John D. Braden, p. 186

JOHN D. BRADEN, of Washington borough, was born in Chippewa township, Beaver Co., Penn, November 21, 1826. John Braden, Sr., his father, was a native of County Fermanagh, Ireland, born at a town called "Five Mile Town," near Enniskillen.

His father (the grandfather of John D. Braden) was James Braden, and his grandmother, Margaret Howe, was of English parentage. They raised a large family in Ireland, and said Margaret died and was buried there. The grandfather, James Braden, with his entire family, came to America some time about the year 1789; John Braden, Sr., having grown up to manhood, became the owner of a farm near Youngstown, Ohio, and resided on the same until the breaking out of the war of 1812 with Great Britain, when he joined the army and served therein until the close of the war. After the war John Braden, Sr., was married to Katherine McIntyre, daughter of William McIntyre, who was a native of Scotland, and in early times had migrated to this country, settling at Hagerstown, Md. John Braden and his wife Katherine, after their marriage, removed from near Youngstown Ohio, to Chippewa township, Beaver county, where they lived for over fifty years, having born to them a large family, amongst whom was John D. Braden, the only one of the family who resides in Washington county.

John D. Braden, the subject of this sketch, after several years' attendance at Beaver Academy, located in the town of Beaver, Penn., came to Washington in 1849, and entered the junior class at Washington College, which, later, was consolidated with the Jefferson College. Mr. Braden graduated from this institution in the summer of 1851, and at once commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. George S. Hart, who at that time was District Attorney for Washington county, and subsequently was elected Judge of the Courts of said county. Mr. Braden was admitted to the Bar of Washington County in 1853, and from that time to the present has practiced his profession with a fair show of success, standing at all times in a position with those in the front rank of the Bar. On November 11, 1851, he was married to Miss Anna C. Ruple, the youngest daughter of Col. James Ruple, Sr., deceased, and to them have been born a large family, as follows: Rebecca, intermarried with D. J. McAdam, Professor in Washington and Jefferson College; John McIntyre Braden, who is a member of the Bar in this county, since 1879, and has attained a prominent position in the ranks of the legal profession, enjoying a large and lucrative practice; Alfred Goodrich Braden, a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, and for the last eight years the successful Principal of the schools in the borough of Washington; George W. Braden, who is by profession a photographer, and follows that business in said borough at the present time; Lillie M., who teaches a select school in said borough; Ernest Braden, who died December 24, 1881; James Paul Braden, who is a student at the before-mentioned college; Anna and Kate Braden, who reside at home with their parents. There were also two other children, Arthur and William, who died in their infancy. In politics Mr. Braden has always been a Democrat, and at all times ready and willing to do his best for the advancement of the principles of his chosen party. He never held office except School Director and Member of the Council, and also Presidential Elector in the Cleveland and Harrison campaign in 1892, which ended in a manner entirely satisfactory to the subject of this sketch.

Text taken from page 186 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).

Transcribed April 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published April 1997 on the Washington County,PA pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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