Francis J. Grady

     Francis J. Grady was born in March 1874 at Ashland, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.¹ He was the son of Thomas Grady and Ellen McNamara.

Francis J. Grady was enumerated with Thomas Grady on the census of 1 June 1880 at Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, as Francis Grady. Francis is a white male age 6 years old. He is listed as a son and goes to school. He was born in Pennsylvania and both parents were born in Ireland.²

Joseph Lieberman: Hard as it may be to believe, 15 year-old Francis Grady, always called Frank, must have already enlisted in the Army. Perhaps because he would have been so young, and that he was already a problem drinker, Frank deserted during the Spanish American War. Aware that desertion is a capital offense during wartime, Frank was afraid to run the risk of being arrested if he ever returned to Shenandoah to see his mother. As handsome as his black-Irish father, but unlike him since he was eventually able to swear off alcohol, Frank married, and settled down in Philadelphia, self-employed as a plumber.³

Francis J. Grady was enumerated with Ellen McNamara on the census of 11 June 1900 at Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, as Frank Grady. Frank is a 25 year old white unmarried male born March 1875 in Pennsylvania. Both of his parents were born in Ireland and he works as a plumber.⁴

Francis J. Grady married Katherine L. Smart in 1907 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


     My notes indicate that Francis was a plumber and had a good voice. Bill Grady Jr would visit him in Philadelphia. Conversation with Joseph Lieberman (11 May 1996) who remembers Frank being dark and very handsome. The 1920 census for Philadelphia finds Frank living with Catherine and her mother, Rebecca, who is 75 yrs old and born in Ireland. Also in the house is Catherine's brother, Bernard, who is 42 yrs old and a clerk in a Sporting Club.