Tag Archive for Dunn

Catholic Records, Queries

Who was John English?

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And was he English, Irish, or French?1

Headstone for Ann McGlade (1863-1889), St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Cemetery, Perth, Lanark County, Ontario

Headstone for Ann McGlade (1863-1889), St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Cemetery, Perth, Lanark County, Ontario

When Annie McGlade died on 21 April 1889, at the age of 25, she was buried at St. John the Baptist RC Cemetery in Perth (Lanark Co., Ontario). Her headstone identifies her as “Annie McGlade Wife of John English.”

Annie McGlade was the fourth and youngest child of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn. She was born at Perth on 17 October 1863; and was baptized 7 November 1863 (St. John the Baptist RC Church), with Kenny Murphy and Frances Ann McCann serving as godparents.

But who was her husband John English?

I have not yet found a marriage record for this couple (which would give me the names of the parents of John English), which is a bit puzzling: no doubt I am not looking in the right place. Annie McGlade and John (or possibly Joseph?) English (but possibly Langlois or L’Anglais?) were probably married about 1886 or 1887. But there is no record of their marriage (or none that I have found) in the parish register for St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Perth. I’m assuming they must have been married elsewhere.

But the parish register for St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Perth does include a record of the baptism of their first and only known child, John Michael English, born 23 November 1888 and baptized 26 November 1888 (St. John the Baptist RC Church, Perth), with John McGlade and Mrs. Michael Hartney (Bridget McCann) serving as godparents. So this couple was obviously in the Perth area in 1888: it’s not as though they had emigrated to Minnesota or something. In the baptismal record for John Michael English, his mother is given as Annie McGlade, and his father as John B. L’Anglais.

To further complicate matters, when John Michael English married Ernestine Catherine Cerutti (St. Jacques le Majeur, Montreal, 17 February 1916), he was described as the son of age (fils majeur) of “Joseph English domicilié à Grouard (Athabaske) et de feu Annie McGlade” [Joseph English domiciled at Grouard (Athabaska) and of the deceased Annie McGlade]. So here is a reference to a Joseph, not a John, English living in northern Alberta, which is a long way from Lanark County, Ontario, to say the least.

In the 1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, there is a Joseph English found in Edmonton East (and Edmonton is about 90 miles/145 kilometres south of Athabaska, by the way, so this is not exactly a perfect match with the information given in the marriage record for John Michael English). This Joseph English lives alone, and is listed as Single, age 59, birthplace Ontario. His occupation is “Laborer,” and he apparently performs “Odd Jobs,” and he reportedly lives in a “Shack on Hillside” (no, I’m not making this up!). Most strikingly, his religion is listed as “None,” which is more than a little unusual for the time. A single man of a fairly advanced age (by the standards of the day, that is) who lives alone in a shack on a hillside, who performs odd jobs as an occupation, and who apparently reports his religious affiliation as “None”? This is a census listing for an eccentric (again, according to the norms and standards of his day). Could this be the father of John Michael English, and the widower of Annie McGlade?

John Michael English, son of John (or Joseph?) English and Annie McGlade, died in Montreal in October 1918, at 29 years of age. I do not know the cause of his death; I cannot help wondering if he was a victim of the 1918 influenza pandemic? His widow, Ernestine Catherine Cerutti English, went on to marry a Joseph Arthur Eugène Grenier, son of Arthur Grenier and Angelina Ménard — an interesting coincidence of names with respect to Ernestine Catherine Cerutti’s second mother-in-law, given that her first mother-in-law, Annie McGlade, was the stepdaughter of an Angelina (or Angélique) Ménard!2 (After the death of his first wife Bridget Dunn, John McGlade married an Angélique Ménard, widow of Felix Henrichon, who was sometimes known as Angelina McGlade).

  1. Or perhaps of some other ethnic origin altogether? but for the moment, I’m thinking English, Irish, or French. ↩
  2. Not that Ernestine Catherine Cerutti ever knew her first mother-in-law, of course: Annie McGlade English died in April 1889, just five months after the birth of her son John Michael English. ↩

Queries

Lawrence McCann, husband of Ann O’Reilly (Ireland to Canada)

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A reader is looking for more information on her 3x-great-grandfather Lawrence McCann, who emigrated to North America probably in the mid- to late-1830s.

What little information I have is as follows:

Lawrence McCann was born in Ireland about 1811. His wife Ann O’Reilly was born in Ireland about 1814. Did the couple marry in Ireland? or in North America? This I don’t know. But it appears their eldest known child, Bernard McCann, was born in the United States about 1838. Five more known children (Mary; Frances Ann; Bridget; Michael John; and James) were born in Canada, at or near Cornwall, Stormont County, Ontario, between about 1843 and 1856. By 1871, the family had moved to Perth, Lanark Co., Ontario — but daughter Frances Ann McCann can be found in Perth as early as 1861, where she is enumerated (Census of 1861) in the household of Michael Hartney (abt. 1830-1890) and his wife Bridget McCann (1832-1922).

What was the relationship between Frances Ann McCann (1846-1883), daughter of Lawrence McCann and Ann O’Reilly and wife of Richard Tovey, and Bridget McCann, daughter of Michael McCann and Elizabeth Murphy and husband of Michael Hartney? Was Frances Ann McCann a niece of Bridget McCann? or perhaps a cousin? This, too, I do not know.

But both women had close (probably familial, though I’ve yet to figure this one out) ties to my McGlade/Dunn 2x-great-grandparents, John McGlade and Bridget Dunn, who emigrated from Co. Armagh to Counties Leeds and Lanark, Ontario in the late 1840s to early 1850s. Frances Ann McCann served as godmother to Ann (“Annie”) McGlade, daughter of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn. And Bridget McCann, wife of Michael Hartney, served as godmother to Michael James McGlade, son of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn; and also as godmother to John Michael English, son of John English and Ann McGlade (daughter of John McGlade and Bridget Dunn, whose godmother was Frances Ann McCann).

So: given the above-mentioned connections of daughter Frances Ann McCann to my Armagh ancestors, as a county of birth for father Lawrence McCann, husband of Ann O’Reilly, I would certainly start with County Armagh.

Any further information would be much appreciated.

Death and Burial, Headstones

Burial of Thomas Dunn

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Courtesy of Bruce B. Gordon, a response (with a great photograph!) to my query,  ‘Was Thomas Dunn buried at St. Bridget’s RC Cemetery at Stanleyville?‘

Thomas Dunn, who died 30 December 1886 at North Burgess (Lanark Co., Ontario) and whose cause of death was given as “Frozen — 12 hours,” was indeed buried at St. Bridget’s Roman Catholic Cemetery at Stanleyville, North Burgess Township, Lanark County, Ontario:

Headstone for Thomas Dunn (1820-1887), St. Bridget's RC Cemetery, Stanleyville

Headstone for Thomas Dunn (1820-1887), St. Bridget’s RC Cemetery, Stanleyville

Thomas Dunn was born about 1820 in Co. Armagh (presumably parish of Killevy),  the son of Owen Dunn and Ann Rocke (or Roche?), and had emigrated to Canada by 1851 (probably in the 1840s). His first wife was an Anne Ward (possibly the daughter of Edward Ward and Anastasia Molloy?), who died between 1857 and 1861. His second wife was an Anne Murphy, daughter of James Murphy and Mary (maiden name unknown). His sister Bridget was my great-great-grandmother, who married John McGlade (my great-great-grandfather) in 1856.

Bruce B. Gordon has posted many headstone photos for St. Bridget’s, Stanleyville at findagrave.com.

Catholic Records, Migration

Co. Armagh, Ireland to Leeds Co., Ontario, Canada: Some RC Marriage Records

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Looking at a run of marriages recorded from 1852 to 1858 in the parish register for St. Edward’s Roman Catholic Church, Westport, Leeds Co., Ontario, the Armagh presence in North Crosby (Co. Leeds, Ontario) is very much in evidence. Of the six marriages recorded for the year 1852, for example, five of the six identify either the bride or the groom (or both the bride and groom) with a native parish in Armagh. The most frequently cited Armagh parish is that of Forkhill.1

Many of the names below can be found in Kevin Murphy and Una Walsh, A Famine Link: The ‘Hannah’ — South Armagh to Ontario (Mullaghbane Community Association, 2006). Some of the names can also be found in the township map of North Crosby (from  Leavitt, Thadeus W. H. History of Leeds and Grenville, Ontario [Brockville : Recorder Press, 1879]), available online via the Canadian County Atlas Digital Project (McGill University). Also see this Westport, Ontario, Canada page at Bytown or Bust.

I have only included marriages where one or both parties are identified with Co. Armagh. Other Irish counties cited in the marriage register for St. Edward’s, Westport (for the same period: 1852-1858) include Cavan, Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Louth, Mayo, and Wexford.

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  1. Note that Forkill/Forkhill is a civil parish. The corresponding Roman Catholic parish is that of Mullaghbawn. ↩

Catholic Records, Queries

“the Catholic cemetery at Burgess” = St. Bridget’s, Stanleyville? (burial of Thomas Dunn)

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So much of the detail of genealogical information requires a knowledge of local history/local geography, which I, for one, do now always have.

Thomas Dunn (c.1824 – 1886) was the son of Owen Dunn and Ann Rock/Rocke, and a brother to my 2x-great-grandmother Bridget Dunn (married John McGlade). He was born in Co. Armagh, Ireland (Canadian records suggest anywhere from 1817 to 1828 as a possible birth year); and can be found in Canada by 1851.

He was twice married.

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