Ed Brace was born about 1869 in Illinois, To Thomas Brace & Mary Carpenter.
Inmate: #4794 Washington State Prison
Rec: 5 Feb 1908
Crime: Assault with a deadly weapon
He was discharged from prison and place on parole 28 Apr 1908, by 1910 he was arrested again.
He was arrested again in 1914 for robbery.
Inmate: #7462 Washington Prison
Rec: 1914
Crime: Burglary 2nd Degree
He would get a pardon 1915-16
Record Series: Institution Records
Collection: Governor's Office, Pardon Case Files, 1889-1917
County: Statewide
Name: Ed. Brace
Dates: 1915-16
Pardon Number: 3305
Box Number: 55
Reference Number: AR-20091029-003305
I believe this is his wife & Kids:
Mattie Cooley(Wife)
1880–
Children:
Alice Brace
1902–
Elmer Everett Brace
1903–1944
Clifford David Brace
1905–1982
Cecil Sylvester Brace
1906–1977
Cecilia Brace
1907–
Ruby Brace
1908–
Edna Brace
1913–1986
Was he mad or just addicted to the hooch?
Ed died 5 Dec 1918 in Washington.
Hi. I just found this interesting blog. Edward Brace was my great-grandfather. No, he was not mad. He was a drunk, and could be a mean drunk, obviously. My grandpa was Cecil, and his dad treated him terribly, and he cried about it until the day he died. After reading the story about Edward holding his child head into a stove, I'm wondering if it wasn't my poor, sweet grandpa that he did that too, as traumatized as he was all of his life about the way he was treated by him. On Edward's death bed, he apologized to my grandpa, who was 12 at the time. But my grandpa said "It was too late by then" as tears rolled down his face. There are a few discrepancies in the children. There was no Cecilia. It went from my grandpa Cecil to my great Aunt Ruby. In fact, my great grandmother, Mattie, was pregnant with Ruby when Edward came at her with the axe. And after Edna, they had a son Thomas who was born in 1914 or 1915, and he passed away in 1998. The first child, Alice, died at age 14 in 1916, from rheumatic fever. I have heard a few times lately on the crime shows I love to watch, and solving crimes through genealogy sites that criminality tends to run in families. Well, none of Edward's children or grandchildren, and very few of his great grandchildren ever ended up in any type of trouble with the law. They were good people, I think most of that can be attributed to my great grandmother, who was a wonderful Godly woman who took great care of her children, even through all the turmoil her husband created. Unfortunately, Mattie passed away while my mom was pregnant with me, so I never had the pleasure of getting to know her. But, knowing my grandpa and his siblings and what kind, gentle, and fun people they turned out to be, I feel as if I know what she would've been like.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, how heart breaking, thank you ever so much for sharing all this with me. I also believe good people can and do prevail out of the darkness and can break the cycle. I am so happy to hear your family did just that. I made a tree on Ancestry as I do with each person I write about and all this is added there. I shall try to make the corrections you suggested as well...Again thank you for reaching out. Gwen
DeleteThank you for all of this interesting information we had never heard about. Like I said, we had never heard anything about what the newspaper article said about him threatening Mattie with a revolver and holding one of the kids head first over the stove. And nothing about the chicken coop situation. It's kind of strange that he got more time for stealing chickens and turkeys than he did for almost killing his wife, again, and his child. Another interesting fact, he died during the Spanish Flu pandemic. My mom had letters that Mattie wrote to her mother when they were all very sick with the flu. I guess the Spanish Flu was a bit of a blessing for Mattie and the children, sad to say.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, how did you find Edward, out of all the criminals out there? I'm so glad you did so I could find out more family history, and I passed it along to some of my cousins. A few of us were curious about how you found Edward. I just googled his name the other day after I mentioned our great grandfather's prison stint to one of my cousins who has been looking into his genealogy lately, and he said he read about it, and it was pretty interesting. So when I googled his name, I found your blog. You must have others you've written on? How would I find them, or do I have to know the person's name? I have an interest in true crime and in genealogy, so this is intriguing to me.
Oh Gwen, I just saw how to get into other people you have researched. Can't wait to check them out. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome, thank you so much for following me, I appreciate it.
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