|
Bradley
Thomas Johnson, son of
Zachariah & Missouri
(Woodburn) Johnson, was known to me as "Granddaddy General."
He was born in March of 1883 and died in 1954. I have been told he was named for General Bradley Thomas Johnson who attempted to free
the Confederate Prisoners at Pt. Lookout Maryland. (Guess we know
whose side my relatives sided with). He was born in St. Mary's
County but moved to Baltimore so he could pursue his career as a machinist. From him my father got his mechanical ability. Sadly it didn't
carry down two generations. He worked initially at a sawmill in
St. Mary's County and then for the Southern Railroad as a machinest in
Delray, Virginia. This must be where he met Mary. He then
worked at a "snap button" factory on Monroe St. in Baltimore, MD.
Eventually he moved his family to Relay, Maryland and rented the house
in the picture at bottom left.
I remember seeing him only briefly
before he died. He was in a tuberculosis sanatorium* near Sabillasville,
MD which is near Frederick, Maryland. The center was up in the
mountains. My last memory of him was waving goodbye to him as he
stood on the porch of the sanatorium. Later, when he became ill
he was transported to Hagerstown Hospital where he died. My Dad was the
only one who made it there in time to see him before he died.
He married Mary Gertrude
Fagan but he called her "Nancy." She is pictured
here. She
was from Virginia and was a true Southern Belle, schooled in embroidery.
She took a daily afternoon nap. Her father was apparently in
insurance. She died in
Baltimore. According to her son Bradley Johnson, Jr. She loved chocolate
and hats. She would buy a new hat every Spring. She had a
brother Patrick, a sister Sally Fagan
Parsons and a sister Jane Fagan. She died in 1964.
Bradley and Nancy lived in this home
in Relay,
Maryland. I always remember that it had a covered stairway in the
back which I loved to play on because it was like a secret tunnel.
This house is just down the street from the apartment building where I
was born. I took this picture in 2000 when my Mom and I took a
trip back to the old neighborhood.
Thanks to Kathy J. Hall,
a gracious volunteer who did the lookup work for me, we now know that
Bradley and Mary are buried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery.
This historic cemetery is located in the Olde Town section of
Alexandria, Virginia. Bradley was buried on December 11, 1954 and
Mary Gertrude was buried on January 22, 1964. George Washington was a
subscriber to the building. St. Mary's was the first Catholic Church in
VA, built 1795 and stood until 1839. The cemetery remains in the Olde
Town area but there is a new church elsewhere.
Their children are as follows: |
