A new leaf has arrived!

When my husband and I found out we were expecting our first in 2012, we set out to set some guidelines for choosing a name. My husband has a very common name and calling it in class or any place, really, would yield multiple people looking to see who had called them. My name is a bit unusual and I spend a good portion of the time spent in the presence of employers, patients, co-workers, classmates, etc correcting them.
What we decided was this- no overly common names, no difficult to pronounce names, and we wanted something that was in line with our shared heritage. For that, we opted to stick with mostly Scottish, Irish, or Welsh names and the middle name would be selected from our family tree.
My husband found a great name for our oldest, Callum. I had my heart set on a specific name for his middle name- eying my father's maternal line for the namesake. Alexander. After Alexander Brady, my second great grandfather.
Alexander had a rough beginning- rumored to be sold into indentured servitude at a young age. He escaped and worked for the railroads, working his way across the country and eventually settling in Marysville, Washington in 1901 as their preacher at the Congregational church. Alexander battled his demons all his life, and in 1932 starved himself, ultimately causing his death.

Alexander Brady

News of our second child came in October of 2014. We were having another boy. Names were more difficult this time around but the middle name, was again, the first selected. Milton - after my husband's paternal grandfather. Milton served in the military in 1944 and went on after to run the grocery in Esbon, Kansas.

Left: Milton Rogers

Owen is a long-standing name in my family- on my mother's maternal line. There is at least one in every generation in the direct line, for now, five generations; sometimes as the first name, sometimes as the middle name.

We wanted to incorporate something of our history into something of our future. We wanted something that was rooted in our ancestry. I hope that someday when we tell our kids where their names come from that it sparks an interest in finding out where they came from. In the very least, an interest to know the people they are named after.

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the newest leaf in our tree- Owen Milton Rogers. Born June 3, 2015, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Owen

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"There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children - one is roots, and the other, wings." -- Hodding S. Carter

How does your history say "Veteran"?

Some veterans in my family line.... some past, some.. present.  Thank you to all for their service.

Cader Atkins Parker - 25 April 1832- 14 August 1833 in Georgia, USA.
Cader Atkins Parker Jr. - 1861- 21 July 1863 Died in due to wounds sustained from battle of Gettysburg.
Daniel Brady - 7 August 1862- 10 June 1865 Alexis, Monroe, Ohio, USA.
David Thomas Brady - May 1865 USA
Dee Richard Eberhart - 1943-1945 California, USA

Heman Geer Brady - 24 January 1918- 25 August 1919

My brother, Joel Moore - 2001- present US Army

And myself... Kyla Moore - 2005-2008 US Navy.

To ALL veterans past, present and future...

Thank you!

Tombstone Tuesday

Ida and Ebenezer Brady forever resting in Union Cemetery, Guthrie Center, Iowa.

Mary Rutter... where did you go?

I have been searching for links in my family tree for a little bit over a year now.  I had always had the interest just never really had any idea on how to get started.  Then with my dad's discovery of a complicated family line we both decided to dive right and and see what we could find.  One of the things that we found was Daniel Brady.  He is my third great grandfather.  He was a brick wall to knock down.  We were actually able to make quite a bit of progress on him (some has been mentioned in prior postings on this blog) while others still remain a mystery to us.  The biggest would be his wife, Mary Rutter.

There is several pieces of information that declare Mary as the mother of several of Daniel's children- all of which were born rather close together and because of poverty were sent to work as indentured servants on other farms.  One thing that we fail to find is a marriage record or even a census record listing Mary as his wife.  Part of this is because the census- as it is now- is only done every 10 years.  Their marriage was believed to last for five years or less.  She does not appear on the 1860 census (anywhere!) and doesn't resurface until 1880.  Daniel is listed in the 1860 census but is not listed as or having been married.  There is supposedly a divorce document floating around, though I have yet to see it and the one who has it has yet to share it. 

When she reappears in the 1880 census in Indiana, she is married to William Rice and has had 3 more children with him.  Also on that same census is Albert Brady who is listed as the 1/2 son of William.  Albert is 2 years older than William and Mary's eldest.  She passed away in 1912 in Indiana at the Soldiers Home.  We have so much to learn about her and she has been our biggest brick wall.  Others have reached out looking for information on her too, but I have only been able to provide what I have- which is very little.  Even her own great granddaughter hardly knows anything about her.

Wordless Wednesday

I know, "Wordless Wednesday", but I have to add to this or you may not know the significance.  The dancer in the front to the left of the man in the white shirt is author Joan Brady (of England- there are 2).  She is a cousin of mine.  This was taken from the NYC Ballet Co. days.

WW- Boy Brady

It's Tombstone Tuesday!!

It's Margaret Brady Brown- missing link for 20 years!  I found her wandering in Prairie Grove Cemetery (another missing link for many) in Utica, Seward, Nebraska, USA.

My Dearest Daniel and Mary

We all have those ancestors that just seem to vanish. Their stories are passed down but no one really knows where they came from and if they are true- my grandmother told me so it must be, right?

The stories that we were left with for Daniel were that he sold his youngest son as a white slave after coming home from the war to "find an extra mouth to feed" and that he "threw Mary out of the house". It is believed that Daniel filed for a divorce shortly after.


 
With these stories and a copy of Theory of War (a book written from the journals of my ggg grandfather – Daniel's son) in hand, I set out to find out exactly what had happened to Daniel. Census records came up and Mary was gone by 1870. Daniel was not marked as a widow. No signs of Mary either. The book did not shed any light as to Mary's possible whereabouts.

Mary wound up in our tree from a previous project. There were no documents to verify her in our family- the marriage was so short that she didn't even appear in the 1860 census. She is not mentioned in her children's obits, or in Daniel's. Daniel went on shortly after to marry again, only to have that result in divorce as well. The existence of their divorce decree has yet to be proven.


 
Daniel was very, very poor and sent his children out to work at a young age. Alexander was one of his children that were sent to live and work with a local family. He was treated very poorly and a book (Theory of War) was written from his journals. Later in life, Daniel had contact with all of his children, including Alexander, who escapes this lifestyle and worked his way out west with the railroad.


 
I later found what I thought may be Mary in a later census with a different last name. With her was a son, Albert Brady. A few weeks later, I received a message from a relative of Mary's seeking out what info I had on her. I shared what little information I had and contact has continued since.


 
It is amazing how quick things can fall together. I kept searching for that missing piece and though I have yet to find it, I am closer. The divorce record has yet to make its appearance and I am skeptical of that happening. As poor as they were, I doubt they would have spent money for a legal divorce. Daniel never owned any property- not even his own grave! He died in his daughter's home and as a result she died 5 years later of the same disease (sharing is caring!).

As far as we know, there are no photographs of Daniel or most of his children. We have one photo of Alexander as a child, and a couple from his adult life with his own family.


 
Oh the journeys our ancestors send us on!

Never Judge an Ancestor by Your Family Legends...

When I first started working on my family tree, I had no idea what was in store for me.  We had stories passed down from living family that said that one of our ancestors sold his son- who was thought to be illegitimate into servitude.  The man was Daniel Brady and he is my 3 great grandfather.  Alexander is his son.
We had come to think of Daniel as a heartless man.  He had disappeared from records for several years and as far as we knew died alone in Seward, Nebraska in 1886.
Turns out, he was poor and couldn't feed his children.  So they worked as child laborers and indentured servants until they came of age.  Alexander just got caught in a bad situation.  The family he worked for was cruel and he wasn't sold.
From the Blue Valley Blade  Seward, Seward, Nebraska  April 14, 1886
"DIED
Brady.-In Seward, on Thursday evening, April 8, 1886, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. J.W. Shipley, of consumption, Daniel Brady, aged 58 years.
Mr. Brady was born in Indiana county, Pa., in 1828, and at an early day the family moved to Ohio.  Shortly after the war broke out he enlisted in the 92nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry for three years and served until its close.  Soon after the war he moved to Iowa, where he resided for two years, when he came to Nebraska and settled on a homestead in this county, near Tamora, where he resided for a number of years before removing to this city.
Mr. Brady leaves one sister, Mrs. Margaret Brown, living south of Tamora; two daughters, Mrs. Margaret J Hurst, of Doddridge county, W.Va., and Mrs. Sarah L. Shipley, of this city; three sons, William and Alexander of Car Valley, Benton county, Oregon, and John I., of New Athens, Harrison county, Ohio.  Deceased was a member of Seward Post No. 3 G.A.R., and was so much respected by his comrades and all who knew him.  The funeral services took place on Saturday afternoon at the M.E. church, the Rev. G.M. Morey officiating.  The remains were escorted to the grave by the Post, where the burial was conducted under their auspices.
_______
HEADQUARTERS OF SEWARD POST, NO.3
Department of Nebraska, G.A.R.
Seward, Neb., April 12,1886
WHEREAS: In the view of the loss we have sustained by the decease of our comrade, and associate, Daniel Brady, and of the still heavier loss sustained by those who were nearest and dearest to him; therefore be it
Resolved; That is but a just tribute to the memory of our departed comrade to say that, in regretting his removal from our ranks, we mourn for one who was, in every way, worthy of our respect and regard.
Resolved; That we sincerely condole with the family of the deceased on the dispensation with which it has pleased our Supreme Commander to afflict them, and commend them for consolation to Him who orders all things for the best, and whose chastisements are meant in mercy.
Resolved; That this heartfelt testimonial of our sympathy and sorrow be published in all the Seward papers, and a copy forwarded to the daughter of our deceased comrade.
W.R. DAVIS,
R.R. SCHICK,
E.C. PARKINSON.
               Committee.
_________________
Card of Thanks
We take this method of returning our grateful thanks to the Grand Army Post and other friends of Seward, for their kindly aid and sympathy during the last illness of our departed relative, Daniel Brady.
SARAH L. SHIPLEY,
J.W SHIPLEY."


Our family legends were very wrong about him.  I am so glad that we found this today, as it provides us with more insight into Daniel's life and more places to search for him.