Edward J. Brazell (1855-1944) came to America from Wales with his parents, William and Mary Brazell, in 1856 or 1857. (While his tombstone lists his birth year as 1955, on the 1990 census, Edward said he was born August 1956). Edward became a naturalized citizen in 1870 while living in Allegheny County. The 1880 census lists Edward as working as a coal miner and living with his parents and six siblings. By the 1900 census he was married to Margaret Lloyd (1861-1939), a native of England, and living at 255 Brown Avenue in Union Township. The couple had five children-William, who in the 1900 census was 18 and working as a machinist apprentice and Ambrose (1884-1917), a 16-year-old coal miner. The other children-Edward C., Magdelene “Lena” and John B. ranged in age from 10 to 14 and were listed as attending school.
Also living with the Brazells in 1900 was a 47-year-old boarder named Edward Chenny and Ann Lloyd (1835-1913), Margaret’s widowed mother whose husband, John Lloyd, had died four years earlier and was buried near their nine-year-old daughter Mary Ann. Ann was still living with her daughter’s family when she died 13 years later. Her obituary said she “was an earnest worker in the Welsh Baptist Church of Banksville. Her son william and his wife Mary A. are buried here too, but graves fro her children John and Lena (who married a Smith) have not been located-they could be buried elsewhere.
Ten years later, the census lists Edward as a laborer in a machine shop. The only child still living at home was 24-year-old Edward G., who also worked in a machine shop.
By 1920, the family had moved to 1314 Chappel Avenue; daughter Lena Fink and her family were living in the same house. Edward was listed as working in a mill. The family was close friends with the Aiken family who owned a saloon not far from Chappel Avenue. Edward and Margaret’s son John B. married Sarah A. Hatherly and they had two children, Margaret M. and Jack, who died in 1920 at the age of 4.
St. Clair Cemetery 