You’ve probably never heard of John H. Brady.  All that was known of him (including by some of his own descendants) was that he worked as a New York cab driver during the early years of the last century, had a family and died sometime in the 1930’s of a heart attack. He was also a Catholic — so it seems fitting to use this space to help tell (as Paul Harvey used to say) “the rest of the story.”

It seems John H. Brady was also a spy — for our side — during World War I.  That part of his life will be brought to light for all of us on tonight’s edition of  PBS’ History Detectives (9:00 PM ET/Check your local listings). 

The producers of the show learned of his story after Bob Brady, his great grandson, began uncovering parts of it following the death of his own father in 1985. As Bob tells it “I was then told by my grandfather that he (John H, Bob’s great grandfather) worked for the Secret Service during World War I. I was given his notebook by mother, dad had (kept) the book.”

As he began thumbing through its pages he was surprised to find a story of real-life espionage as it apparently told of John H. Brady’s adventures as a secret agent for the U.S. government.

He actually didn’t think much more about it for several years — until he watched an episode of History Detectives. The popular PBS show (now in its eighth season) follows a team of investigators as they look into potential historical significance of objects or documents possessed by ordinary Americans.

After watching the show, he decided to contact the producers and let them have a go at his great grandfather’s notebook.  They took him up on his offer and their investigation turned up some fascinating information — including about one section of notes that intriguingly led them to an apparent assassination plot hatched by famed anarchist Emma Goldman and her associates.       

So, if you’re up for a good spy story about a little-known Catholic tonight, you might want to tune into tonight’s edition of History Detectives.