Skip to main content

Featured

Jane's Illness: What Did Community & Church Offer?

Image: Unsplash   This is the sixth post in this series about Jane Darragh Cassidy's illness. Catch up with the first five posts here:   Maria Jane Darragh's Illness: Researching Acute Mania in 19th Century Ontario Next Steps in Researching Jane Darragh's Diagnosis   Jane's Illness: What Did Acute Mania Look Like in the 19th Century?   Jane's Illness: Home Life, Beginnings of Mania, and Mental Illness as a Cause of Death  Jane's Illness: Home Care, Her Doctor, and Her Caretakers   In the past few weeks, I've been looking at my great-great-grandmother Jane Darragh Cassidy's cause of death—acute mania. We've learned that Jane was not institutionalized for her illness but rather cared for at home as was usually a first option. Her physician, Dr. John Sheahan, was newly graduated from the University of Toronto and opened an office in St. Catharines in 1896, just a few years before Jane fell ill. He possibly knew the most advanced treatments for Jane and ...

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Seeing Double

James, dwarfed by a Union Pacific engine.


 
James' grandpa, James Casey, Sr. enjoys his time on a train.

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Seeing Double -  January 25th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey


What is it about little boys and trains? Our son James was enamored of trains from the day he first noticed them as a tiny little guy. 

Whenever we saw one, he would want me to slow down the car so we could watch it, or roll the car windows down so that he could hear the train whistle. He collected Thomas the Tank Engine cars and track. I read him Thomas the Tank Engine books, and we watched the TV show too. With every library trip we took, we looked for any book with a train theme. I'm sure there was a train-themed birthday party at some point too.

James also loved a trip to the train museum with his Papa (James D. Casey, Sr.), or visiting other train exhibits in local small towns. Imagine his thrill when we took a ride on the actual Thomas the Train one year in Grapevine, Texas!

The love of trains must run in the family line: proven by this wonderful black and white photograph of James' Papa, standing on a train stairs when he was a little man. It wonderful to see shared interests passed through generations.


NEXT UP: Wartime Letter III

Comments