Andrew Brady

Andrew Brady was another brother of my great grandfather, James E Brady.  Andrew was born to Thomas A Brady and Bridget Convey Brady in 1870, in Gordon, PA.  The best I can tell, he lived with his parents and is listed in the 1900 Census in their home in Scranton Pa.  That is pretty much all I knew about him until I found a record of his service in the Spanish American War.  A couple of weeks ago, I found an article in the Scranton Tribune from 13 Mar 1899.  I found it on Chronicling America, which is on the Library of Congress website.

In case you can't read it, the article talks about the First volunteer engineer corps who served in "Porto Rico" during the recent "unpleasantness" with Spain meeting to arrange for their part in the reception and parade to be tendered the Thirteenth regiment on March 22.  It goes on to list the men from Scranton who went to Porto Rico, and among them is Andrew T. Brady.

I never really knew much about him, besides his service in the Spanish American War, but I figured that he died before his father in October 1904.  I figured this because I found his father, Thomas A Brady's obit.  The obit lists family who survived him and Andrew is not among them.

Then I subscribed to Newspapers.com and hunted around old Scranton newspapers.  I located an article dated 19 Mar 1904 and it indicated that Thomas A Brady of Birch St was traveling to Boonton NJ to identify remains of man killed there.  It goes on to say that the man may be a brother of Dr W F Brady of Scranton.  In case you have not followed my blog closely, Dr W F Brady is my great grandfather's brother.  I called the Boonton Library and a woman there said that she would check the old newspapers there for me, but I have not heard back yet.  Apparently, patience really is a virtue, it must have passed me by when it comes to researching my family tree.

I then called the Morris County Historical Commission, I was referred to the Morristown - Morris Township Library, which has a genealogy center.  So instead of waiting, I decided to drive up there and see what they had.  Then my sister from Scranton called me.  So while I had her on the phone, I invited myself to her house for the night. (after checking the Scranton Library for material).  So off I went. to Morristown and Scranton.

Morristown - Morris Township Library was very nice, and the woman working there was very helpful, but alas, I found nothing of help.  So it was off to Scranton.

I got to the Scranton Library about 45 minutes before closing, thanks to some heavy traffic.  I was able to get microfilm of the Scranton Times for March of 1904 and was lucky enough to find two articles.  One from 18 Mar 1904 and a second one from the following day, 19 Mar 1904:

The first article talks about a Scranton man being killed on the Railroad in Boonton, NJ.  The second article is essentially the same article as the one I found in the Scranton Republican on Newspapers.com.  It says that Thomas A Brady left for Boonton to identify the remains as his brother.  The paper is mistaken, I think they were stuck on the fact that his brother was the famous Doctor W F Brady, and did not realize that Thomas is actually his father.  Apparently Andrew had left Scranton for New York about a year before, but I don't know why.  His occupation was listed as machinist in census records and a couple of Scranton City Directories, so maybe he left for a new job in the City.  The Scranton Library closed before I could find anything else.

So it looks like my first generation Irish American great grand uncle was killed on St Patrick's Day 1904 by a train in Boonton, NJ.  I hope I find out more at the Boonton Library.

Meanwhile back in Scranton

I know its been a while since my last post - almost two months, but I've been busy with some other stuff and have not had time for research. But before I got really busy, I was able to find an interesting story which involved the Davis branch of my tree.

When I discovered my family connection to the Davis family, I started checking ancestry.com for Pennsylvania Death Certificates for the children of Patrick Davis and Catherine Convey.   That is when I found two death certificates.

The first was for Delia Loretta Davis, born 12 Jan 1885 in Gordon, Pa and died 4 Jan 1954 at 1392 N. Washington Ave, Scranton, Pa.  The second one was for Mary Elizabeth Davis, born 5 Aug 1879 in Gordon, Pa, and died 9 Aug 1956 at 1392 N. Washington Ave, Scranton, Pa.  That's right they lived at the same address.  So the next thing I did was to look at Google Earth for 1392 N. Washington Ave, Scranton, Pa, expecting to find an old age home or something.  When I got to the address with the "walking man", I didn't find a nursing home - I found a tavern with rooms upstairs.  I don't think that they were 55 and over condos.  It was more like rooms for rent over a tavern.

The business is currently Andy Gavin's Eatery and Pub, so I did what anyone would do, I Googled it.  I found a bunch of different web sites with information about the business, including menu and reviews.  Apparently it is a good pub that has been around since about 1904 when it was first built by a man named George Calpin.  Then I found a couple of sites claiming that it is haunted.  I should tell you that the business has changed hands and names several times since Mr Calpin built it, so I do not know what it was called or who owned it when the Davis sisters lived there.

Then I went back to death certificates, first Delia's, to look at the informant.  This is the person who supplied the decedent's personal information to registrar.  This information would include birth date and place of birth, as well as father's name and mother's maiden name.  The informant is usually a relative.  The informant on Delia's death certificate is Mary Tierney.  Who is Mary Tierney?  I looked for her on Ancestry.com and I found her death certificate.  Turns out Mary Tierney's maiden name is Convey.  The same name as my great great grandmother, and the same as Delia and Mary Elizabeth Davis' mother.

Before I go into another long confusing story, suffice it to say that there is a Convey/Davis connection to an Irish Pub in Scranton, Pa, which may or may not be haunted.  What to do?  I drove to my sister's house just outside of Scranton.  My sister, her husband, and I then went to Andy Gavin's Eatery and Pub and ate dinner.  It was a good find and is directly across the street from the Lackawanna County Prison, which looks like an old fortified castle in the middle of a city block.

I am told that there is an old rumor that,back in the day, the Guards would let the prisoners out on their honor to walk across the street to the Pub to get lunch.  I don't know if the story is true or not, it sounds more like Andy Griffith than Andy Gavin.

Looks much friendlier.  We talked to several employees and the current owner of the Pub and  they all think it is haunted.  They told of lights turning off and on without throwing a switch, and water in the restrooms turning on when no one was in there.  It was a fun time researching my family tree, and I even bought a t-shirt.

So it would appear that the key to my Brady/Convey family roots may rest in a haunted Irish Pub in Scranton, Pa.  Who would have guessed. Maybe I should plan a Family Reunion there.

The Davis Family

For this post, I am going to stay in Schuylkill County for a little while, with my Brady's.  When I first started researching my family tree, I found my great great grandparents in Gordon in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 Federal Census records.  In each record, they added more children.

The topic of this post is one of their neighbors, the Davises. There was a family name Davis in the 1870 census and the 1880 census.  The Davis family included Patrick J Davis and his wife Catherine.  There were several children through the years, including Mary, Delia, John, James, Rose, and Bridget. The Davises were on the same page as the Bradys in each census record.  As my research continued, I found that when my great grandfather James got married to Madge Bradley, one of the witnesses was a "Davis". When my grandfather Thomas was baptized, one of his godparents was named "Davis".  

There were other things too.  Like the fact that in the 1900 census, my Great Grandfather, James Brady is listed as a boarder in the Davis household.  He is listed as a boarder in their home in the 1910 census also.  In 1910, his son (my grandfather) is also listed as a boarder in the Davis home. So, at this point I began to believe that the families were related. But how?

My assumption was that the maiden name of Catherine Davis was either Brady or Convey (Bridget Brady's maiden name).  Over the years, I was able to locate some records for the Davis family, including Patrick Davis's death certificate. Unfortunately, the death record did not require his wife's name to be listed.  I got property records from the Schuylkill County archives, no dice.  I even found Catherine's will, which was helpful but did not give up her secret maiden name.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to search one of their sons in ancestry.com.  I found that someone else had entered a family tree online for the Davis family. That family tree told me that the mother of James Davis was Catherine Convey.  Of course, after finding this tree on ancestry.com, I started to locate other records confirming this find.

For me, this find ranks right up close to finding "Baby Jack", but the next part of the story is a little spooky, and not just because it ends up in Scranton.

The Schuykill County Connection

Tonight I am heading back in time for a bit to the 1860's, in Schuylkill County, PA.  Schuylkill County is about 150 miles west and about 2 hrs and 33 min driving (with no traffic - yeah like that will happen).  If you remember, this is where my Great Great Grandparents, Thomas and Bridget Brady lived.  Their son, James is my Great Grandfather and he married Madge Bradley, whose family was also living Schuylkill County at about this time.  The Bradys were in Gordon at that time and the Bradleys were in Minersville.

My Grandfather, Thomas James Brady, was born to James and Madge in August 1891 in Gordon.  His mom died in 1892 and is buried in Minersville.  This is about the time that my Great Great grandparents moved to Scranton, PA,  The Bradleys remained living in Minersville.   Most of the older Bradleys who have since passed are buried in St. Vincent de Paul's Cemetery.  The same place that Madge is buried.   Thanks to some websites that I found on line, I found that some of Madge's siblings married and still live in the Minersville area.  I have recently located some of them by using some recent obituaries, and I am going to write to them and see what I can find out.

Back to my great grandfather, James Brady.  He had a brother, John, who I know I have mentioned before.  John was born in Little Falls, Herkimer County, NY on 5 Jul 1854.  This was the same time that the Erie Canal was being enlarged.  This was also about the same time that the family moved on to Gordon, in Schuylkill County, John was the first child born to Thomas Brady and Bridget Convey,, PA.  John married Annie Butler in Schuylkill County in about 1879.  John and Annie had 12 children, who all lived to adulthood.  John and Annie stayed in Scranton, Annie died 4 Jul 1932  and John died 17 Nov 1938.  The entire time they lived in Scranton, they were at 522 Ripple St, and their descendants still live there today.  Now they are buried together in Cathedral Cemetery, in Scranton.

I was looking at John's obituary, which I found in the Scranton Times:

It lists the eight sons and two daughters who survived him.  The one I'm interested in is Mrs. John Mooney, Pottsville, PA (home of the Yuengling Brewery, the oldest brewery in the USA - not to mention one of my favorite beers).  These old obits don't mention the woman's first name - God forbid - and with a large family it makes it tough to figure out who is who. By process of elimination, I was able to determine that John's daughter Ann married John Joseph Mooney, and they moved back to the Brady roots in Schuylkill County.  Actually, right to the County Seat - Pottsville.

Ann and John had four children, some of them married and some did not.  Do you know what this means? After checking marriage records at the Schuylkill county courthouse, and finding some obituaries on line, I have found that I have relatives in Pottsville.  Some of the older ones are buried in Pottsville, and the surrounding communities.  So am have promised myself to write to these cousins also and cultivate the "Schuykill County Connection" of which I spoke.

I will let you know how I make out.  Stay tuned.

The Bergins in Ireland

Well, I'm done resting on my laurels after finding "Baby Jack", so it's back to work.  A few weeks ago I got a newsletter from ancestry.com and they usually tell you about new databases they have.  This being the March newsletter, they had new databases from Ireland, you know, St. Patrick's Day and all that.  The Database they had a link to was: Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915.  So I decided to try it out.

First I searched for Bradys in Swinford, County Mayo - no luck.  Then I entered my mom's grandfather, William "Pop" Bergen, and it was like the little Dutch Boy taking his finger out of the dike.  I found baptism records for William, Thomas, Patrick, Mary and Kate Bergin.  I found a baptism record for their father, Edward "Ned" Bergin, and a marriage record for Ned Bergin and Mary Malone.

In order to keep you awake while reading this, I have refrained from hammering you with dates, and sponsors for everyone.  But I did create an excel spread sheet and took a screen shot of it to make it a photo that I can post here:

You're welcome.  These records were all hand written into ledger books between 1840 and 1868, so some of them are tough to read, that's why there are question marks in the spread sheet, because some I just could not read.  Some of them, however, were in beautiful handwriting which has survived over 150 years.  "Pop" Bergin was one of them, I had no trouble finding him in the ledger.

There were alot of interesting things that I found in all of these records.  For example sometimes Edward Bergin is listed as "Ned".  I didn't know that Ned was a nickname for Edward.  Some of the baptism dates are before birth dates that I had gotten from other documents - but I should be used to that.  Some of the sponsors' names sound familiar, beside all of the Bergins and Malones.  You can see that "Pop" Bergin's Godmother is Ann Phelan.  Well I found another baptism for a Mary Malone, and her mother's name is Mary Phelan, and they are from Camross, Laois, Ireland which is very close to Borris-in-Ossary.  So I am thinking that this is my Mary Malone, but I am still working on it.

I'm not sure if I have it right, but I think that Borris-in-Ossary is a town, but the Bergins actually lived in Clonagooden, which is an Election District of Borris-in-Ossary.  I think that Camross is another Election District of Borris-in-Ossary in a county I never heard of.

I did this research for two reasons.  First, because ancestry.com had the available database, and second to prepare for a trip back to "the old sod".  My wife and I, and some of my children will be crossing the pond this year.  Now I will have Churches, graveyards and research centers to visit.  The kids will be thrilled.  They thought we were going for the Irish pubs.

I am publishing this at about 9:00 PM DST, so it is actually St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. Eire go Bràgh, which means Ireland Forever.

Solving the Mystery of Baby Jack

There was an old family story, that I actually heard from my dad on more than one occasion.  He told us that when he was young, he had a little brother who had died as an infant.  The boy's name was Jack. For my dad to say much at all about when he was a kid was a big deal.  He talked about his childhood, and how he and his brothers and his sister Margie (who they all called "sis") all got along and took care of each other.  He spoke of his mother quite a bit, but seldom talked about his father.  When he did speak of his father, he said that he was an alcoholic, and that he (my dad) had to help his father in the house a few times because he was so drunk.

I learned years later from cousins, that his father left the family during the Great Depression. Leaving my grandmother to raise five children by herself.  Dad only spoke of the good qualities that he saw in his family and his life.  He served in WWII, being overseas for several years, but didn't really talk about it much, except for some of the guys he served with.  Didn't really tell many "War Stories".

So for dad to mention something bad happening in his childhood was unusual.

Years later, when I started the family tree, my cousin, Linda, said that her mom talked about "Baby Jack".  Her mom (who would be my aunt Margie) would tell Linda every year on December 1, to "say a prayer for Baby Jack, because it is his birthday".  Linda relayed most of what I knew of Baby Jack, by telling me things her mom had said as Linda was growing up.

She said that Jack was born on December 1 during the years between the birth of my Uncle Frank in May of 1924 my Uncle Paul in June of 1929.  If that is the case, that there are only two years that he could have been born:  December 1, 1926 and December 1, 1927.  When Jack was born the family lived in a "cold water flat".  This was a small apartment that had no running hot water, and usually, no central heating.  If you wanted to bathe, you had to heat pots of water on the stove to fill the tub.  
Aunt Margie also told Linda that when Jack was born there was ice on the floor in the apartment.  So it was a cold winter with no heat or hot water.  The last tidbit that Aunt Margie told Linda, was that the had no money to bury Jack, and he was buried in a Potter's Field.

Linda did not know where this occurred, but we figured it had to be either Jersey City, NJ or New York City - because we knew they lived in Brooklyn for a time, and dad said they had lived in "Hell's Kitchen" in Manhattan for a short time.

So with this information in mind, I searched for twelve years.  I checked ancestry.com, and I called every cemetery in Jersey City.  Then I checked the NJ State Archives for birth and death records for a John Brady.  I was very consistent, I came up empty every time.  Then I heard about the potters field in Secaucus at Snake Hill.  When the NJ Highway Authority was building Exit 15 X, they began digging up bodies and discovered it was the old cemetery from Snake Hill.  They wound up exhuming many bodies which had been buried in the potter's field and re interring them in Bergen County.  I went through every list I could find, not Baby Jack.  I heard of another potter's field in New York called Hart's Island.  This is a burial ground which is tended by NYC Department of Correction inmates from Riker's Island.  I checked every data base I could find for that facility with no luck.

Ancestry.com has a new database, which is an index of New York City Deaths 1862 - 1948, Baby Jack fit in that time frame, so I tried it. I found a John Brady who died 4 Jan 1927, with an age listed as 1/12, which would be one month.  Wow, this could be him, all I have to do is sent $15.00 to the NYC Municipal Archives with the certificate # 453 on it, and wait a couple of months for them to mail it.  Great! - except for that whole waiting a couple of months.  I could also drive up there and get it.  So I planned to drive up there and drag my wonderful wife with me.  Then I decided to try familysearch.org and see if I could find a baptism record for this birth.  I have had luck in the past with Catholic Church records on familysearch.org.  When I did that, I got the same NYC Municipal Death record, but this gave more information.  It listed the parents as Thomas Brady and (wait for it) Marguerite O'Dey (wrong spelling, but who cares), born 1 Dec 1926, place of burial: Calvary Cemetery. ( I was almost disappointed that it wasn't Hart's Island)  But this has to be him.

So I called the cemetery and found out that he is buried in 4th Calvary, Sec 67, Plot 36, Grave 19.  He is listed as John C. Brady, and the grave is owned by Thomas J Brady.  So now I ordered the microfilm from familysearch.org and within a couple of weeks I had this little beauty:

It says he died on Diarrhea and Enteritis, which (according to wikipedia) is an inflammation in the small intestine caused by food or drink contaminated with pathogenic microbes.  This is usually accompanied by diarhea, stomach cramps, dehydration and fever.  So it sound like his short life involved very little fun, and lots of discomfort.

So in the end, Aunt Margie was right - except for the Potter's Field - but she was only ten years old at the time.  Mystery solved. Or is it?  When does the middle initial "C" that the cemetery told me, stand for?  Is there is marker on the grave?  And I am sure a few more questions will pop up, because as I have learned No Mystery Is Ever Completely Solved.

Update on my Great Great Grandmother Bridget Crimmins-Sullivan-Keaveney

I recently found some new information about my Great Great Grandmother, Bridget Crimmins Sullivan Keaveney.  One of my first posts was written about her, if you don't remember, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version:  She was born in Ireland, in about 1846, and came to the US, during the US Civil War.  On 5 Oct 1865 she married a fellow Irish immigrant in Jersey City, his name is Dennis Sullivan.  In about 1867 she gives birth to my great grandmother, Annie Sullivan (who will marry my great grandfather, William Bergen in 1887).  Dennis dies 8 Oct 1867, just two years after their wedding.  He is buried in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.

Sometime between October 1867 and 1871, Bridget marries a man named Thomas Keaveney, another Irish immigrant.  They will have seven children, four of them will live to adulthood, two will die within days of being born, and one, Catherine Bridget, will die at age 11 in 1884.  1884 is a bad year for Thomas Keaveney, he will bury two children and his wife that year.  Bridget gives birth to a son George and Bridget dies from an infection within a few days. George is baptized and dies within another week of his mother.

How do you move on after that.  It is amazing how resilient these folks were.  Thomas lives almost 20 years longer, and is buried 18 Feb 1903 in Holy Name Cemetery, in Jersey City.

Although I think this is all interesting, it is not the reason for this new post.  Their daughter Jane is the reason for the post.  I was recently on familysearch.org and I entered Bridget Crimmins in the search field.  This is what I found:

Yup, another child born to Bridget and Thomas Keaveney on 27 Jun 1879, in Jersey City.  They named her Jane, and she was baptized on 13 Jul 1879 in St Michael's Church.  This is the only record that I find of her,  and I am assuming that she dies shortly after her birth.  She does not appear in the 1880 census.  I will have to check the NJ State Archives for her death next time I go.  But I think it is safe to assume that she met the same fate that half of the Keaveney children.

I do however, see why I never found her before.  The last name of Keaveney is butchered once again. This time, we see it spelled as Keareney.  They turned the "v"into an "r", probably a common error, when written in longhand.