The John Brady Monument In The Muncy Cemetery

 

"On one of the most charming of Autumnal days, in the beautiful Muncy Cemetery, amid the acclamations of assembled thousands, the stately monument to the brave old pioneer and patriot Captain John Brady was unveiled and dedicated.  The occasion was one of absorbing interest to the people of the West Branch Valley, and from town and farm from counting room an workshop, the throng came to pay honor to the memory of the heroic Chieftain.  Wednesday October 15th 1879 will go down to history as the grand fete day of the century in this valley, and in years to come our young men and maidens with sparkling eye and quivering voice will tell to their children and grandchildren of the day when the Brady Monument was dedicated with such interesting and imposing ceremonies"

J.M.M. Gernerd, a Muncy historian, sponsored an effort to fund a memorial in John Brady’s honor. The women of Muncy helped as they coordinated several events – bazaars, dances, raffles – to raise money to make the memorial a reality. In 1879, it is recorded the 10,000 people attended the unveiling.

The town was fully decked out for the occasion.

"The site of Fort Brady near the northern limits of the Borough was marked with a flag and staff and many as passed the sacred spot were carried in thought to those stormy times when lowly oak ribbed fortress stood in sylvan paradise.  How changed the appearance of all the surroundings this memorial day!  The decorations Main street were profuse and tasteful.  Ten large flags were hung on ropes sus pended over the street at various points adding wonderfully to its festal appearance.  A double evergreen arch spanned the street at the corner of Main and Water, from which was suspended the motto "Welcome".  At the corner of High another arch was sprung, and it's motto was "Honor Brady".

The Monument was unveiled by Mr. Lyons McKinney Brady.

The parade included bands from Muncy, Hughesville, Williamsport, Picture Rocks, & Watsontown. It ended with the Body Guard of the Eighteenth Century Veterans, "composed of young men, mounted".

A free dinner was served to the visiting organizations.  "Almost every family kept open house and entertained such friends and acquaintances as they happened to meet.  There were a few elegant dinner parties, but the greater part of our citizens had cold dinners which proved however none the less acceptable to their guests.  Hundreds brought their luncheon and ate their dinner in carriages and wagons."

Miss Ellie Musser of Col. John D. Musser Post G.A.R. presented an "elegant flag, U.S. regulation size, with gold starts painting in field, made of the finest quality silk and trimmed with yellow silk fringe, silk cord and tassel, ash staff and gold plated spear and socket".

The reception address was given by Rev. N.F. Stahl, and is included in it's entirety in the souvenir booklet [a copy can be found at the bottom of this post].  In the same booklet is a 4 column long poem by Col. Thomas Chamberlain.

An oration was then given by John Blair Linn.

In Linn's oration, he mentions the story of Regina Leininger,  of the Penns Creek Massacre, who recognized her mother only when she began singing "Alone, and yet not all alone am I"

Linn's address begins on page 9 of the booklet below, and continues through page 17.

The ceremony concluded with a few brief remarks from Lyons M'Kinney Brady, and a benediction by the Rev. James Hunter.

The descendants of Captain Brady presented Mr. Gernerd with a silver tea set, as a token of their thanks for his efforts in erecting this memorial.  Money was sent by the committee to R.H. McCormick  at Watsontown, for the tea set to be purchased.

1879 Article about the Monument unveiling, in the Harrisburg Telegraph

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The 1879 Monument is located in the Muncy Cemetery.  This monument is located in nearby Halls Cemetery [Part of the original Wallis Farm, I believe?] 

"His body was brought to the fort and soon after interred in the Muncy burying ground, some four miles from the fort (now Hall's station, P. & E. R. B.) over Muncy creek." His grave is suitably marked at Hall's, while a cenotaph in the present Muncy cemetery of thirty feet high, raised by J. M. M. Gernerd by dollar subscription, attests the lively interest still felt by the community in one who devoted himself to the protection of the valley when brave active men and good counselors were needed. Of his sons, Capt. Samuel Brady, a sharpshooter of Parr's and Morgan's rifles, fought on almost every battlefield of the Revolution, from Boston and Saratoga to Germantown, can speak of his deeds as a scout and Indian fighter Western and Northern Pennsylvania, which West Virginia and Ohio attest. To the Indian he became a terror, and he fully avenged the blood of his sire shed at Wolf run, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, that beautiful day in April, 1779, at the bloody fight of Brady's Bend, on the Allegheny, where, with his own hand, he slew his father's murderer and avenged his brother James, the "Young Captain of the Susquehanna," in a hundred other fights. Of his second son, James, killed by the Indians at the Loyal Sock, whose career bid fair to be as brilliant as his elder brother's but unfortunately cut off at his commencement. John, who, when but a boy of fifteen, going with his father and oldest brother to the battlefield of the Brandywine to bring back the horses, finding a battle on hand, took a rifle and stepped into the ranks and did manful duty, and was wounded. He is said to have served with Jackson at New Orleans in the War of 1812. William Perry Brady served on the northern borders in the same war, and at Perry's victory at Lake Erie, when volunteers were called, was the first to step out.

Hon. John Blair Linn, at the dedication of the Brady monument in 1879, one hundred years after the death of John Brady, said: "To the valley his loss was well, nigh irreparable; death came to its defender, and ‘Hell followed hard after. In May, Buffalo Valley was overrun and the people left, on the 8th of July Smith's mills, at the mouth of the White Deer Creek were burned, and on the 17th Muncy valley was swept with the besom of destruction. Starrett's mills and all the principal houses in Muncy township burned, with Fort Muncy, Brady and Freeland, and Sunbury became the frontier."

"History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys, Embraced in the Counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder In The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." In Two Volumes, Vol 1 Philadelphia:

EVERTS, PECK & RICHARDS 1886, pp 97-99

This original stone at Halls Cemetery was replaced with a larger one.

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READ MORE

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There are 4 additional markers commemorating John Brady, and a Historical Park is being planned for the site of the former Fort Brady homestead.

Monument at John Brady Drive Installed in 1940

The John Brady Monument In Montandon Pa

Samuel Wallis Cunning Land King British Spy

Marker in Halls Station Cemetery

State Historical Marker

In 2019, efforts began for a Fort Brady Historical Park, at the Northwest corner of North Market Street in Muncy, the location of the former  Brady home & Fort.

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1879 article in the Sunbury Gazette, about the Monument Dedication

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Brady was one of the five early settlers who owned 300 acres of land within the boundaries of Muncy Manor, land upon which he built both a cabin and trading post. As hostilities grew, he stockaded his property, offering his family and neighbors a safer place to congregate before boarding rafts to take them south to Fort Augusta. Brady and the other patriots were no match for the British and their allies when they attacked the settlements of the Susquehanna Valley in the summer of 1778. All but one of the homes in this fertile valley were destroyed, settlers were ambushed and killed, and many of the fields were laid to waste. When the British and their allies retreated to New York, Brady rebuilt his cabin and post, more determined than ever to provide protection.

Fort Brady, Muncy

In the Spring of 1776, John Brady moved his family from the Lewisburg area to Muncy. Fort Brady was the Brady’s privately-owned dwelling which was stockaded to add a level of protection for the family. It was not a large structure and probably stood for only a short time. It was most certainly destroyed during the Great Runaway of 1778, rebuilt by Captain Brady, and then burned to the ground again in the summer of 1779.

In the late 1930s an archaeological search was conducted in the fields along Glade Run and it was determined that Fort Brady stood “upon a little knoll in a bend of the course of Glade Run and overlooking the flats to the northwest. The area of the enclosing stockade, as outlined by charcoal granules in the soil, measures approximately 65 by 50 feet … the old spring which [it is believed] supplied the fort with water is no more. It still flows but its waters rise and mingle with the waters of Glade Run…the original distance from the spring to the Fort was about 135 feet.”

In 2017 eight of Brady’s original 300 acres were formally transferred to the Muncy Historical Society. For years, Society board members had discussed this possibility since the land holds significant historical significance to the community. The location of Brady’s cabin and trading post are within these perimeters. A multi-disciplined team was formed and has developed a master plan for the Captain John Brady Heritage Park—Fort Brady. The park vision includes interpretive signage, walking paths and trails, bird and wildlife habitats, and native grasses and wildflower meadows. [The Society’s 2020 Brady Park initiatives have been postponed due to the current pandemic.]

Brady’s Ambush, Muncy

Captain John Brady served his country bravely and proudly. He understood the important role that Pennsylvania’s frontier held for General Washington’s army and the trust that Washington placed in him as a defender of these frontier lands.

While physically weakened by wounds sustained during the Battle of Brandywine along with complications of pleurisy, Brady responded to Washington’s call – he knew the stakes were high; that the frontier posed countless dangers; and that his life might be lost in this fight for independence. He had seen many of his friends fall, both in the line of duty and as civilians. He was not to be deterred; he stepped up to meet the challenge.

In April 1779, he was ambushed -- shots rang out; Brady fell mortally wounded from his horse! Peter Smith, who had accompanied Brady that day, was unharmed; he left Brady’s body where he fell, while he hastened to Fort Brady for help.

Who could have done this deed? While it was believed to be Indians, Brady had not been scalped nor robbed of any possessions. Curious indeed! Hated by the Indians it has long been presumed that it was their gun that fired that fateful shot. But Brady was not scalped; his red hair would have been highly prized. He was not robbed; his gun and money pouch were found with his body. Today, while evidence does not confirm the theory, it is suspected that fellow-Muncian, Samuel Wallis, a Loyalist and the master spy of the Susquehanna River Valley, with a known hatred of Brady and his patriotic leanings, probably had a hand in Brady’s death.

Had Brady stumbled upon information that allied Wallis and his cohorts as British sympathizers? Without Brady’s protection would the next British invasion be more successful in driving the settlers from this rich Valley for good? What is clear is that Brady was murdered that day, in the company of a very lucky Peter Smith, who had three times escaped death’s call – the Lycoming Creek massacre that killed his family, the Loyalsock Creek ambush which claimed James Brady’s life and now here, at the site of John Brady’s murder.

Captain John Brady’s Grave, Halls Station, Muncy Township

Brady has been described as a strikingly handsome man with broad shoulders and a spirit for adventure. A patriot, neither captured nor killed in battle, but one who died under very mysterious circumstances! The day was April 11, 1779 -- Brady was returning home following a visit with Samuel Wallis when two shots rang out, both hitting their target and felling Brady in an instant. For years, it was believed that a marauding Indian party had been responsible for taking Brady’s life; time would tell a different tale and would place blame at Wallis’ feet.

Brady’s actual burial site was “lost” to us until 1828 when Henry Lebo, as he was approaching his own death, asked his family to bury him next to his “Captain” – that’s how, and when, Brady’s burial site was identified, and marked.

Keeping Brady’s Legacy Alive – Well Remembered

In 1940 the ambush site was recognized with the placement of a brass plaque and a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission road sign; the site rests along the recently named John Brady Drive which runs through Muncy Creek and Muncy Townships. And, in Muncy Borough, running in an east-to-west direction, is Brady Street and, of course, just north of the Main and Waters streets intersection is the Fort Brady Hotel and Restaurant. Although the restaurant area is closed to the public, its walls still memorialize Brady’s escapades in murals painted by Muncy artist, Jean Mohr.