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

Charles Francis Cassidy (1860-1926)

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

I thought I knew a lot about my 2nd great grandfather Charles Francis Cassidy. But a second look at one record showed me just how much I still needed to learn.

I knew Charles was born on 1 Dec. 1860 in Ontario, Canada, to Phillip Cassidy and Mary Jane Sheridan. His birth, and his baptism on 7 Dec. 1860, were recorded in a Roman Catholic sacramental register, likely by the priest who performed the sacrament.

Upon closer look, however, a few unknowns about this record popped out:
  • Where was Charles' actual birthplace?
  • At which church was he baptized?
  • Who were his godparents?
Charles' birth and baptism were recorded in this Catholic sacramental register in 1860, bottom line.1


Charles' Birthplace
In the record Charles' birthplace appears to be written "Cr. of Lincoln C.W."  Comparing the cursive handwriting in his entry with others on the page, it became apparent that it was "Co." not "Cr." which was written—county—for County of Lincoln.

Lincoln was a historic county formed in 1792 in the Niagara district of the Province of Canada, a British colony in North America. Lincoln included the township of Grantham, where Charles lived as a young child.2

But what was "C.W."?  For this I inquired of my trusty friends on the Ontario Genealogy Facebook page, who answered that C.W. stood for "Canada West." Canada West (1841-1867), was also called Upper Canada from 1791-1841, and is now the region now known as Ontario.3

So, born in 1860, Charles Cassidy was born in the historical County of Lincoln, Canada West, Province of Canada, British North America.

Canada West is shown in pink in this 1855 map, while Canada East is indicated in green.4

Lincoln County included the townships of Caistor, Clinton, Gainsborough, Grantham, Grimsby, Louth and Niagara.5

Which Church?
Which Catholic church was the next mystery to solve regarding Charles' baptism. A quick review of the record on Ancestry revealed the name of the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, located in nearby St. Catharines.

St. Catharines' first Catholic church was built to meet the spiritual needs of the Irish builders of the first Welland Canal. It was the first Roman Catholic parish church to be built in the Niagara Peninsula, and opened on 12 November 1831.6

Constructed of wood, it sat on the same site as the present cathedral, and was dedicated to St. John's, as the neighborhood Anglicans were using the name St. Catherine for their church in the town of St. Catharines. Sadly, the original wooden church of St. John's was burned down by an arsonist on 23 August 1842.7

The spire of the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria is seen on the right. To the left is the convent building.

As the second Welland Canal was being built between 1842-45 there were once again many Irish laborers in the area. Often there were delays in canal construction and so under the guidance of their pastor the Irish workers used their free time to build a new stone church. It opened on 10 June 1845—just 15 years before Charles was born. This church was dedicated to St. Catherine of  Alexandria, as the Anglicans—having also lost their first church to fire—had built their own new church dedicated to St. George.8

Right side of the baptismal register, noting Charles' godparents and attending priest on the bottom line.9

Who were Charles' Godparents?
Charles' godparents (or sponsors), were Daniel Cassidy and Maryann Saul. Daniel Cassidy was Charles' uncle, the brother of his father Phillip Cassidy. Maryann Saul is a bit of a mystery, but she was living in the Cassidy household in 1861, noted in that year's census (below).10

Godparents/sponsors were chosen for a willingness to ensure that the baptized child would grow up in the Catholic faith. Maryann was likely a close family friend or relative who would be living in the area for some time as Charles grew. And this is indeed the case: Daniel Cassidy was living right next door to Phillip and his family, while Mary A. Saul was living with the family.


Charles' godfather Daniel Cassidy appears on line 30, while his godmother Mary A. Saul is listed in the household of Phillip Cassidy on line 35 in this portion of the 1861 Canada census.11

Examining a record in fine detail often reveals new information about an ancestor. I'm glad I took a moment to reexamine this baptismal register, as I learned so much more about the time and place into which Charles Francis Cassidy was born.

The task also presented new questions: Did Charles' father Phillip or uncle Daniel work on the Welland Canal? Did they help build the stone Cathedral of St. Catherine? And exactly who was Maryann Saul to the Cassidy family?

Ah, so much genealogy. So little time!

Until next time...


NOTES
1 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.
2 Wm. H. Smith, Smith's Canadian Gazeteer (Toronto, Canada: Henry Roswell, 1849), 97; digital images, The Internet Archive (https://bit.ly/38yWNjH : accessed 6 July 2020).
3 Encyclopædia Brittanica (https://bit.ly/38zlVXL : accessed 7 July 2020), "Canada West."
4 Northern America: British, Russian and Danish Possessions in North America. New York: Joseph Colton, 1855; digital image, Wikipedia (https://bit.ly/2O5t8pa : accessed 7 July 2020).
5 County of Lincoln, Province of Ontario (no publication info available); digital image, OntarioGenWeb (https://bit.ly/2Z4Ja92 : accessed 7 July 2020).
6 Rev. Edward Jackman, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria - Diocese of St. Catharines (https://bit.ly/2ZbtReV : accessed 7 July 2020), "History of Our Parish."
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria (St. Catharines, Ontario), "Baptismal Register, 1860-1906," p. 1.
10 1861 Census of Canada, E.D. 4, Grantham, Lincoln, p. 67 (stamped), Charles F. Casedy; digital images, Ancestry (https://bit.ly/2CgRitT : accessed 5 July 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Census Returns For 1861, Roll C-1048-1049.
11 Ibid.

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