Dorchester Illustration no. 2409 William Henry Brady
At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit that highlights these men and their service to our country.
Our next biography features: William Henry Brady.
William Henry Brady was born January 9, 1896, at 12 Churchill Place (today’s Tanglewood Road) in Dorchester. His parents, Joseph Hugh and Margaret (McCallion), called Maggie, were from Nova Scotia. Married in 1887, in Stoneham, Massachusetts, Joseph was a house painter and Maggie was a housekeeper before her marriage. Their oldest child, Theresa, was born in 1887, followed by Catherine in 1889, Mary Irene in 1891, Margaret in 1893, Helen in 1897, Alice in 1899, Hugh in 1901, Frances Bernadine in 1903, Edward Lemert in 1907, and Herewerd Paul 1910. Elizabeth, born prematurely in 1906, died shortly after birth. Hugh died in 1911 of Mitral insufficiency, a form of heart valve disease.
By 1903, the family was living at 1211 Morton Street, Dorchester. By 1907, they owned 33 Groveland Street, Mattapan. The 1910 census recorded oldest sister Teresa now married, but still living with the family, along with her four-year-old daughter Lorraine Ford. William’s paternal uncle Savarus was also in the household.
When William registered for the draft in June 1917, he was working as a teamster with the Standard Oil Company on Freeport Street in Dorchester. On August 28, 1918, William was drafted and inducted into the National Army at Local Board 21, Dorchester’s draft board. He was sent to the 156 Depot Brigade at Camp Jackson, South Carolina for military training. On September 3, he was attached to the Field Artillery Replacement Depot. On October 17, he joined the 3rd Battery October Automatic Replacement Draft, a group of draftees being readied to take the place of casualties overseas. William did not make it overseas before the Armistice, and in December he returned to the Field Artillery Replacement Depot at Camp Jackson. He was demobilized at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, and discharged on January 10, 1919.
After the war, he returned to live with his family at 33 Groveland Street. He worked as a clerk in a provisions store. By 1930, William’s father had died. William, his mother and his unmarried siblings had moved to 21 Dewolf Street, Dorchester. William had taken on his father’s profession: house painting. The next year, they lived at 26 Howe Street, Dorchester. By 1933, they were living at 401 Quincy Street, Dorchester, in the home of William’s married sister Mary Irene. His mother died in 1938.
Around that time, William married a woman named Mary. By 1940, William and Mary had two sons, William Junior, age 2, and a one-month-old infant. William also had a step-son, Thomas Connolly, age 9. William and Mary lived at 107 Alexander Street, a few blocks from his sister Mary Irene. William was technically unemployed in 1940; he reported that he had public emergency work, undertaking painting projects. He had been out of work for 18 weeks and had worked only 36 weeks in 1939. In 1942, the Bradys lived at 135 Whitfield Street, Dorchester. William worked for Bethlehem Steel at the Fore River Yard in Quincy. By 1943, according to the Boston directory, he had returned to painting. They stayed at 135 Whitfield Street until 1946. In 1947, a William and Mary Brady appear in the directory at 29 Union Street in Charlestown. In 1959, Thomas Connolly lived with them, along with Thomas’ wife, Impie L. In the mid-1960s, a William and Mary Brady appear living at 33 Gerald Street in Brighton. He is a painter with the Connolly Buick Agency and she is an aide at Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital. In 1964, Mary V. Brady is listed in the Boston directory as the widow of William H. No other record of his death has yet been found.
Sources
Birth Certificates, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Death Certificate for Elizabeth Brady, Hugh Brady; Ancestry.com
Family Tree, Ancestry.com
Census Records, Federal, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Ancestry.com
Boston Directories, various years, Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, National Archive and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA. (These records have been transferred to the Massachusetts Archives)
World War II Selective Service Registration Cards, National Archives and Records Administration, Ancestry.com
“Rites Tomorrow for Mrs. Margaret T. Brady,” Boston Globe, 14 Feb 1938:13; Newspapers.com