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Mary Lee Brady, Ph.D.

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William Brady I, born abt 1795

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brady Patriots

African-Americans with the surname of Brady have a peculiar interest in knowing its origins before and during the era of slavery in America.  The fact that so many descendents of slaves chose to use Brady as their surname is a strong indicator relationships other than master-slave likely existed.  

It is almost amusing to research and find many websites attesting genealogy of offspring classified as White but no mention of mulatto offspring that often lived amidst them, and in many cases were their childhood friends.  But, we are still appreciative of sites such as below which offer some insight as to how non-white Brady family members came into existence using said surname and having DNA characteristics similar to legally classified White Brady family members. 

                                        Brady Surname in America

Beginning of Quote

"The Brady Family In America

The following information on the pioneer members of the Brady (and Row) families was drawn from several sources, including books, court house records, census reports and cemeteries. Much also was received by writing and talking to members of the "clan," since 1940, when I became interested in the study of our genealogy. All the older generation, from whom I secured facts, are now gone. The various writers whom I consulted do not always agree as to details or the order of births in the different branches of the families.

 

The most complete account was written by Captain A. B. Sharpe, and appeared in "The Herald," of Carlisle, Pa., on September 27, 1888. The entire article was reprinted in A History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. I'm very sorry that I forgot to record the author's name. He states: "No family of pioneers in the West Branch Valley was more conspicuous in our early history than the Bradys." Another good source for information on this family is, A History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania.

It is thought by many researchers that the Protestant branches of the Brady family in America all stem from Hugh Brady, who came from Ennis Killen in North Ireland to this country in 1730. Our son, Marion Brady and his wife, Joy, traveled in Ireland in 1987. They made it an objective to visit Ennis Killen and the following street scene was among the pictures they took there.

 

Enniskillen, Ireland

Ennis Killen, Ireland 1987 - Photo taken by G. Marion Brady

Photo by Marion Brady, 1987

One historian writes that Hugh Brady and his wife, Hannah, first settled in Delaware where John, the first child, was born in 1733. Another writes that it was on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River that the family lived, before moving to Cumberland County, Pa., and not the state of Delaware. This writer claims that Samuel was the first child born and that he was born in Shippensburg, Pa., in 1733.

Hugh and Hannah Brady were the parents of nine children, seven sons and two daughters. A monument erected by one of the historical societies to honor this family gives the children in this order: John, Joseph, Samuel, Hugh, Ebenezer, William, James, Mary and Margaret. On the other side of the monument is inscribed: Hugh Brady - Hannah Brady - Pioneers. This memorial is in a cemetery near the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church, a short distance from Shippensburg, Pa.

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Additional ancestral history of Hugh Brady

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2003 - In on-going research, it has been determined conclusively by a descendant of John Brady, that our branch is not from the Hugh - Hannah lineage. She has been extensively researching our Genealogical "roots" and will be revealing her findings in the future.
2007 -
Interim addendum to Elizabeth Brady’s Kinfolk: by Howard Brady, Revised March 2007

 

THE TWO SIDES OF THE MEMORIAL TO THE HUGH AND HANNAH BRADY FAMILY.
 

Hugh & Hannah Brady Tombstone in a cemetery near Middle Spring Presbytarian Church, a short distance form Shippensburg, PA.

(Click here for link to color picture, located off this website)
 

An article concerning the Brady family in, A History of Upshur County, West Virginia claims that the Upshur County Bradys are all descendants of Samuel Brady, the noted Indian scout of Revolutionary War fame. Comparisons of dates and locations of the different branches of the family has convinced me that this is an error.

From A History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, "The West Branch Valley," p. 21:

"The children of Samuel, eldest son of Hugh and Hannah Brady, and the descendants of his sons Ebenezer and James and of his daughters Mary and Margaret, married to Samuel and Archibald Hanna, early emigrated to Western Pennsylvania and are now scattered through the Western States, and many of them have attained prominence in Church and State.

"What a pity it is that no records have been kept so that the members of a family so large and so useful, and with so fine a record as this one, could show their relationship to each other.

"Little now is known in Pennsylvania about the families of Samuel, the eldest, and Hugh, the youngest sons of John Brady and scarcely anything East of the mountains relative to that of William P. Brady, his third son, who left Northumberland for Indiana County in 1806, who in his day was among the most prominent men in the State, and whose descendants have shown themselves worthy of him.

Captain Samuel Brady - Conquering the Wilderness or New Pictorial History of the Life And Times of the Pioneer Heroes And Heroines of America by Frank Triplett"The notion that most people have of Captain Samuel Brady is that of one who passed his days as a wandering modern Knight Errant, killing Indians at will. This is entirely erroneous.

"His father and brother both perished at the hands of the savages. His father was the most prominent defender of the Northwestern frontier until he fell--and his eldest son was then called to take his place."

"He had been cradled among dangers from their inroads, and knew better than any one else how to repel them, and whilst the accounts of his many conflicts and hairbreadth escapes are all well authenticated, there is no evidence that he was ever a cruel foe. A cousin of his, a daughter of Hugh Brady the second, spoke of him as a gentle and taciturn man, of handsome, lithe, graceful figure, warmly attached to his friends, never boastful nor given to harsh expressions in regards to persons or subjects. He was but nineteen years of age when he volunteered to go to Boston at the outbreak of the war of the Revolution, and behaved so well there that he had a commission as First Lieutenant under Washington before he left the East. In 1779 he was brevetted Captain and ordered to join General Broadhead, who had command at Fort Pitt. He remained in the service until the army disbanded at the close of the Revolutionary war, and was distinguished for gallantry."

Almost certainly, the Bradys of West Virginia are the descendants of Hugh and Hannah Brady, through a John Brady who emigrated to what is now West Virginia, sometime in the last decade of the 1700's.  All the Bradys in central West Virginia, as well as Upshur County, seem able to trace their roots to this man. It is hard to separate fact from fiction and tradition. Tradition says that this John Brady was born in Pennsylvania and brought his first wife* (name unknown) to Brady Hollow near Fort Seybert, in Pendelton County, Virginia (now West Virginia).

It is thought that after the death of his wife he left his farm there in the hands of his children (tradition says there were four) and emigrated to Randolph County. Here he married Suzannah Ware, his second wife, on March 12th in 1808.  The ceremony was performed by Robert Maxwell, and is recorded in Record Book #1 in the court house in Elkins, W.Virginia.

 

 [http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvbarbou/randmar.htm]

 

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2007 - Interim addendum to Elizabeth Brady’s Kinfolk: by Howard Brady, Revised March 2007 - Possibility of a connection to a "Dennis Brady" that came over on the snow ship "Dublin's Prize" on April 24th, 1747

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2005 - Here are some other documented references that show a "John Brady & Anna Christina Michael". This should be the "unknown" first wife of John, preceding his marriage to his second wife, Susannah Ware. It should also be noted that Anna' middle name has been shown in records as "Christena". (Source:  http://www.rootsweb.com/~paberks/familyfolder/michael.html)
( Original Page Snapshot: 
(Wayback Machine Archived Page Snapshot 17FEB2005 )

_____________________________
*10AUG2007-In doing recent updates, I have discovered that the above page no longer exists (it is archived on
Wayback Machine
) on the Berk's County PA Genealogical website, so I researched John and Anna again. This time I found more compelling detailed evidence regarding the first and second marriages of John BRADY s/o of Samuel BREADY.
ANNA CHRISTINA MICHAEL m. 1797 JOHN BRADY, of Berks Co PA & Pendleton Co VA (posted by rlcogar )
Johannes BRADY / Anna Christina MICHAEL -

 http://www.alkire.org/gen/johnwva/d0002/f0000084.html

 

(Marvel (Brady) Brown, of Buckhannon, W. Va. was able to become a member of "The Daughters of the American Revolution" by claiming descent from Hugh and Hannah, through Samuel. The only record of a Samuel we could find was a grave in the Mingo Cemetery, near Valley head, W. Va. This "Samuel's" tombstone states that he was born Jan. 27, 1803 and died Jan. 14, 1879. These dates seem too late for him to have been a son of Hugh and Hannah who, came over from Germany in 1730. When questioned Marvel was very vague about the records she submitted.)


FOLLOWING IS THE ESTABLISHED BRADY GENEALOGICAL LINE:
 

I.     John Brady (Bready)
        Suzannah (Ware) (or Susannah)
             (m. 3-12-1808 - Randolph County Marriage Records, Vol. I, pg.14: Robert Maxwell officiating)(Source)

    II.     William Sherman Brady, 1816--1889
                Frances Jane (Lemons - Lemon - Lemmon), 1830(?) --1882

        III.    Granville Bland Brady (I), 1852--1898
                    Mary Elizabeth (Row), 1858--1927

            IV.     Walter Parley Brady, 1880--1959
                        Sarah Bergia (Knaggs), 1883--1921

                V.     Troy Robert Brady, 1906 - 1999
                            Virginia Elizabeth (Thrash), 1907-2002

                    VI.     Marion Brady, 1927
                                Dorothy Nell Williams, 1926 - 1988

                        VII.     Lanny, Sylvia, Heather, Drew, Jonathon

                    VI.     Howard Brady, 1935
                                Carolyn Ann Curry, 1938-1996   
More CURRY info
                                Grace Mark, 1932

                        VII.     Robert Martin, Londa Beth
                        VII.     Mark Travis
 

Search the Entire FAMILY TREE


All the other children of Walter Brady would be the fifth generation (V) and offspring would be the sixth, (VI), etc.
 

(Original page was revised in 1980, based on information from Verl Cox Dean)

 

End of Quote"
 

For African-Americans, the greater reality is that by time of the first American census in year 1790, a very sizeable percentage of the population were descended from not only enslaved women but also Native American indentured and even former convict women from European jails and prisons prior to the American Revolution. 

 

The new beginnings in America afforded many an opportunity to put their past behind them, move on and up as free-born Whites (provided their color was right).  An excellent example is that of Winifred Brady below, born in 1775, who likely was a relative to William Brady I of an unknown family origin, and whose mother may have been any of the above.   

 

 

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