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Postcard from St. Catharines Library: Coffin Register

  The third in a series about discoveries made during my trip to western New York and Ontario, where I researched my Becker/Baker, Cassidy, Sheridan, Cailteux, and Schiltz families.    July 14, 2025 Dear Family,  Have you ever heard of a coffin register? I haven't. And just like you, I'm asking, "What's that?" I discovered a coffin register at the St. Catharines Public Library in Ontario on my trip. I was quite surprised to find an ancestor's name in it. This coffin register was a book used by the Thomas McIntyre company in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, to record coffin orders between 1863-1865. McIntyre had a cabinet and furniture making business and eventually branched out to build wooden coffins for his clients.  Early funerals in America were usually conducted by family and friends of the deceased, including preparing the body, providing a homemade shroud or coffin, and even carrying the coffin to the grave site. By the mid-late 18th cen...
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GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Childhood Heirloom


GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Childhood Heirloom - January 19th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey


"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.” 

—Margery Williams Bianco, The Velveteen Rabbit

The beloved children's tale quote captures the sentiments of most anyone who has loved a toy in their life, be it a rabbit, a Skin Horse, or a teddy bear. Few comforts compared to the warm softness of a cherished furry friend when one was feeling scared or lonely. So few friends could keep a secret and conspire on adventures, without breathing a word to anyone.

This patchy, worn, often-mended teddy bear—aptly named Teddy—belonged to my father-in-law Jim Casey, Sr. He recalls it being given to him as a very young child, likely by his Casey grandparents when his family lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma in the early 1940s.

"I do remember it was a constant companion. I slept with it and remember carrying it around by its hand wherever we went. I don't ever remember having an attachment to a blanket like some, but I do remember the teddy bear being a must."

Jim Casey, Sr., sleeping with Teddy at his grandparents' home in California, 1947.

Teddy, today.

I wonder what sort of shenanigans Dad and Teddy got up to together. I picture my father-in-law as a young sprout, walking along the country road with the bear dangling from his hand, taking Teddy on adventures.

"...I do remember being quite upset when one of the arms tore loose, probably from my carrying it by that arm for so long."

As with most toys and as with most children, the bear eventually fell out of favor as he grew: "...when I started to school at six...I stopped carrying it around constantly, probably because I was developing friendships and being occupied with them."

But Teddy was always there for him. 
 
"I remember keeping it in my room, always propping it up on my pillow when I made my bed and always cherished it as a source of comfort and security, which is why I never relinquished it."
 
Teddy now resides with our family, a cherished heirloom of a long-ago childhood, and a promise of adventures and solace for a future generation.
 
Teddy bear sits in Jim Casey, Sr.'s wooden rocker.

 
NEXT UP: Obituary

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