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Maria Jane Darragh's Illness: Researching Acute Mania in 19th Century Ontario

Image by rawpixel.com.     Back in January, I focused on discovering more about my great-great-grandmother Maria Jane Darragh's identity. In the next few weeks, my focus will be on discovering more about her cause of death: acute mania. Jane—as she was known—was not my only ancestress to be diagnosed with a mental illness. Another great-great-grandmother, Catherine Ryan Gilbride, suffered from puerperal mania and was institutionalized in 1881 in Danville, Pennsylvania. 1 Both Jane and Catherine are in my paternal lineage: Jane was my grandmother's grandmother, while Catherine was my grandfather's grandmother. Let's start with an objective and what we already know. Objective The objective of this project is to learn more about Maria Jane Darragh’s cause of death: acute mania. Jane was born about 1852 in Grey County, Canada West. She married Charles Cassidy on 20 June 1883 in St. Catharines, Lincoln County, Ontario. She died on 23 October 1903 in St. Catharines, Ontario,...
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Follow Along with the 2024 14-Day Research Like a Pro Challenge

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Each year, the authors of the Research Like a Pro books, blog, and podcast challenge family history researchers to complete a 14-day project using the Research Like a Pro (RLP) method. The 2024 Challenge began on Monday, 22 January, and I'm taking part once more.

For last year's 14-day challenge, I determined the birth date of my husband's 3x GGM Elizabeth Kite. Read about that project beginning HERE.

This year, I've decided to revisit a "brick wall" in my Ryan line; I don't know the parents or birthplace of my 2x great grandmother Catherine Ryan.

The seven steps of the RLP method have been split out over 14 days for the challenge. I'll report on my steps along the way.

 

Jan. 22—Research Question

To begin a project, the RLP method asks "What question do you have about an ancestor's life that you’d like to discover?" You do this by reviewing your family tree to determine what info is still missing or not documented fully.

In this case, I know a lot about Catherine Ryan already. She's been the topic of ongoing research over the past several years, and I know the details of her life from the time of her marriage in 1875 until her death in 1881. However, I still haven't determined who her parents were, or whether she was born in Ireland or Pennsylvania—information in various sources conflict. 

In a past project, I found a Catherine Ryan living with a family in the right time and place, and of the right age, to be my ancestor. Is this my Catherine's correct family?

Here's my overall objective:

Objective: Who were the parents of Catherine Ryan who married Michael Gilbride in Scranton, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, on 2 February 1875? Catherine was born in either Ireland or Pennsylvania in about 1855, and died on 17 February 1881 at Danville, Montour, Pennsylvania.

For this project, I am honing in on this specific research question about the woman I identified in my earlier research:

Research question: Who was family of Catherine Ryan, the daughter of William Ryan and his wife Honoria? Catherine was born in Scranton, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, on 10 June 1856. This is a question of identity.

 

Jan. 23—Key Identifiers 

It's important to clearly identify a research subject, and even more so in this case, as I'm working on two women named Catherine Ryan who lived in the same place around the same time. Adding key identifiers so that I know exactly who I am researching is important. 

The key identifiers which I folded into my objective are:

  • the name of my ancestor Catherine's spouse
  • their marriage date and place
  • her possible birthplaces
  • death date and location

The key identifiers I included in my research question are:

  • her parents' names
  • her birth date and place

I also noted that I am looking to more fully identify my research subject by stating that this is a "question of identity." I'm looking to document my research subject's family members as a way to differentiate her identity from my Catherine—though those family members could potentially also be my ancestor's family.

Next week, I'll report on Days 3-9, involving analyzing sources, locality research, and research planning. 

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved. 




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