Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

This was originally published December 15, 2014. It was updated in 2021 to provide more information on David Brady's children and a fourth wife. In 2024, information on David Brady's wives, Fanny Cornell and Abigail Filley, David's will, and other details, were added. David Brady, born 1785 in Sussex County, New Jersey, died on his homestead, west of Cassopolis, Michigan, in 1878. He is buried on his farm where he and his family first camped upon claiming his land in 1829. Page 229 of the History of Cass County, Michigan  says that he was married several times and reared a very large family of children, over twenty, of whom however only one, Mrs Phebe Merwin, is now living in La Grange. His widow married Thomas Moore and is a resident of this township. That's quite the statement. Over twenty children. Married several times. Tough to prove, though. David's will goes a long way to clear it all up. Records from the frontier are pretty scarce, and in that time period