More About the Bergens

I recently took a couple of trips to the NJ State Archives, with a trip to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington in between.  The results of these road trips is alot of new information on my mom's family - the Bergens.

While at the Archives, I started by checking old wills, where I had found Pop Bergen, and I found a will for a Thomas J Bergen.  I knew "Pop" Bergen had a brother Thomas, but there was no info in the will to make a family connection and it was dated as probated in 1933.  So I checked for a death certificate in 1933 but couldn't find one, but I did find a death certificate for Patrick Bergen in 1933 and I know he was their brother (mainly because the same parents are listed on the death certificates).  The other thing about the will was that the person listed on the inventory (it was actually more of an inventory than a will) was Catherine Cavanaugh and I had no clue who she was.  I thought she was a lawyer or so official who inventoried his belongings.  I got a few more items at the Archives and called it a day.

The following week, I went on a great website: rcan.org/deceased,which is a database of people buried in cemeteries run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.  I mentioned this once before, but you can search by name (Last name only if you like) and you will find the cemetery, plot number, and date of burial.  When I entered Thomas Bergen, and Patrick Bergen, I found that they were buried with their wives (Margaret and Mary) in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.  ROAD TRIP

On Sunday, my son Tom and I drove to North Arlington armed with the location of the grave (and others which will be a later post).  After a while, we found the section and finally the headstone in the old section of the cemetery.  Here is the headstone:

Who is Mary V Cannon?  We'll get to that later.  So now I know that Thomas died in 1931 and Margaret in 1930.  I also know that Patrick and Mary Bergen are in there somewhere too.  I also know that Patrick and Mary had a daughter Mary, so I am guessing that she married someone named Cannon and this is her buried with her parents.  So much for the cemetery.

Back to the Archives.  I returned to the Archives to search for Thomas and Margaret's death certificates.  I already had Mary's from a previous trip.  I came across it while looking for someone else.  So here is Thomas's death certificate:

If you can read it, it says parents are Edward Bergen and Mary Malone and his wife is Margaret Carroll, but the thing that caught my attention was his occupation: Deputy Fire Chief - never knew that.  I also noted that at the top of the certificate above his name I think it says Jersey City Coroner, which tells me that his death was sudden and/or suspicious and maybe there was a coroner's inquest.  Next I checked the Jersey Journal on microfilm at the archives for obits, and I found them:

Turns out that Thomas was a Deputy Fire Chief at Laurel Hill AKA Snake Hill, this is where the asylum, hospital, potter's field, etc... was located and it was a county facility.  But the obit gives more info on family, it names brothers William and Patrick, and sisters Catherine Cavanaugh and Mary Kennedy.  So now I know Catherine Cavanaugh from his will is his sister, and I am certain that it is his will.  I checked some more on Catherine Cavanaugh and it turns out that she was married and widowed by the time of the 1910 census.  She lives with her children Charles, Edward, and Mary, and her brother Thomas - but not Margaret.  I am guessing that Margaret was sick and maybe spent alot of time in a hospital or nursing facility - maybe Snake Hill.  Other census records indicated that Edward is a Jersey City Police Officer.  I always like finding ancestors who were Police Officers and Firemen it tends to make me feel even more connected to them.

This two weeks with trips to the archives and cemetery really gave me alot of clues to follow up on.  So the archives, and especially the obit from the Jersey Journal really helped put everything together.   Now I have to check on Mary Kennedy and see what I can find about her and her husband and children.  I may find some live cousins who may know more or even have photos.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

"Aunt" Ruth

Did you ever have a very special person who you were not really related to, but was a big part of the family anyway?  So much so that this person earned the honorary title of "Aunt" or "Uncle".  Well, we only had a couple of them.  One was was dad's friend and co-worker, Bill Jones - somehow he earned the title "Uncle Jones".  But none were as special as "Aunt" Ruth.

"Aunt" Ruth Moss

Ruth Moss was our Aunt Alice's (Eeehee) (don't ask), room mate, and I can't believe that this is the only picture I could find.  It was taken at my brother's wedding.  They both worked in Jersey City for Baldwin Paints and Oils in the office.  I remember going to the office one time and you could see the Statue of Liberty from their window.  Anyway, they worked together and lived together in Jersey City, and they visited us almost every weekend "down the shore".  They lived in an apartment building on Fowler Ave until the night that it exploded while my brother Paul was visiting.  Paul got interviewed on the NY News Channel by Gabe Pressman.  This was in the early 60's, I think Paul said he was about 12 years old when it happened, and several people were killed in the explosion. Well so much for that apartment. Next they lived in Saint John's Apartments on Saint Paul's Ave - no I'm not kidding.  Maybe they thought the names would keep them from exploding, I don't know.  I think Saints are a Catholic thing, and Ruth was Jewish so I don't know about that.

Like I said they visited almost every weekend, birthday and holiday.  They always brought us stuff, like candy and toys.  Sometimes Ruth would drive both of them down, but if only Alice came, she would take the train or the bus (the Red and Tan Lines from Journal Square to Asbury Park).  Whenever they visited it was always fun.

I was thinking about Ruth the other day and how little I really know about her.  I know she died in 1979 in her car (that Alice later gave to me), and she had two brothers, but that was just about it.  I remember my mom saying that Ruth did not even know when her birthday was.  My sister told me recently that her brother Herman found her birth certificate shortly before she died and it turned out that she was actually about 9 or 10 years younger than she thought.  I also remember Mom telling me that Ruth had changed her surname at one point to Moss, Mom thought that it was originally Moskowitz.

You don't have to hit me with a brick - I started checking.  First I googled Ruth Moss and found her in the Social Security Death Index.  It gives her birth date as 28 Oct 1900, and her death in New Jersey in Oct 1979.  I went to the Monmouth County Library to check for an obituary in the Asbury Park Press, but could not find one.  That's when I remembered that when Jews die,  their religion requires that they must be buried before the following sunset (Great idea), so  maybe there was not time for an obit.  Then I went on the NJ State Archives website and they have a searchable database for legal name changes.  So I entered the "New Name" as Ruth Moss and BINGO.  Ruth Moskowitz changed her name to Ruth Moss on 7 Apr 1942 in Essex County NJ.  I was off to the Archives and I was able to obtain a copy of the Court Order from the Essex County Court of Common Pleas.  Not only Ruth changed her name, her two brothers: Herman and George, their wives: Celia and Pearl and Herman's daughter Marlene, and George's children: Rita and Malcolm.  Everyone lived at 140 Lehigh Ave in Newark, except Ruth who lived at 21 Borroughs Way, Maplewood.  Not a whole lot of info, but it did remind me of her family.  I remember her talking about all of them as soon as I read the names it came back to me.

When I got home, I ran Ruth Moskowitz through Ancestry.com to check census records and the only one that I found was 1930.  They are living at 155 Lehigh Av, Newark NJ and they are listed as Moskowitz, George age 21 (Head of house), Moskowitz, Herman age 19, and Moskowitz, Ruth age 24.  On the page the last name is listed first and is kind of faded (it is 82 years old) and then the three first names from top to bottom read George Herman Ruth - that is a famous name.  For you non baseball fans that is the name of the immortal Babe - BABE RUTH.  So I guess Ruth was destined to be a Yankee fan.  As a matter of fact, one of her nephews would later be a part owner of the team - I have an old Yankee Yearbook that has his name listed and a photo of him.  The best part of the census record is that is says  that they were all born in New Jersey.  We all know what that means by now "ROAD TRIP" to the archives for birth certificates.  Well that's enough for now, but I'll be back to "Aunt" Ruth when I find more info.

Holy Crap, Look What I Found

It usually takes a while for any advice to me to sink in.  Whether it is good or bad advice does not seem to have any bearing on my ability to listen to it.  I prove it all the time, and I have done it again.

In every genealogy podcast, lecture, class, etc..., almost every instructor will tell you to read every document that you find very carefully, because you never know what you may miss.  For instance, I just got done writing a blog about Family Search, the Family History Center, and the recent information that I found about the baptism of my grandmother, Catherine Mary McConville and her sister, Florence.  After writing the blog, I was looking at the entry for my grandmother's baptism in the ledger book of St Patrick's Catholic Church at 492 Bramhall Ave, Jersey City, when I saw another entry to the ledger written in.  Above my grandmother's name, I saw the name Edward Bergen written.  My first thought was that there was a Bergen baptized on the same day in the church, which would be odd because my grandmother would marry Edward Bergen in 1919.  Then I looked closer and this is what I saw:

My grandmother's name is on the bottom line, and written in above it says "Married Edward Bergen" then it says something I can't read.  Then I looked at the corresponding lines on the right hand page:

The line above my grandmother's godparents says: "J.C. (not THE J. C., it means Jersey City) Aug 27, 1919 by Rev. W. Costello.  Now you may not remember me telling the story about finding out when they married - but I discovered that Grandma was probably pregnant with my uncle at the time of the wedding.  Anyway, I have the marriage certificate from the State of NJ, signed by Rev. Costello with an address of 511 Pavonia Ave (Not St. Patricks Church)  511 Pavonia Ave is the address of St Joseph's Church.  I wonder if the change in Parishes had anything to do with the premature arrival of my Uncle Bill.  Or maybe they had simply moved and changed parishes.  Whatever the reason, the notation was entered in St Patrick's ledger book - I am pretty sure that this is supposed to happen.  BUT, if this is supposed to happen - how come there is no notation of Florence's marriage to Joseph Markey in the ledger by her baptism?  Maybe the notation was made somewhere else because the ledger books would be getting too tough to read.  Whatever the reason, I thought that this was an amazing find.

So the moral of the story, if there is one, is to read everything very carefully - you never know what you may come across.

Family Search and the Family History Center

I'm a big fan of the Mormon Church and their website: familysearch.org.  Here's how it works:  You go to the website:  https://www.familysearch.org and enter the name of the person you are searching for.  (The best part of this is that you can do all of this in the comfort of your home, dressed comfortably with a snack and/or a drink)  You can add extra info, such as date of birth, parents, place that they lived, etc...   Click on search and away we go.  You can get a variety of results from federal census records, state census records, NJ State Death  and Burial records,  and some Catholic Church Baptismal and Marriage records.  Along with the results, sometimes there is a digital image to view and/or save to your computer, and with each result you can get the microfilm roll number from the family history library in Salt Lake City, but you don't have to go to Salt Lake City to view the record.  You can order the microfilm from a local Family History Center near you (mine is in Eatontown)  It costs $5.50 to have the microfilm roll shipped to the FHC.   When the reel comes in, you can used their microfilm readers to view it.

So, having said all of that, I have previously had some good luck with Catholic Church Records from Jersey City, NJ. that I located on this site.  I found a bunch of records for my dad's O'Dea family baptisms and marriages.  The marriage records give you maiden names for the bride, and the parents of both the bride and groom - very helpful.  The baptism records give you birth dates and baptism dates, parents names (including the mother's maiden name) and Sponsors names - who usually turn out to be relatives.

All right, he is finally getting to the point.  I went  to the family search site and looked up Florence McConville.  I entered her parents names: Edward McConville and Hannah Sullivan, and BINGO.  One of the results is a baptismal record from 26 Nov 1899.  The entry says that she was baptized 26 Nov 1899 in Saint Patricks Catholic Church in Jersey City. It gives her parents names and a birth date of 11 Nov 1899.  When you click on her name, it gives you basically the same info in another format, which includes the microfilm number of 1403369 titled "New Jersey Births and Christenings 1660 - 1980".  As it turns out, when I called the FHC in Eatontown, they already have the film there.  So  I finally getting around to get driving up there to view the film.  The film is a group of ledger books of church records.  The first thing on the reel is an index.  In the index, I find a McConville - but not Florence - it is Catherine.  That is my grandmother's name (Florence is her sister).  I had run her through familysearch.org and did not get this result, she was born 10 Dec 1896 and baptized 3 Jan 1897 and her sponsors are listed as William (unreadable) and Mary Wharton.  Mary Wharton is probably the daughter of Willie and Annie Wharton who brought Hannah and Mary Ann Sullivan in the US after their father died, as nannies for their children.  The next index contains Florence McConville and the ledger lists her sponsors as Joseph A Findally (?) and Elizabeth Milford - another cousin.  Elizabeth is the daughter of Poppa Mac's sister Mary Emma McConville Milford.

More confirmation that Aunt Florence's recollections of family relations is right on the money once again.  Each baptism has a sponsor who is a cousin whom I never would have known about were it not for Aunt Florence.  So I had a good day at the Family History Center, only 15 minutes from my house - and that is important with the price of gas these days.  I got the record for Florence McConville Markey that I came for, plus I got a bonus and found my grandmother's baptism to boot.  Not too shabby. 

Granddpa Brady

I know it has been a while, but this time I have a great excuse -  Hurricane Sandy.  On Monday October 29, 2012 (just two days after my last post) the Jersey Shore was hit by a hurricane - actually it was not classified as a hurricane when it hit, but it did incredible damage.  My family and I were spared any permanent damage, just some trees down and no electrical power.  We lost power on October 29 and got it restored on November 10, twelve days without electricity.  It wasn't that bad because the day before the storm hit, I got a generator - so we could use lights and refrigeration - so it wasn't that bad.  But I did not have cable, computer, or internet - so no blogging.  Now that I have power, I have been trying to think of what I can write about.  I thought about Hurricane Donna which hit the Jersey Shore in 1960 when I was a kid, but that seemed kind of lame for a genealogy topic.  I have been thinking about writing about my grandfather, Thomas James Brady.  I had created a timeline in Excel for him to help me keep track of where he was in each event in his life, but now I can't find it.  So I will just tell all of the places and dates that I know about.

Thomas James Brady was born 27 Aug 1891 in Gordon, PA to James Edward Brady and Madge Bradley He was baptized in St Joseph's Catholic Church in Ashland PA on 30 Aug 1891 and his sponsors were listed in a letter from the church as Joannis Davis and Lilly Bradley.  I checked on line and it seems that Joannis is Latin for John, and I think that Lilly is misspelled.  I know from census records that Madge had a sister Lizzie who is probably the sponsor.  1891 is also the year that Carnegie Hall, then known as Music Hall,  opens its doors in New York with its first public performance under guest conductor, Tchaikovsky.
Benjamin Harrison is the 23rd President of the United States and alternating current is transmitted for the first time by the Ames Power Plant near Telluride, Colorado.

Thomas still lives in Gordon when his mother Madge or Maggie dies in September 1892, the year of the opening of Ellis Island.  The next time I find him is in the 1900 census, living with his grandparents (Brady) in Scranton, PA (his father still lives in Gordon and works on the Railroad).  In 1910, he lives with his grandmother - Bridget Brady - in Scranton and is working for the railroad as a clerk.  During his time in Scranton, President William McKinley is assassinated in Buffalo, NY and Theodore Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the US.

Next stop is Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.  He marries my grandmother - Marguerite O'Dea on 18 Nov 1914.  He was living at 359 Whiton St, Jersey City, and she lived at 361 Pacific Ave, Jersey City.  The witnesses were Marguerite's brother William O'Dea and her sister Mary Valleau.  1914 sees basic wages raised at the Ford Motor Company.  Workers now would receive $5 per day for eight hours of work versus $2.40 per day for nine hours previously, Babe Ruth makes his major league debut, and the big news: President Woodrow Wilson announces that the United States will stay officially neutral in the European conflict that would become World War I.  World War I hostilities had begun on June 28 when the Archduke of Austria and his wife, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were killed by Serb nationalists in Sarajevo.  Hostilities would begin on July 28 when Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia for failing to meet conditions set after the assassinations.

He lives at 9 1/2 Grant Ave Jersey City when their first child (my uncle Jim) is born 18 Sep 1915, and he still lives here on 5 Jun 1917, when he registers for the Draft for World War I.   (the same conflict that President Wilson announced the US would not enter) He listed his occupation as Brakeman for the Central Railroad of NJ.  I do not think that he served in WWI.  During 1915, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson conduct the first telephone conversation between New York and San Francisco.

Next up is the 1920 US Census and he is listed at 9 1/2 Grant Ave.  He lives here with his wife, son James, daughter Marguerite (my Aunt Margie), his mother-in-law Mary O'Dea, his sister-in-law Gertrude Tully and his niece Mary Tully (my Godmother).  Now this is just an observation - but I am guessing that 9 1/2 Grant Ave is an apartment because there are at least four other families living at this address.  So he is living with his wife, two children, widowed mother-in-law, widowed sister-in-law and niece.  That's seven people in an apartment, sounds pretty crowded.  Thomas is still a brakeman on the railroad and his sister-in-law is the only other person in the apartment employed.  She is a Floor Lady in an electrical shop.  I know that Gertrude will remarry a man named William Rickert, so she and Mary Tully will move out to live with him.  But his mother-in-law's widowed brother will move in and is listed in the 1930 census.  Just sounds to me like he is a pretty good sport.

1920 is a big year in US History.On August 18 women are given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution grants universal women's suffrage. The next presidential election was in 1922 and Warren G Harding became the 29th president.  Makes you wonder who your ancestors voted for, the women especially.  It also makes you wonder who ran against Harding.  It is also in 1920 that for the first time, the 1920 census indicated a population in the United States over 100 million people.  The other big events of the 1920's were the start of Prohibition on January 17, 1920 and the 1929 Stock Market crash happened on October 29, 1929  . The Great Depression begins.

The 1930 Census takes us to 1859 19th Avenue, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY where we find Thomas and Marguerite, living with five children (including my dad), his mother-in-law, Mary O'Dea, and her brother James.  This residence seems to be a single family dwelling and Thomas is employed as a restaurant manager, and he is now the only one employed.  My sister Pat seems to think that the restaurant was the Automat - but we don't know for sure.

Somewhere in the 30's, he leaves the family (supposedly with another woman).  He has become an alcoholic and will come and go occasionally.  I have seen newspaper articles when my dad and his two brothers came home from the War, and he is described as the "late" Thomas Brady. I have also seen where Marguerite was widowed in 1932.  I guess that is when he left for good.

The next record that I find for him is his application for a Social Security Number.  His application is dated 21 Jul 1937, and gives his address as 350 W. 85th St. New York City, NY.  He is employed by Silvers Standard Corp. 1 Willoughby St, Brooklyn, NY and his is issued Social Security # 119-12-2933.  The Social Security Act was passed by Congress as part of the New Deal legislation and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935.  It would begin payouts to retirees within two years.  Workers began contributing into the system during the same year, at a rate of 2% of the first $3,000 in earnings, half paid by the employee and half paid by the employer.  Prohibition is also repealed on December 5, 1933 with the passage of the 21rst Amendment.

I have not yet found him in the 1940 US Census, but he does register for the Draft for World War II on 27 Apr 1942.  He is 50 years old and resides at 242 Pacific Ave. Jersey City, NJ.  The form asks for the name and address of a person who will always know your address.  He writes Frank Nappie - Same Address.  Really sounds kind of sad that he comes from such a big family and the person who will always know his address is Frank Nappie.  I don't know who this man is, but I guess that Thomas is a boarder in his home (maybe a friend from work).  Okay we're winding down now.

Next address is 173 Boulevard Ave, Throop PA, which is a suburb of Scranton, then on to the Carbondale Nursing Home where he dies on 21 Aug 1974.  No one claims his body and he is buried in an unmarked grave in Mother of Sorrows Cemetery Finch Hill, Greenfield Township in Lackawanna County PA. 

The year of his death includes some noteworthy events:
7 Feb  - "Blazing Saddles" opens in theaters
27 Feb - "People" magazine begins sales
4 Apr - Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's Home Run record of 714 career home runs
8 Aug - Richard Nixon resigns the Presidency in the midst of the Watergate Scandal and Gerald Ford is sworn in as the 38th President of the US
Also in August 1974 a monsoon flood ravages Bangladesh killing 2,500 people
The last major event was my graduation from high school and in September I would start my 27 year quest for my college degree.  Pretty historic.

Gordon and Minersville, PA

After getting all of that information about the Bradys and Bradleys, my next move was Gordon and Minersville, both small towns in Schuylkill County- Gordon was the Brady hometown and Minersville was the Bradley hometown.  Actually the Bradys lived in Butler Township and their section later became Gordon.  The Bradleys lived in Cass Township, and I think their section of town became Minersville.

First stop Gordon Borough Hall to see if anyone there can help me find the lot where my great great grandfather lived.  When I pulled up outside the building, it looked dark.  The door was not locked so I walked in, but the offices were locked.  I called out "Hello", and surprisingly enough I got an answer.  I rounded the corner where the voice came from and I saw a man with all kinds of tools in the bathroom.  He smiled and asked if he could help me, so I told him I was looking for someone to help me with an old deed and finding the property.  He told me that he was the plumber and the employees in Borough Hall left for the day at 1:00 PM.  I asked where Plane St was and he pointed to the front of the building and said "that's Plane St out front", so I said "how about Birch Alley?"  He did not know, so I left and found a woman walking in the area.  I asked her where Birch Alley was and she did not know either, but she suggested I check at the Post Office. (As it later turned out, she was walking on Birch Alley - but in all fairness, there were no signs).  I checked at the Post Office and found that Birch Alley is the street just east of E Plane St.  It actually makes sense, but I wasn't thinking about it like that.  The Post Office had a map fit on a regular sheet of paper - small town.  So I have a general idea of the location of their property.

Next stop - Minersville.  You'll never guess where I planned to go in Minersville - St Vincent de Paul Church and Cemetery.  Okay so maybe you did guess.  This time I went to the church office before venturing across the street to the cemetery.  I spoke with two very nice women and explained that I was looking for James Bradley 1876 to 1928.   Well, they looked through their records and checked for any Bradleys and where they were buried in the cemetery - which consisted of Row number.  The way that the headstones are laid out, that is not a real  big help, but it did help me enough.

These women found Joseph Bradley, which I showed you before, James Bradley, the one I am looking for, and another Bradley.  She said that the records say that there is a metal cross near Joseph Bradley, which is the resting place of James Bradley (I think that this is James and Joseph's father James) my great great grandfather.  She also said that there is a Stephen Bradley, who is a Civil War veteran (be still my heart).

So off I go, into the cemetery, but this time I have an idea where to look.  After only a few minutes, I spot this metal cross in the general area where Joseph and Jennie Bradley are buried.  Then I saw on the cross bar (probably not the right term) the name J. Bradley on a small plaque.

Now that is cool, mounted on that small concrete block and two pipes strapped together with the plaque.  It may not be as cool as George's grandfather's homemade stone in Holy Sepulchar, but it is cool.

Next I found the stone for Stephen Bradley - but I don't know if he is even related.  He could be James's brother - just judging by age -  but I'm not sure about that.  But it is a well marked grave so I thought I would include it anyway.

Wow, they were not joking when they marked this grave.  It says that he died 16 Oct 1886, aged 39 years, which makes his born in 1847.  It has a foot stone with the initials S. B., an American flag and that is a GAR marker on the post of the flag.  The GAR marker (GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic) signifies that the deceased served with the Union Army (north) during the American Civil War.  It has the dates 1861 and 1865 (the years that the war started and ended).  I am going to have to research this guy to see if we are  related.

My last find was the elusive James J Bradley who fought in WWI.  He was the last one that I found, and he was buried on the very edge of the cemetery.  So far to the edge that he was very close to the fence where the land drops off to the town below.  Nice view.  The stone was also sinking into the ground so only his name was visible.  I had to find a stick and a stone that looked more like a piece of slate to dig away the dirt to see the bottom of the headstone.

Now you can see the year of birth and the year of death, below that it says Co B 103rd Engrs 28 DIV, which is the unit that he served with in WWI.  It took awhile, but I found him.  So I had a real good day, and I still made it to my sister's house in time for dinner.

Schuylkill County Courthouse

I returned to Schuylkill County on Thursday and I spent the better part of two hours in the Schuylkill County Courthouse.  (I know how long I was there by the number of quarters I put in the parking meter) I went downstairs first to the county archives, where I got copies of some Bradley records.  I got marriage records for Joseph Bradley, who is the brother of my Great Grandmother Maggie (or Madge) Bradley.  Joseph was married twice - the second marriage was after the death of his first wife.  His first marriage is recorded in a ledger book with three marriages on a page.  It gives some information about both parties.  It says that Joseph was born 12 Jul 1873 in Cass Township and that he is a blacksmith by trade.  Katie Deegan was born 4 Jul 1873 in Cass Township and her occupation is listed as "at home".  The license was issued 7 May 1896 and returned 1 Jun 1896.

His second marriage is on a whole page in the ledger and has a whole lot of information.  It separates the form into Statement of Male and Statement of Female.  It asks where the male was born but not the date. It asks for parents names (and mother"s maiden name), residences, and place of birth.   Residence of father is "dead" - short and sweet with the same answer for occupation of father, man they don't mince words.  It also asks if this is the first marriage and it says that he was married once before.  Then it asks for date of divorce (which has a line through it) or death of wife or wives - July 8 1913. So now I know when Katie Deegan died.  Then we go to the Statement of Female ( only male and female statements, no male-male or female-female) and her name is listed as Mrs. Jennie Kessler, born in Gilberton, PA, age 43, lives in Minersville and works as a domestic.  She was also married once previously (just in case you didn't catch the Mrs. in her name) and her first husband died 16 Oct 1918.  Her father is listed as Thomas King, dead, but gives an occupation as miner, born in England.  Her mother is listed as Margaret Delaney (King) living in Minersville, domestic, born in Forestville PA.  Lots of genealogical information to follow up on.  The license was issued 13 Feb 1924 and returned on 20 Feb 1924.  Neither form gives the actual date of the marriage.

Then I found a marriage for Joseph's niece, Anna Murtha (his sister's daughter).  Anna married a man named John Conway, age 31 of Pottsville.  His parents Thomas Conway and Mary Barron are both deceased, and his occupation is listed as Clerk.  Anna has parents listed as Nicholas Murtha, deceased, and Mary Bradley, who lives in Pottsville.  The license is issued 21 Oct 1940 and returned on 6 Nov 1940.  This says that they were married at St Patrick's Church on 26 Oct 1940 by R.P. Campbell, Minister of the Gospel.  A quick Google search indicates that the Church of St Patrick is located in Pottsville.

That courthouse visit of about fifteen minutes reveals a lot of information and clues to follow up on, but I know what you are thinking.  Here we go again -  these are not direct ancestors of mine so why put in all of the effort?  My answer is that I could find some real live cousins who might have some info that I missed.  That would be interesting to find some cousins living in Pottsville or Minersville and find out more about how they lived in the area back in the day.

The other thing I did while I was in the court house was go to the Recorder of Deeds and search for the deed to the property  where my great great grandfather Thomas A Brady lived in Gordon - and with some help from the staff - I was able to locate the deed.  It says that he purchased the property on 1 Jan 1869 from David McKnight and his wife Elizabeth, of Reading PA for $250.00.  He purchased lots 12 & 13, located in the Town of Gordon, in Butler Township between Birch Alley and East Plane St and the property measures 100' X 164'  Pretty good size.  I couldn't find the selling of the property, but a nice gentleman helped me to see that although he purchased the property in 1869, the deed was not recorded to until 1903.  He said that back in the day, it may have just been to much trouble to go to the County Courthouse just to record the deed, so they waited until it was convenient.  The problem is that Thomas was living in Scranton in 1903 and died in 1904.  This stymied me until Katrina suggested that he may have given it to a family member who did not record it until 1903.  Perhaps he knew that his father was ill and decided to record the deed in case he passed away and he may somehow lose the property that was unrecorded.  It just so happens that his son (and my great grandfather James Brady) lived in Gordon until his death in 1914.  This would also explain why I could not find the sale of the property - I was looking for Thomas Brady in the Grantor index, but it may have been James' property to sell by then. Sometimes you just don't think about it like that, but it is very possible - I think Katrina should have been the Detective in this outfit. 

I checked further on usgwarchives.net and found a history of Gordon, PA.  A line in this history states that in 1775 three tracts of land were patented to David and James McKnight - the same men that my great great grandfather bought the property from.  I thought that was pretty cool.

The other thing that I think is great about all of these documents is that they all have signatures of the people involved in the events recorded.  To be continued...........