Rethinking a Brick Wall
It's time to rethink a brick wall. So in one of my long ago posts I asked Who are Jane Grady's parents? I now have the answer. It took lots of digging and banging my head against words that just were not sinking in. Who are they and how did I get to the answer?
I've been staring at an old obituary for weeks and the answer was in front of me the whole time. Well, the hint. It says:
The funeral of Patrick Grady, of Millport,
was held in St. Mary's church, Watkins,
last Saturday forenoon, and his remains
were interred here. Death was
caused by pneumonia. The burial of the
wife of the deceased took place less than
two weeks previous.
I kept thinking "St. Mary's" in Horseheads because I found other relatives in that cemetery. Related, to be sure, but that's no reason to assume Jane's parents were also buried there years earlier.
So, where did I go wrong? Horseheads. I should have been looking at Watkins Glen, Schulyer County, like the obit clearly says. When I go to findagrave.com and search St. Mary's in Watkins Glen I find Patrick Grady who died on 25 Jan 1893 like the newspaper says (based on the date) and his wife Bridget Grady who died a couple weeks earlier on 15 Jan 1892.
So, when you are looking at a brick wall, try to re-read the details with a fresh eye,