I think—I think I know who he was. I hope I’m not stitching together multiple stories, but I don’t think I am: he was a magical, stamp-collecting, philosophizing Fortean from Chicago.
Ernest W. Brady—the W likely standing for William—was born in northern Ireland during the 1880s—varying sources say 1881, 1886, 1887, and 1888. I don’t know anything about his upbringing there—cannot find him in the censuses—but he immigrated to the United States in 1916, a year of some note in northern Ireland’s history. He arrived in Philadelphia—at least according to records created much later on. I cannot find him in the 1920 census. There is a Ernest Brady, born in Ireland around 1886, living in New Jersey in 1920, which could be him, except that Ernest Brady continues in New Jersey through the 1940s, while the one who becomes a Fortean is in Chicago.
Ernest W. Brady—the W likely standing for William—was born in northern Ireland during the 1880s—varying sources say 1881, 1886, 1887, and 1888. I don’t know anything about his upbringing there—cannot find him in the censuses—but he immigrated to the United States in 1916, a year of some note in northern Ireland’s history. He arrived in Philadelphia—at least according to records created much later on. I cannot find him in the 1920 census. There is a Ernest Brady, born in Ireland around 1886, living in New Jersey in 1920, which could be him, except that Ernest Brady continues in New Jersey through the 1940s, while the one who becomes a Fortean is in Chicago.