History of Our Family 

by John Dickey Braden, May 1894

Submitted by Alfred Braden Hill, great grandson of John Dickey Braden

My grandfather on my father's side was James Braden . He lived in Ireland, at a place called "Five-Mile-Town," that is within five miles of Inniskillen, in the county of Fermanagh . He was married to a Miss Margaret Howe, and they had a large family, Viz. George Braden, Jane Braden, James Braden, William Braden, Mary Braden, and Jeremiah Braden (There may have been others, but I do not remember them)

Grandmother Braden, nee Howe, died and was buried in Ireland, I have not the date of her death. Sometime after the death of his wife grandfather James Braden sent his oldest son George Braden, then a young man, to Philadelphia city and gave him about all the money he had to start him in business. There he went into partnership with a man in Philadelphia and they made money keeping a linen store whatever that may be. George got married and had two children, a boy and a daughter . Whilst speaking of him I may as well say here that when his father and brothers and sisters came over to America, they never saw him for the day they landed at New Castle, at the mouth of the Delaware, he died, and when Grandfather Braden went to his house in Philadelphia, George's widow met him and said that George's partner had taken all he had and she even refused to bring in the two children so that their grandfather might see them . No one of George's brothers ever saw his two children (the widow of course they did not wish to see) . When I was young I often heard my old Aunt Mary, a maiden sister of my father, commenting about her brother George's death and the singular loss of his children .

About three or four years ago, this is May seventh 1894, I received a letter from Abner Braden of Poweshiek County Iowa, which was written in reply to one I had written him, In which he said that old Robert Darraugh had said to Wm . Braden, that is Abner's father, that George's (George Braden) widow had left Philadelphia in early times and taken her two children with her to Northampton County this state . I never made any effort to find their heirs .

As I said Grandfather James Braden sometime in 1797 or 8 left Ireland and brought his family with him, except his son Wm . Braden who was at the time apprenticed to learn the trade of a tailor in Dublin and he did not come to this country for about seven years after the rest had come, when he came over with Robert Darraugh, who was a distant relative of ours through Grandmother Howe, I believe .                 

Now taking the children in the order of their age I believe the oldest is Margaret or Peggy as it is sometimes called; she was married in Ireland to Thomas Earley and they came to America with Grandfather James Braden. Peggy or Margaret Earley lived most of her life in Ohio close to Coitsville and about two miles from Youngstown. She (Mrs. Earley) had a large family; her oldest daughter married Major Mackey and they had a large family, her oldest son David Mackey was married to Jane Braden the sister of the writer and their family is well known to all of the Bradens. I may say here that I am not attempting to write a history of our entire connection, for that would be rather more than I am willing to undertake . Next in order to Margaret was George of whom I have already spoken . Then came James Braden; I never saw him and know but little about him . When the family landed at Coitsville I believe he drifted out to the "Western Reserve" and from there to some place below Cincinnati . He was married I have been informed to a Miss Gillmore and died quite wealthy. Then comes John Braden, my own father. He was about 17 years old when the family came to America. I have heard him tell many anecdotes of his early life in Ireland . His father as I have said lived at a place called Five-Mile-Town, this was near McGuires Bridge . He would often go up to Enniskillen on fair days to see the celebrated Enniskillen Dragoons, a troop of cavalry 600 in number . They were made up of the young protestants of the locality and as I recollect were furnished with horses and uniforms by Lord Cole who lived close to Enniskillen . Father said all of the 600 troopers rode black horses and when in full parade made a grand appearance . It was at these musters and parades that he saw the Irish lads in full enjoyment of the national sport of fighting with the shillalah . These were clubs of oak or black thorn generally cut from hedges and were about two feet long . It was a kind of exercise like fencing with swords. When two would fight with them; each would grasp the stick firmly in the middle and he would then use it to guard off blows as well as to inflict them. Father would tell of one contest of this kind fought at Enniskillen by a friend of his from Five-Mile-Town and a bully from the city . After a long fight he knocked the bully down and as it happened he fell in the mud, when the friend from Five-Mile-Town sang out, "Ah, my maty, I think I put theCounty Seal on You."  This got the cheers on his side and the other fellow left the field of battle .

The family sailed from Dublin in a sailing vessel, there being no steamers of that day, and had a long and wonderful voyage, lasting 22 weeks . There were 400 people on the crowded ship . The captain, who also owned the ship, Father said, was a good man and did all he could for the passengers, but he got out of his course, away up in the North sea where they saw many strange sights including ice-bergs and a white whale . At one time they were in a storm when the main-mast was broken off and dragged the vessel over on its side; the wind was raging so that the sailors could not cut the mast off and the ship began to fill with water; finally they did succeed in cutting it off but when it fell into the water the ship did not right itself as the captain had supposed it would . The captain informed the passengers that he had done all that he could do; then a panic commenced among the people, praying and screaming, women fainting and all the horrible evidences of fright of those who see death sure and sudden upon them . But as my old Aunt Mary often said, when the captain and sailors quit and gave up, the Supreme Being took a hand; the wind suddenly changed and the very first blast blew the ship aright and it came down on the water like a sharp clap of thunder; all was right again and they rigged-up a temporary mast and after 22 weeks landed off the mouth of the Deleware and in a few days went up to Philadelphia .

My grandfather after failing to see his son George as I have already related, did not stay long in Philadelphia but purchased two teams and wagons and started across the mountains westward where he was informed he could purchase land for $3.00 per acre . I heard Father say that the man who gave him the information about the cheapness of the land west of the mountains, was a Mr. Temple who lived on Ruff's Creek in Greene County, Pa, but at the time was on a visit to his brother's at or near Philadelphia . I have wondered if it might not have been Justice Temple's father, but I never thought to ask him about it . But at all events they acted on the advice and came out to Ruff's Creek in Greene County, where they purchased land and lived for a number of years, I do not know how long . When John Braden (Father) was about 20 years of age, he and Thomas Earley packed their knapsacks! and started west to see the Western Reserve where the government was selling land very cheap .

(This narration of family history was suddenly broken off here by the sickness and subsequent death of the writer, John D . Braden, Esq .of Washington, Pennsylvania, January 1st ., 1895 .) [ Apparently this was typed by someone else from John Dickey Braden's manuscript, because the parenthetic postscript uses the same spacing for periods that the main body does. (AH)]"

View more Braden, Hill, and related family photographs