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The Thumb's Christmas

  Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller. One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book . In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone. Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Ji...
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At Worship

 

 

I am participating in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, a writing challenge encouraging genealogy researchers to write about their ancestors. The challenge is hosted by genealogist, blogger and podcaster Amy Johnson Crow.

 Here's my post for Amy's Week Seventeen prompt: At Worship

By Nancy Gilbride Casey

When thinking about the prompt "At Worship," many recently-discovered ancestors spring to mind. So far, I have found two priests, two nuns, and a brother, all on our paternal lines, extended family members dedicated to God and God's work in decades past. They made their mark in service to their local church communities, to education, and even to invention. Here, I feature three that I know the most about at present.

Rev. Vincent Baker, was my Dad's uncle, brother to his grandfather Edward Baker.1 Father Vincent is a name I recall hearing from Dad, as he would tell stories about the priests and nuns in our family. He always mentioned how he loved them coming to visit Cleveland from Canada, where the Baker family was from and where many stayed. Dad recalled that the aunts and uncles were full of fun and laughter - a fact that seemed to come to a surprise to him.

Rev. Vincent Leo Baker, great uncle on my paternal side.2

Father Vincent Leo Baker was born in 1898 in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines, Ontario, to Joseph Becker (the name later evolved into Baker), and Sarah Dyer. He was ordained in 1933 in Toronto. He died in 1979 in Port Coburn, Toronto, Ontario and is buried at Victoria Lawn Cemetery in St. Catharines, as are many of his family members.3 While I don't have many details of his life at present, I do know he served at Our Lady of Victory Church in Toronto in the late 1960s. More info on his life as I gather it.

Funeral card4

 

The other familiar name my Dad mentioned was his aunt Mary Jane Cassidy, his grandmother Catherine's sister. She was born in 18 Aug. 1888 in St. Catharines, Ontario to Phillip Cassidy and Mary Jane Darah. Mary entered the Sister of St. Joseph in Toronto in 1911, eventually taking the name Sister M. Magdalena. She dedicated her life to teaching, but when ill health forced her to retire from teaching, she was assigned to hospital work by the order.5

Sister M. Magdalena, formerly Mary Jane Cassidy, my 2x great aunt, along with my 2x great grandfather Charles Francis Cassidy.6

 

Her biography below, written by the biographers of the Sisters of St. Joseph Order in Toronto details much more of her life. It's fascinating to note that her funeral Mass was celebrated by her brother-in-law Father V.L. Baker - Father Vincent mentioned above.

Biography of Sister M. Magdalena, provided by the Sister of St. Joseph of Toronto Archives.7

 

Lastly, while researching my 2x great grandfather Charles Francis Cassidy, I came across a name in his obituary that intrigued me: "Rev. Brother Mondolf of Aurora"  noted as a brother to Charles.8 I suspected he was a Christian Brother by his title, and so wrote to the archives of that order. Luckily, they had many items pertaining to the former John Patrick Cassidy to share.

John was born on 17 Oct 1870 to Phillip Cassidy and Mary Sheridan, in St. Catharines, Ontario. He entered the Christian Brothers juniorate in May of 1886 at age 15. He eventually earned his degree in 1888 in New York, and then returned to Toronto.9

Christian Brothers have as their mission to 'labour for the salvation of souls through Christian education; in helping to instill Catholic doctrine in the hearts and minds of youth.' Brother Mondolf was an educator, eventually becoming the director of novitiates for the Christian Brothers order in Toronto, after teaching at many institutions, including St. John's Industrial School, where he was later named director.10

John Patrick Cassidy, Brother Mondolf of Mary, my 3rd great uncle. Photo courtesy of the Frères des Écoles chrétiennes du Canada francophone.

Brother Mondolf was well-loved by his students and highly regarded as an engineer. In fact, he patented one of his inventions—called "The Cassidy Pipe Lifter"—borne of necessity for fixing broken well pipes at the Mother House.11

Front of brochure describing the Cassidy Pipe Lifter, invented by John Patrick Cassidy, my third great uncle. Courtesy of the Archives of Frères des Écoles chrétiennes du Canada francophone.12

 

Quoted from a touching memorial written for him upon his death, a superior recalled Brother Mondolf as "An exemplary religious, a potent force for good, a strong character, a bulwark of regularity, devoted, kindly, unceasing in his solicitude for the sick, gifted as a student, teacher, manual worker, he drew God's blessing on the district by his outstanding piety, devotion to duty, and penitential spirit. He was a model to all."13

Until next time...


NOTES 

[added 1 June 2023]

1 1901 Census of Canada, Lincoln & Niagara, Ontario, p. 21, Vincent Baker, age 2 and Edward Baker, age 14; "Canada Census, 1901," FamilySearch; citing Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

2 Vincent Baker, about 1940, identified by author's father, unknown photographer. Personal collection of author, Tioga, Texas.

3 Port Dalhousie, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, Births, 1898-1898, p. 97, Vincent Baker, 18 May 1898; database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-D89L-6S); citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto. Also: Ancestry, Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/160041027/vincent-leo-baker), memorial 160041027, Rev. Vincent Leo Baker, 16 June 1979, Victoria Lawn Cemetery, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Headstone photo by "C," 26 March 2016.

4 Reverend Vincent L. Baker mortuary card, provenence unknown.

5 Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, Dictionary of Biography of Sisters of. St. Joseph of Toronto, "Mary Jane (Magdalena) Cassidy," undated digital image supplied to author 20 February 2018; citing Archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto (ASSJT).

6 Sister Mary Jane (Magdalena) Cassidy and Charles Cassidy, her father, undated photograph, unknown photographer, private collection of T. Gilbride.

7 Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, "Mary Jane (Magdalena) Cassidy."

8 "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.

9 "Brother Mondolf of Mary," undated biography by unknown author; digital images provided by Archives of Frères des Écoles chrétiennes du Canada francophone [Brothers of the Christian Schools of French-speaking Canada] to author, 13 February 2019.

10 Ibid.

11 "The Cassidy Pipe Lifter," pamphlet, unknown author, ca. 1910; digital images provided by Archives of Frères des Écoles chrétiennes du Canada francophone [Brothers of the Christian Schools of French-speaking Canada] to author, 13 February 2019.

12 Ibid. 

13 "Brother Mondolf of Mary," undated biography.


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