Grady Family

About 1850
Martin Grady settled inland past Hays and Alexandrina, closer to Poirier Office. It is known that he homesteaded before settlers arrived in Poirier Office in 1876. Today, this road is known by locals as Grady Road but shown misspelled as “Graddey Road” in the Backroad map book New Brunswick. This road is located off Rive Road which starts where Poirier Office Road ends. There was a covered bridge on which crossed a branch of the Cocagne River. After years of neglect and poor usage, the bridge collapsed.  Grady Road continues as a trail which leads to Hays and onward towards the heart of the village.

Martin Grady was born in 1830 in Waterford, Ireland according to vital statistics records of New Brunswick. He was married to Mathilda Warren who was born in 1844. They were both Roman Catholic and are buried in the Notre-Dame Cemetery. He died on August 12, 1900, at the age of seventy and she died in 1902 at about fifty-eight. Their daughter Annie was born in 1862 and their son John Edgar Grady was born in 1869 and married Mary Julia Murphy on August 25, 1896.

It is believed that Martin and Mathilda had thirteen children. The 1881 Canada Census shows Martin (fifty years old), Mathilda (thirty-nine), Annie (eighteen), Sarah (seventeen), Malenda (fifteen), John (thirteen), William (eleven), Thomas (nine), Anne J. (seven), Elizabeth A. (five), Joseph A. (two), Marguerite (five months). The 1901 census adds Rosetta (b. 1883), Mathilda (b. 1886) and Edward (b.1889).

According to the 1911 Canada census, the Grady family in Notre-Dame consisted of John Edgar, his wife Mary Julia and their daughter Eva May (twenty years old). The same three are shown on the 1921 Canada census.

Another member of the Grady family, perhaps Martin’s sister, was Annie Grady born in 1828 (Ireland). She died on July 17, 1895, at the age of sixty-seven, and is buried in the Notre-Dame Cemetery. Records also show that Martin’s daughter, Annie Grady from Notre-Dame, died in Boston MA on July 28, 1906, at the age of forty-two.   She is buried in the Notre-Dame Cemetery.

Finally, Nellie Frances Grady was born October 5, 1897, in Blue Hill, Maine. Her parents were William Grady and Mary Gray. That same month, her birth was registered in New Brunswick records by Father Dufour of Notre-Dame, leading us to believe that she was a parishioner of Notre-Dame. Note: Gray is a common last name in Blue Hill, ME.

1896
On August 25, 1896, John Edgar Grady (son of Martin Grady and Mathilda Warren) married Mary Julia Murphy from South Branch, NB. He was twenty-eight years old, and she was twenty-five years old. Witnesses were Margaret Grady of Notre-Dame and Luke Murphy from South Branch, NB. Vital Statistics shows Grady as being a farmer living in Notre-Dame.

Mary Julia was the daughter of Thomas Murphy from Wexford, Ireland and Mary Ryan also from Ireland. She was born April 14, 1867, and she died on September 18, 1938, at the age of seventy-one. John Edgar was born on January 6, 1869, and he died on September 29, 1943, in Fairville (Saint John) NB at the age of seventy-four. Both are buried in the Notre-Dame Catholic Cemetery.

An interesting detail is found on the death certificate of John Edgar Grady which showed Mrs. A. J. Bagnell of Notre-Dame as his sister.

A member of the Grady family, Sara, married John Carroll and their children were:

Catherine Melinda Carroll (b. June 23, 1888, in Cocagne)
Marguerite (b. August 15, 1890)
Martin Thomas (b. September 29, 1892, in Dundas – Notre-Dame)

and born in Notre-Dame were:

John William (b. December 10, 1894)
Sara Helen (b. February 28, 1897)
Joseph Earl (b. February 22, 1898)
Miriam Violet and Mary Lilian (b. July 12, 1900)
Dora Cecilia A. (b. July 10, 1902)
Felix Ray (b. January 06, 1906).

John Edgar Martin, born in 1912 and baptized at Église Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Cœur on September 30, 1912, was ordained Deacon in 1979. He was the son of Charles Martin and Mathilda Blanchard. His godfather and godmother were Mr. and Mrs. Jack Grady.