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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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CHARLES FRANCIS CASSIDY

Charles Francis Cassidy.1


31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 27, 2022:   Paternal Great, Great Grandfather #4 - Charles Francis Cassidy (1860-1926)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

This genial-looking man is Charles Francis Cassidy, 2x great grandfather #4, and the father of Catherine Cassidy Baker, Grandma Gilbride' mother.

Charles was another of our Canadian-born ancestors, making his entry into the world on 1 December 1860 in what was then known as Grantham, Lincoln, Canada West (Canada West later became Ontario in 1867). His parents, Phillip Cassidy and Mary Jane Sheridan, Irish-born immigrants, had him baptized on 7 December 1860 at the Cathedral of St. Catherine. He had at least five brothers and one sister.2

Charles' birthplace of Grantham in Lincoln County (in pink) just to the west of Niagara.3

Maria Jane Darah was Charles first wife, whom he married on 20 June 1883 in St. Catharines. Together they had four children: Catherine (our great grandmother), Mary Jane, Philip and James. Sadly, Maria died in 1903.4

Charles later remarried to Mary Louisa Hellyer Boyne, a widow. Together they had two more sons, William Joseph and Charles Francis, and it appears that Charles also became step-father to Mary Louisa's son Thomas Edward Boyne.5

Charles was a blacksmith by trade and had his own shop in St. Catharines, belonged to the Catholic Church, and was active in its Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society. It appears he was a very well-respected and well-like man, as evidenced by his obituary, when he died suddenly on the street in 1926.6

Charles and several members of his extended family are buried at Victoria Lawn Cemetery in Ontario.7

Charles Cassidy and his second wife Mary Louisa Cassidy are buried in this family plot, along with several other members of their extended family.

BONUS: Other Posts About Charles F. Cassidy

I've written two other times regarding aspects of Charles Cassidy's life. Read them here.

What I Didn't Know: The Baptismal Record of Charles F. Cassidy

Chas. Cassidy is Stricken 


BONUS: Lineage Chart from Charles Cassidy to me.


NOTES 

1 Detail of Charles Cassidy taken from photo of Charles Cassidy and members of the Cassidy, Baker and Dyer families, after 1913, unknown photographer/location; private collection of R. Firestone [address for private use], 2022. Individuals are identified on the back of the photo, by one of the daughters of Edward and Catherine Baker: "Dad's Mom," "Mom's Dad," etc.

2 Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada), "Baptismal Register, 1860-1906," p. 1, baptism of Charles F. Cassidy, 7 Dec. 1860; digital images, Ancestry, "Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923," (https://bit.ly/2VRK5Yu : accessed 5 July 2020), image 107/554; citing Archdiocese of St. Catharines, Ontario.

3 Colton, G. W., Colton's Atlas of the World Illustrating Physical and Political Geography, c. 1857 edition, "Canada and Upper Canada;" image, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1857_Colton_Map_of_Ontario,_Canada_-_Geographicus_-_CanadaWest-colton-1857.jpg : accessed 27 January 2022); citing Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, Brooklyn, NY. In the public domain.

4 Ontario, Office of Registrar General, County of Lincoln, Division of St. Catharines, Marriage Registrations 1869-1911,  Unit "D," 1884, p. 537 (stamped), #25 (inked)/#6676 (stamped), marriage of Charles Cassady and Maria Jane Darah, 20 June 1883; database & images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y39T-XNJ : accessed 27 January 2022); citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Canada. Also: "To Charles Cassidy...", The St. Catharines Standard, 23 October 1903, np, regarding death of wife Maria Jane Cassidy. Image supplied by Niagara Peninsula Branch, Ontario Ancestors, Concord, Ontario.

5 Ontario, Office of Registrar General, County of Lincoln, Division of St. Catharines, Marriage Registrations 1869-1911,  unit "J," 1909, p. 478 (stamped), #13691 (stamped), marriage of Charles Cassady and Mary Louisa Boyne, 22 February 1909; database & images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y399-3G1J : accessed 27 January 2022); citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Canada.

6 "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.

7 Ancestry, Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194328021/charles-francis-cassidy : accessed 27 January 2022), memorial 194328021, Charles Francis Cassidy (1860-1926), Victoria Lawn Cemetery, Niagara Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada; headstone photo uploaded by NancyC 2018.

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