Anthony N. Brady

Anthony Nicholas Brady (August 22, 1841 – July 22, 1913) was a French-born American businessman who amassed great wealth and at one time was the largest shareholder in the American Tobacco Company.

Anthony N. Brady
Born
Anthony Nicholas Brady

(1841-08-22)August 22, 1841
Lille, France
DiedJuly 22, 1913(1913-07-22) (aged 71)
London, England
Resting placeSt. Agnes Cemetery, Menands, New York
OccupationBusinessman
Net worthUSD $50 million at the time of his death (approximately 1/781st of US GNP)[1]
Spouse(s)
Marcia Ann Myers
​
(
m. 1867; his death 1913)
Children6, including Nicholas Frederic

Early life

Anthony Nicholas Brady was born on August 22, 1841 in Lille, France.[2][3] Brady, whose family was Irish, emigrated to Troy, New York, in 1857.[4]

Career

At age 15, he first began working at the Delevan Hotel in Albany, New York,[5] and by age 19, he went into business for himself, opening a tea store that he soon expanded with other outlets, "practically controll[ing] the trade in that city and in Troy".[4] He went on to become a politically astute transportation magnate, who used his genius at consolidation to acquire control of Brooklyn Rapid Transit as well Albany Gas Light Company. Later he was a dominant figure in the transportation systems of several American cities including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., plus that of Paris.[5] Brady would acquire significant investments in a substantial number of companies and was the largest shareholder and a director of American Tobacco Company by 1900, and successor companies (Consolidated Tobacco Company) in subsequent years.[5]

Brady partnered with leading East Coast business tycoons such as Thomas Edison, William C. Whitney, P. A. B. Widener and Thomas F. Ryan in various business ventures including the Electric Vehicle Co., initially a motorized taxicab business that evolved into Maxwell Automobile Co.. By 1907, he was a member of the Consolidated Stock Exchange of New York, one of around 13,000.[6]

Personal life

On August 20, 1867, Brady was married to Marcia Ann Myers (1847–1921), the daughter of a prominent Vermont jurist,[7] with whom he had six children, two sons and four daughters. She was an Episcopalian and the children were raised in that faith (although their son Nicholas converted to Catholicism before his 1906 wedding).[8]

  • Margaret Ruth Brady (1872–1944), who married James Charles Farrell, the treasurer of the Helderberg Cement Company.[9]
  • Flora Brady (1877–1912), who married Erastus Palmer Gavit, the secretary and treasurer of the Municipal Gas Company who was a grandson of Erastus Dow Palmer.[9]
  • Nicholas Frederic Brady (1878–1930),[10] who married Genevieve Garvan (1880–1938),[11] in 1906.[12]
  • James Cox Brady (1882–1927), who married Elizabeth Hamilton (1883–1912), a daughter of Andrew Hamilton.[5]
  • Marcia Myers Brady (1884–1976), who married Carll Tucker in 1908.[13]
  • Mabel Brady (1885–1979), who married Francis Patrick Garvan.[14]

Brady died in 1913 at the Hotel Carlton in London while on a business trip.[4] His remains were brought back to the United States where he was interred at the Roman Catholic Saint Agnes Church Cemetery in Menands, New York. He is considered to have been one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune,.[15] After his death, his sons, James and Nicholas, continued to successfully operate his vast business empire. In 1923, however, a family feud erupted when two of their sisters took them to court, charging irregularities in the management of their father's estate.[16] After years of litigation, the suit was finally dismissed in 1924.[17]

Descendants

Anthony N. Brady was the grandfather of Nicholas Frederick Brady (b. 1930), a former U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.[18][19]

Legacy

The Anthony N. Brady Memorial Laboratory, School of Medicine, Yale University is named in his honor.

See also

References
  1. Klepper, Michael; Gunther, Michael (1996), The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill Gates—A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, p. xiii, ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8, OCLC 33818143
  2. "A Match Made In Heaven…The History of St. Ignatius Loyola Day Nursery and the Life of Nicholas Frederic Brady (1838-1930)" (PDF). St. Ignatius Loyola Church. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  3. Anthony Nicholas Brady. "Brady Genealogy". Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  4. "ANTHONY N. BRADY DEAD; Died Suddenly of Acute Indigestion in Hotel Carlton, London" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 July 1913. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. "FOUR IN BRADY PARTY DEAD IN THE WRECK; Anthony N. Brady's Daughter, Daughter-in-Law, and Latter's Two Sisters Killed" (PDF). The New York Times. 4 October 1912. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  6. Armstrong Nelson, Samue (1907), The Consolidated Stock Exchange of New York: Its History, Organization, Machinery and Methods, pp. 19–23, retrieved February 6, 2017
  7. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Permanent series. J.T. White. 1918. p. 149. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  8. "Nursery history" (PDF). www.stignatiusloyola.org.
  9. Hills, Frederick Simon (1910). New York State Men: Biographic studies and character portraits. Argus Company. pp. 116, 180. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  10. "N. F. BRADY DIES AT 51 AFTER LONG ILLNESS; Financier in Coma at the End, After Setback From Arthritis Early in Week. RELATIVES AT THE BEDSIDE He Was Eminent in Utility Field and a Leading Cathollo Layman --Funeral Tomorrow. Relatives at Bedside. A Native of Albany. First Post With Edison Company. Becomes Head of Edison Company. Decorated by the Pope. His Interests in Charity. Served in Red Cross" (PDF). The New York Times. March 28, 1930. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  11. "Mrs. Wm. Macaulay Succumbs in Italy" (PDF). The New York Times. November 25, 1938. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  12. "Brady-Garvan Wedding To-day" (PDF). The New York Times. August 11, 1906. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  13. "Carll Tucker Dies At Mt. Kisco Home" (PDF). Chappaqua Sun. August 2, 1956. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  14. "Francis P. Garvan, Lawyer, Dies Here. Head of Chemical Foundation and Former Alien Property Custodian for U. S." The New York Times. November 8, 1937.
  15. The Wealthy 100 Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Times, Special to The New York (26 June 1923). "BRANDY HEIRS MAKE $8,429,314 DEMAND; Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Garvan Want That Amount Sur- charged Against Trustees" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  17. "Business & Finance: Brady Estate". Time. 7 April 1930. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  18. "A Son to Mrs. James Cox Brady Jr". The New York Times. 16 April 1930. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  19. Quint, Michael (6 August 1988). "The Financier Who Knows What Is Going On'". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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