Of the daughters of Sheriff John Brady, Mary married William Piatt, uncle of Judge Piatt, of Brady township, Lycoming county; Hannah married Judge Piatt; Charlotte married H. C. Piatt; Jane married Roland Stoughton; her descendants, Mrs. Lyndall's children, still live in Lewisburg; Nancy married George B. Eckert, of Lewisburg.
I am indebted to O. N. Worden, late of the Lewisburg Chronicle, for
the following narrative he took down at the time. He says: In June,
1857, I took the following notes of a conversation I had with Mrs.
Mary Brady Piatt, aged seventy-two, born in 1785:
"My father was a brother of Sam Brady, the Indian fighter. I saw
him once. He was then on a visit to my father's, at Sunbury. I went
with them over to Northumberland. On the way over, my father asked Sam
if he could jump as well as ever? He said he could not, but coming to a
high fence in a few minutes, he sprung clear over it, with but little
effort. 'I never could do that,' said my father. 'You could, if
obliged to,' said Sam.
Sam killed three Indians after peace was declared, and a reward of
$300 was offered for his apprehension. Shortly after, he was sitting
with a tavern-keeper, in West Virginia, when two strangers,
Virginians, rode up, alighted, and asked for horse feed and dinner.
They laid their pistols upon a table, near which sat Sam, rolling his
rifle upon his knees. In the course of conversation with the land-
lord, they found out that he knew Brady, and that he lived in that
region, and was very popular. They told the landlord that they had
come to arrest him, and if he gave them assistance, they would share
the reward with him. The landlord said they could never take him, nor
could any one take him alive. They declared they could. 'I am Sam
Brady,' said the man at the table. They were startled. They looked at
him for a minute, and, estimating his power, waived the attempt.
After dinner, they went to the table to get their pistols. Brady said
they could not have those pistols, nor could the landlord's entreaty
or their threats prevail. 'Go back to your homes, and tell them Sam
Brady took your pistols,' was all the answer he made. He afterwards
gave their pistols to his sons.
"After awhile he delivered himself up for trial at Pittsburgh. He (Pg 378)was defended by James Ross. Brady laid the scalps on the bar. 'There they are; I killed them.' A great many women attended this trial, or rather men in women's clothes, ready to rescue him, if convicted; but there was no occasion for their intervention."
Mrs. Piatt, like her brother, the late William Perry Brady, remained a Federalist to the last. She said when Washington was burned, through the inefficiency of a granny President, her blood boiled, and she longed to go that she might shoot at least one British invader.
Go to History of Union Co, PA on the US Genweb
Back to Home
Back to Family Histories Link Page
