OSSINING, New York — A remarkable family gathering, linking three centuries of American history, took place thanks to a diligent historian who uncovered a forgotten tale of determination.
The event was held to celebrate Lewis Brady, their legendary forebear, a Black man who fled enslavement in 19th-century Maryland. He established a life near Ossining, New York, working as an oysterman, and became famous for surviving until the age of 108, passing away in October 1881.
The Ossining Village historian extracted his story through years of meticulous research, tracked down his relatives, and arranged a meeting at his burial site in Sparta Cemetery on Route 9 in Ossining, which concluded with the unveiling of a tribute 144 years in the making.
Everything started falling into place for the historian, Joyce Sharrock Cole, when one of Lewis’ descendants took an ancestry DNA test hundreds of miles away.
“When I first took the position of village historian they were working on a cemetery program for Sparta Cemetery, where Lewis is interred. So, I went feet-in, head-in, everything in, to find his living descendants,” she said.
Brady was born a slave. His father was owned by George Washington and Lewis ended up service as a body servant for a colonel in the War of 1812. He escaped slavery on foot and headed north along what would become known as The Underground Railroad, eventually settling in the Sparta area and becoming a well-know oyster boat captain.
Brady shared parts of his life story in an interview with the New York Herald newspaper about a year before he died. The article helped Sharrock Cole connect the dots. She dug deeper to discover that “every person, every place he had been was on the record.”
An ancestry DNA test in North Carolina was a huge lead. Joy Melvin was looking for lost family history online. She remembers how she “started researching family, kind of hit a brick wall. And then, I got contacted! I got a message on Ancestry saying they’ve been looking for descendants of Lewis Brady, for like ever!”
The homecoming took off from there.
Melvin and her family made the trip to New York to link up with other members of Brady’s family tree. It was an impactful reunion.
Dorita Taylor explains how she “never really thought about how important it is to really know your generational ancestry. Especially now, in today’s climate, when they’re trying to wipe it out.”
While her brother and oldest-living descendant of Brady, Robert Morris was touched by the work Joyce and the community put into the occasion. He calls it “a blessing. It’s just a surprise to learn this history.”
The day included an introduction and history lesson at the history Jug Tavern, near the house once owned by Lewis, a tour of the home, a visit to the docks, where Brady once launched his oyster boat and a trip to the final resting place at the cemetery.
To cap it all off, local dignitaries and politicians stopped by to help rename a street in honor of Capt. Lewis Brady.
With Rolando Pujol, executive producer
