Skip to main content

Featured

What is a "Congregate Setting" at a Cemetery?

Congregate setting of headstones at St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Chatsworth. (Photo by Marilyn Hamilton  Irish . Used with permission.) Have you ever heard of a "congregate" burial setting? I hadn't until this week. The term is giving me some needed context and a possible answer to the question of whether I will ever find a burial record for either Joanna Elliot or Dorah Darragh, my recent research subjects. I've been trying to establish whether Dorah was Joanna's daughter, as well as the women's connection to the Dillane family, whose members are also named on that headstone. Joanna Elliot and Dorah Darragh's headstone with the surname Dillane at the base. (Photo by Marilyn Hamilton Irish, used with permission.)   Joanna and Dorah (a third great-grandmother) were buried at St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Chatsworth, Grey Co., Ontario, in August and October 1856, respectively. Though local Catholic church burial registers began in 1856, neither Joanna nor Dorah...
8 comments
Read more
Labels

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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment