The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Brady, Diamond Jim
(James Buchanan Brady), 1856–1917, American financier and philanthropist, b. New York City. He was a bellboy and messenger and then worked for the New York Central RR in various capacities. He later was employed by a railroad supply company, and his selling ability rapidly brought him a fortune. He began collecting diamonds and other jewels and amassed 30 complete sets of jewelry estimated as worth well over $1 million. He was famous for his appetite and elaborate meals and was one of the best-known men in New York’s Broadway nightlife. In 1912 he gave funds to Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore (where he had received treatment) to found the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute.
