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Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread, 1974

Date & Nut Bread is Santa-approved! Our genealogy writing group is getting together this week and some of us are going to bring a holiday goodie to share. One of my absolute favorite holiday treats is my Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread. Grandma Gilbride was born Mary Josephine Baker (1911-1981) in Cleveland. She married my grandfather, Joseph John Gilbride (1910-1990) in 1934 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. I don't have any real memory of Grandma Gilbride making this bread though we probably enjoyed some on a holiday visit to my grandparents' house. Clearly Mom thought it was a winner and asked for the recipe and she started making this bread when I was in my early teens. The recipe card I inherited is dated 12/21/1974.  When baked the bread usually has a peak running down the length, which cracks open a bit. It's moist, dense, and sweet, with a little crunch of walnuts and nuggets of diced dates. The bread is perfect with a little cream cheese spread...
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Chas. Cassidy is Stricken

This blog post is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" writing challenge by genealogist, blogger and podcast host Amy Johnson Crow. Week 4 prompt: "At the Library"


Libraries hold many riveting books, popular DVDs, and and are infinite sources of knowledge, where one can step out into a wider world or delve deep into the past. Or both. Family history could be tucked away in a library waiting to be discovered.

Even though I live in Texas, I was able to search in faraway St. Catharines, Ontario to find an obituary for one of my great, great grandfathers: Charles Francis Cassidy, the grandfather of Mary Josephine Baker, my paternal grandmother. The St. Catharines Public Library in Ontario offers a archive search on its website, where I located the issue, and the friendly staff there provided a copy of the item for a small fee.

CHAS. CASSIDY IS STRICKEN the headline shouts from the page of the St. Catharines Standard, on 5 Apr 1926. It painted a very vivid picture of his life and his death.1

Charles Francis Cassidy was "the well known blacksmith" who owned his own shop. The obituary tells about how hard-working he was: He had helped "shoe 11 horses" on the day he died. It talks about his "wide circle of friends," and his affiliation with St. Catharines Roman Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society, among others. All small details of his life, which helped me understand him more.

The obituary goes on to give a sensational accounting of his death on the street - how he was "suddenly stricken," in front of an armory, and "died instantly, falling to the ground with his hands still at his sides." It names the two doctors who came to his aid, "endeavoring to stimulate life," but who were unsuccessful. 

Importantly for any family historian, it also details his surviving family, including "Mrs. Edward Baker of Cleveland," one of my paternal great grandmothers. I also learned for the first time the names of of his brothers: Matthew, Phillip and a "Rev. Bro. Mondolf," who I assume was a Christian Brother--all subjects for future research.

The attention shown to Charles Cassidy through this detailed article, shows he held a position of some prominence in his community, and he merited more than a simple obituary or death notice. I hope to flesh out more of his life more in future blog posts.

NOTES

1 "Charles Cassidy is Stricken," St. Catharines Standard, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 5 Apr 1926, p. 1; image supplied by St. Catharines Public Library, Ontario, 2017.
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