Placer
County
Biographies
JAMES J. BRADY
James J. Brady was born in Dublin,
Ireland, on the 12th of May, 1830, a son of Philip and Ann (Carlon) Brady, both of whom were natives of the Emerald
Isle, where the father followed the trade of a tanner and currier. Both he and his wife were valued members of
the Catholic Church and they had a phenomenal family of eleven sons and eleven
daughters, including several pairs of twins.
The father attained the ripe old age of ninety years and the mother also
lived to an advanced age.
James Joseph Brady was the eleventh
son and the youngest member of the family.
He was educated in the city of Dublin, but his opportunities were
limited, and when only eleven years of age he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter’s
trade. Since that time he has earned his
own living, depending entirely upon his own resources, and whatever success he
has achieved is the merited reward of his labor. In 1846 he took passage on the sailing vessel
Orizaba from Liverpool, England, and they landed at New Orleans on Christmas
Day of that year. There were many
passengers on the ship and forty-seven died during the voyage and were buried
in the ocean. Mr. Brady was then but
sixteen years of age.
He came to this country with his
brother John, who was the eldest of the family, and he worked at his trade in
New Orleans until 1852. He was married
in that city to Miss Mary McCann, a native of county Cava, Ireland, who came to
the United States in 1848. Mr. Brady
left his wife with relatives in New Orleans while he proceeded to California in
1852 hoping to acquire a comfortable fortune in the Golden state. He journeyed by way of the Isthmus route, and
from San Francisco made his way to Coon Hollow, in El Dorado County, where he
was engaged in mining, working for wages, at six dollars a day. He remained with his first employer for about
four days and three nights and thus received his first start in California. Subsequently he went to White Rock where he
secured a claim of his own, but he was never fortunate in his mining
operations. As soon as he had acquired
sufficient money he sent for his wife, who came by way of the Isthmus route in
company with a young lady friend, arriving at White Rock in late July. The reunion was a happy one and in 1855 they
took up their abode in Upper Rancheria, in Amador County, where Mr. Brady
secured a claim which he operated for a short time, meeting with only moderate
success, however. He was there twenty
months, working on his own account.
He then removed to Dutch Flat, where
he arrived on the 3rd of July, 1857.
Here he engaged in mining and working at his trade. He has erected many of the buildings in his
town, and these stand as monuments to his industry and handiwork. The pleasant cottage in which he and his wife
now reside was erected by him in 1858.
During the forty-eight years in which he has made his home at Dutch Flat
he has acquired the reputation of being one of the most reliable and
trustworthy citizens of unimpeachable honesty and unflagging energy. His integrity in all business matters has
gained him an unassailable reputation and he enjoys the unqualified confidence
and regard of his fellow townsmen. Unto
Mr. and Mrs. Brady have been born five children, namely: Charles, who is now residing in Marysville;
George, of Sacramento; Ann, who won second honors in her graduating class in
the San Jose normal school and became a successful teacher at Dutch Flat, but
departed this life in the twenty-second year of her age, beloved by all who
knew her; an infant who died at the age of fifteen months; and Carroll, who
departed this life in the twenty-seventh year of his age.
Mr. and Mrs. Brady have the love and
sympathy of many of the leading and influential citizens of the town. Their residence here covers a long period and
they are widely known, their circle of friends being almost coextensive with
the circle of their acquaintances. In
his political affiliations Mr. Brady has been a life-long Democrat, yet has
voted for the men whom he regards as best qualified for the office at local
elections where no issue is involved. He
belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been one of its
faithful and active members for the past twenty-seven years. He has filled all the chairs in the lodge and
has ever endeavored to live up to the beneficent and ennobling principles of
the fraternity. His career is a credit
to the order and he is highly esteemed by his brethren, all of whom have a good
word for the kind-hearted James Joseph Brady, who for forty-eight years has
been actively identified with the interests of California.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 429-430. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.