Nicholas Frederic Brady (1878-1930)
N.F. Brady, of New York; Papal Duke of the Holy Roman Church
It was said: "You can hardly puff a cigarette or enjoy your favorite pipe without paying tribute to the Bradys. Not a car wheel turns in the great borough of Brooklyn that is not sent out by these young men - A New Yorker cannot light his gas or turn on his electric bulb without adding to their riches. And, besides, the Bradys are in lumber, rubber, fuel, iron, sugar, cement, carbide, locomotives, land." Educated at Yale, he and his brother, James, grew on the business built by their father and in 1918 his fortune of $60 million ranked him Number 18 on the Forbes Rich List - equal to Joseph Widener and ahead of James B. Duke. He and his wife were recognized as America's pre-eminent Catholic couple on being created Papal Duke and Duchess by Pope Pius XI in recognition of their substantial donations to various Catholic causes. A devout Catholic, he is quoted as saying, "what are rich people but the trustees of God for the deserving poor". He built Inisfada, the legendary 87-room mansion on Long Island but died without children.
