The profession of teaching is one which develops a man symmetrically, affords him opportunity for study and thought and fits him for the higher duties of citizenship in a manner thoroughly logical and rational. The successful teacher is a lover of popular enlightenment, and to be that he must be himself enlightened and patriotic. When teachers come to public office they bring to the service of the public a broadminded grasp of affairs and a capacity for work which make them useful, influential and respected.
John C. Brady was born in Cedar county, Iowa, May 19, 1863, a son of Hugh and Mary (McClintock) Brady, who are living in Keokuk county, Iowa, respected by all who know them, and prosperous in temporal affairs.
Mr. Brady attended the public schools near his home and was graduated from the Northern Indiana Normal School, at Valparaiso, in 1884. From that time until in 1898 he was teaching school almost continuously, in Iowa, Montana and Idaho. He came to Rathdrum, Kootenai county, Idaho, in 1894, was for four years principal of the schools of that town and came to be known as one of the most devoted and successful educators in the state.
In November 1898, he was, as a Democrat, elected to the office of judge of probate of Kootenai County, an office, which he is administering with much ability and good judgment and with the approbation of the general public, without regard to political alliances. He was called to the position by a majority large enough to attest great personal popularity, for he is exceptionally progressive and public-spirited and has a wide personal acquaintance. He has fraternal relations with the orders of Red Alen, Knights of Pythias and Knights of the Maccabees. In January 1899, he purchased, and has since been the editor and publisher of, the Silver Blade, a six-column folio newspaper, which was established at Rathdrum in 1895 and is the only Democratic paper in Kootenai county. This journal under Mr. Brady’s management has been greatly improved; it has a circulation of one thousand and a recognized influence throughout the prosperous and rapidly developing field it occupies.
In 1893 Mr. Brady married Miss Nettie Pine, a native of Illinois, who died April 15, 1899, leaving two children, Arva and Elmer.