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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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BARA CELINŠĆAK - RECORD FOUND, PARENTS LOST

The translation of "agricola" from this marriage record was one of two discoveries today.1

31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

February 2, 2022:  Maternal Great, Great Grandmother #2 - Bara Celinšćak (1846-1918)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

This writing challenge has proven fruitful for a number of reasons. First, I have not researched some of these ancestors in a while. It is fun to revisit their records, and spend some time finding missing documents and facts to fill in their timelines. Second, I am always looking for interesting discoveries about them, and today I discovered not one, but two things.

One important discovery: a mistake. It happens, but I actually had the incorrect baptismal record for today's subject, Barbara "Bara" Celinšćak. Once more, while looking for Bara and Petar's marriage record, I found something else: a different set of parents for Bara. 

A baptismal record for a Bara Celinšćak had been previously found with parents Mikule Baltorinic and Bare Stanecék. The wedding of Petar and Bara, however, listed Georgu Celinšćak and Hellena Kupina as her parents. Did I have the wrong baptism record?2

Detail of Petar and Barbara's marriage record.
 

It turns out, yes. Based on Bara's age at her marriage of 20 in 1867, I search for a baptism record starting around 1847. There on 11 April 1846 was another Barbara Celinšćak born to Georgu and Hellena Celinšćak.3


 

Bara was born in Celine and Peter in Srednjak. The church where they were baptized and married is in Gorica Svetojanska.

Second: A fun fact. I learned was the meaning of the word, "agricola," which I noticed below the names of Peter, Bara and both sets of their parents in the couple's marriage record. As might be obvious to some, this Latin word means "farmer." So now we know their occupations.4

Petar and Bara married on 20 February 1867, and went on to have nine children, including our great grandmother Vjekoslava Baltornic Kozlina. 

Bara lived to be 72 years old, and passed away on 18 November 1918. She died of "starost," or "old age," and was buried on 20 November 1918.5

The details of Bara's death were clearly noted in this church record. Bara was "r. Celinšćak" or "born Celinšćak," and "udova" or a "widow." The cross next to Petar's name shows he had died. Bara's birthplace is shown as Celine and her residence Srednjak 1. "Rim kat" translates to "Roman Catholic." She was 72 "god" or "years."

BONUS: More on the surname Celinsćak

  • Celinšćak families are Croats and they are mostly from Jastrebarsko. In the past century, the surname was mostly found in Zagreb and Jastrebarsko.
  • Today, about 80 people with family name Celinšćak live in Croatia, in 40 households.6


NOTES

1 Roman Catholic (Rimokatolička crkva) Gorica Svetojanska, Marriages (Vjenčani) 1878-1906, p. 45, marriage of Petar Baltornic and Barbara Celinšćak, 20 February 1867; "Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1994," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-899X-69LP : accessed 2 February 2022); citing FHL film  5493816, image 132; Arhiva Hrvatske u Zagrebu (Croatia State Archives), Zagreb. 

2 Ibid.

3 Roman Catholic (Rimokatolička crkva) Gorica Svetojanska, Births (Rođeni) 1789-1857, p. 234, baptism of Barbara Celinšćak, 11 April 1856; "Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1994," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-899C-T99Z-S : accessed 2 February 2022); citing FHL film 5484836, image 402; Arhiva Hrvatske u Zagrebu (Croatia State Archives), Zagreb. 

4 Robert Jerin. Searching for Your Croatian Roots: A Handbook. (Self Published : Shaker Heights, 2018), p. 37.

5 Roman Catholic (Rimokatolička crkva) Gorica Svetojanska, Deaths (Umrli) 1900-1920, p. 276, #77, Bara Baltorinic 26 November 1918; database with images, "Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1994," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99X-DG7D : accessed 2 February 2022); citing FHL film 5493817, image 554; Arhiva Hrvatske u Zagrebu (Croatia State Archives), Zagreb. 

6 ActoCroatica, (https://actacroatica.com/en/surname/Celin%C5%A1%C4%87ak/ : accessed 2 February 2022), "Surname Celinšćak."


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