is listed as Pearl Brady.  Who is Pearl Brady?  This will take some more research.

Then last, but not least, on 29 Sep 1950 Allen and Margaret's youngest daughter, Nancy L Brady marries Gerald Mulloy, only 6 days after the death of her father.  That is a rough way to start a new family.

To end this on a somewhat happy note, I have a photo of Allen and his family that was "donated to my family archive" by my cousin Peggy from Scranton, who I met in 2004.