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Breslin-Grady Ancestors

708 West Norwegian St.
Pottsville PA 17901
717 628-2281
7 March 1995

Mary Breslin Hickey
704 Great Oak Lane
Kennett Square, PA 19348

Dear Mary,
Since our telephone conversation, I gathered a few items regarding Edward and Katherine Grady Breslin. I will outline the information below.

From the census, the following information is provided on Edward and Katherine:

1900 Census of Shenandoah, Microfilm Roll 1484, Page 252B

Edward Breslin, born January 1870, age 30, married 5 years, born PA parents born in Ireland, Employed as Laborer.
Catherine Breslin, born May 1874, age 26, married 5 years, 4 children, born in Pa, parents born in Ireland.
Children: Katherine born Oct 1895, Margaret born Oct 1896, John born May 1898 and Joseph born November 1899.

1910 Census of Shenandoah, Page 209
Edward Breslin, age 40, married 15 years, born in Pa
Catherine Breslin, age 38, married 15 years, 6 children
Children: Catherine 14, Margaret 13, John 12, Joseph 10, Edward 9, Anna 3.

From Marriage License Docket #7, Record #A412:
Edward F. Breslin was born in Minersville on the 6th of January 1869 resides in Shenandoah, by occupation Engineer. Married to Katie E. Grady, born in Centralia, 6 May 1874 and resides in Shenandoah, occupation Domestic.
Marriage license issued May 23, 1895.

I searched for obituaries for Edward and Katherine Breslin in the local papers only to find a brief mention of Edward Breslin's death. The obituary provided no new information. No obituary found for Katherine.

I tracked down the Michael Breslin family in the 1870 census of South Cass Township, just outside of Minersville, Sch. County. The following information was gleaned from that record (page 248, 1870 Census of South Cass Twp):

Michael Breslin, age 50, Miner, born in Ireland.
Ann Breslin, age 35, Keeping House, born in Ireland.
Children: Bridget 18, Mary 16, Rosa 14, John 12, Maggie 10, ????? 8, Sarah 3
and Edward age 1. All of the children were born in Pennsylvania.

I found no mention of this family in the subsequent 1880 census or in Shenandoah in 1900 or later. A search of the Naturalization Records at the
Schuylkill County Courthouse revealed two Michael Breslins.

The information for the two Michael Breslins follows:

#l Michael Breslin, of County Donegal, Ireland, age 32, and Irish,
Emigrated from Liverpool and Arrived at New York in May 1834. He intended to settle at Summit Hill, Northampton (Now Carbon) County. He was 32 years old when the naturalization papers were filed December 17, 1842.

#2 Michael Breslin, from Ireland filed for Citizenship on September 5, 1853 at the age of 28. John Breslin vouched for Michael Breslin when citizenship was granted on September 8, 1856.

Of the two Michael Breslins, #2 Michael appears to be the father of Edward
F. Breslin. Unfortunately his documentation makes no note of the place of origin for Michael.

As a researcher familiar with Irish Immigration to Schuylkill County, I can shed additional light on the Michael Breslin, Irish place of origin question. You see, I have compiled a listing of over 750 Irish immigrants to
Schuylkill County. Included in that list are two Breslins, John and Michael.
The Michael Breslin (listed as #l above) aforementioned is known to have come here from County Donegal. The John Breslin from my list also emigrated from
County Donegal and later settled in Minersville, Schuylkill County.

Could this same John Breslin have sponsored your Michael Breslin upon the request for citizenship? If this is the same John Breslin, then is your
Michael Breslin a relative? Although somewhat confusing and hypothetical, I suggest that your Michael Breslin emigrated from County Donegal as well.
As I have no additional facts to go on, I suggest that a search in County
Donegal, Ireland, may turn up your Michael Breslin. Then again, that would be a tremendous undertaking without further information, or proof.

To make a long story short, I believe your Michael Breslin emigrated from
County Donegal, Ireland, yet I have no concrete evidence to say so. Perhaps I will be able to turn up an obituary on Michael Breslin or his wife. I conducted a search of Minersville and Cass Township Cemetery records and did not find Michael Breslin or his wife. I did find John Breslin buried at Minersville (which claims Donegal as his place of birth).

As for the Michael and Catherine Grady family, I have found a few items. You may remember that Katherine Grady Breslin was born in Centralia (Columbia
County). As such, I do not have access to Columbia County records. But
Katherine's Death Certificate stated that she was born in nearby Ashland (Sch County), which led me to search the census there.

The 1870 Census did not show the Michael Grady family. However, I located the family ten years later in 1880. The following is taken from the census of Ashland, Page 145B:

Michael Grady, age 50, Miner, Born Ireland.
Catherine Grady, age 38, keeping house, born Ireland.
Children: Mary Jane 16, Annie 14, John 13, Kate 8, Delia 6, Thomas 2,
and Bernard l/12th (born April 1880).

The information for the two Michael Breslins follows:

#l Michael Breslin, of County Donegal, Ireland, age 32, and Irish,
Emigrated from Liverpool and Arrived at New York in May 1834. He intended to settle at Summit Hill, Northampton (Now Carbon) County. He was 32 years old when the naturalization papers were filed December 17, 1842.

#2 Michael Breslin, from Ireland filed for Citizenship on September 5, 1853 at the age of 28. John Breslin vouched for Michael Breslin when citizenship was granted on September 8, 1856.

Of the two Michael Breslins, #2 Michael appears to be the father of Edward
F. Breslin. Unfortunately his documentation makes no note of the place of origin for Michael.

As a researcher familiar with Irish Immigration to Schuylkill County, I can shed additional light on the Michael Breslin, Irish place of origin question. You see, I have compiled a listing of over 750 Irish immigrants to
Schuylkill County. Included in that list are two Breslins, John and Michael.
The Michael Breslin (listed as #l above) aforementioned is known to have come here from County Donegal. The John Breslin from my list also emigrated from
County Donegal and later settled in Minersville, Schuylkill County.

Could this same John Breslin have sponsored your Michael Breslin upon the request for citizenship? If this is the same John Breslin, then is your
Michael Breslin a relative? Although somewhat confusing and hypothetical, I suggest that your Michael Breslin emigrated from County Donegal as well.
As I have no additional facts to go on, I suggest that a search in County
Donegal, Ireland, may turn up your Michael Breslin. Then again, that would be a tremendous undertaking without further information, or proof.

To make a long story short, I believe your Michael Breslin emigrated from
County Donegal, Ireland, yet I have no concrete evidence to say so. Perhaps I will be able to turn up an obituary on Michael Breslin or his wife. I conducted a search of Minersville and Cass Township Cemetery records and did not find Michael Breslin or his wife. I did find John Breslin buried at Minersville (which claims Donegal as his place of birth).

As for the Michael and Catherine Grady family, I have found a few items. You may remember that Katherine Grady Breslin was born in Centralia (Columbia County). As such, I do not have access to Columbia County records. But
Katherine's Death Certificate stated that she was born in nearby Ashland (Sch County), which led me to search the census there.

The 1870 Census did not show the Michael Grady family. However, I located the family ten years later in 1880. The following is taken from the census of Ashland, Page 145B:

Michael Grady, age 50, Miner, Born Ireland.
Catherine Grady, age 38, keeping house, born Ireland.
Children: Mary Jane 16, Annie 14, John 13, Kate 8, Delia 6, Thomas 2,
and Bernard l/12th (born April 1880).

I later found them in Shenandoah in 1900, Page 167A:

Michael Grady, born May 1840, age 60, Married 34 years, born Ireland.
Kate Grady, born December 1845, age 55, married 34 years, 9 children, 7 of whom are still living.
Children listed with them in 1900: Thomas born April 1878, Bernard born
April 1880, and Delia born January 1875. All children listed as born in PA.

The naturalization papers for a Michael Grady appear in the Court House records. The following information is taken from one particular document.

Michael Grady, born in Ireland, applied for citizenship October 8, 1866 and approved on the same date. Witness and sponsor was Martin Colgan. This
Michael Grady was reportedly 29 years old by October 1866. As no other information is provided, I do not know for sure if this is your Michael Grady, yet the age is pretty close for government work. Unfortunately, once again, no specific Irish County is provided on this document for Michael Grady.

A check of my Irish list reveals two Gradys. Thomas Grady hailed from
County Galway and settled in the Mahanoy Valley. A Hugh Grady was born in
Kings County and also settled in the Mahanoy Valley. While both of these
Gradys settled in the same general area where your Michael Grady lived, I have no information showing a definite link to either individual.
I spent a total of three (3) hours in research time at the County Courthouse, the Public Library and the Historical Society of Such. County. As discussed over the phone, my fee for research is $12/hour. Please remit accordingly. I hope I provided a few new clues for you regarding the family history of the Breslins and Gradys. Yet public records for the 19th century here in Schuylkill are rather limited. As the parents of both Edward and Katherine were natives of Ireland, little additional information will probably be found here in Pennsylvania regarding their forebears.

I can recommend a couple places to search for additional information.
Perhaps the church records at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in
Ashland would show a record of marriage for Michael and Catherine Grady between
1865 and 1867. The address is as follows:

St. Joseph's Church Rectory
1100 Walnut Street
Ashland PA 17921

Also, when the snow melts atop Shenandoah, perhaps a trip to the
Shenandoah Catholic Cemetery may provide (perhaps) death dates (or at least years) for Michael and Catherine Grady. The cemetery is approximately an hour from here round trip, and I would be happy to take a look. By finding a death date, then maybe I will be able to get an obituary for either Michael, Catherine or both. The 1910 census did not show either one in the listing.

I will close for now, and hope I have provided additional interesting information for you on these families. I look forward to your future correspondence. Respectfully submitted,

Mark T. Major
Schuylkill County Historian

(Bob, made the trip but nothing inter...)
   

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