Did I Find the Cassidy-Sheridan Marriage?

Did Mary Jane Sheridan and Philip Cassidy marry at St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church, in St. Catharines, Ontario?

I've completed one phase of my project to find the marriage record of Mary Jane Sheridan and Philip Cassidy, a set of paternal 3x great-grandparents. But I did not find their marriage record in St. Catharines, Ontario, as I had hypothesized I would.

I narrowed the window for Mary Jane Sheridan’s immigration from New York to Lincoln County, Canada West, to about April 1858-April 1859. This was based on her youngest brother Henry’s birth date in New York.¹ Mary Jane Sheridan and Philip Cassidy married sometime before December 1860, when their first child, Charles Francis Cassidy, was born in Grantham, Lincoln, Canada West.² The couple’s marriage date should fall, therefore, sometime after April 1858 but before 1 December 1860.

Theorizing that the marriage took place roughly one year prior to Charles’ birth, I looked for a marriage record in the Roman Catholic churches in St. Catharines, Lincoln, Canada West. St. Catharines was the closest major city to Grantham. The Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria was the Catholic church of the region at that time and where they baptized their son Charles. However, a page-by-page search of marriage records there did not reveal a Cassidy-Sheridan marriage.³

I also looked at Ontario civil marriage records but with negative results: no Cassidy-Sheridan marriage was found between 1857-1861.⁴ And there were no extant St. Catharines newspapers at the time where a marriage announcement might be found.

Therefore, the hypothesis that Mary Jane Sheridan married Philip Cassidy in St. Catharines between 1858-early 1860, has not been proven.

Though not on my original research plan, since no marriage record was found in St. Catharines, in order to further refine Mary Jane’s immigration window, I wondered: Did Mary Jane's family also immigrate to Canada?

Mary Jane was the daughter of Henry Sheridan and Catherine (possibly Coats).⁵ Finding the Sheridan family in the 1861 census could give further clues as to when the family immigrated to Canada, or if Mary Jane made that journey on her own.

In 1861, the Canadian Census was taken beginning 7 April 1861. Here, the Sheridan family, including head of household Henry, wife Catherine, and sons William and Henry, were living in Grantham, Canada West, the same locale as Mary Jane and her then husband Philip Cassidy.⁶ The Sheridan family's entry is four pages after Mary Jane and Philip’s entry. Mary Jane's youngest brother, Henry, was noted here as being born in New York, and age 2 in 1861. So, the family’s estimated immigration from New York to Canada would have been about 1859. In 1871, the census was taken beginning on 2 April 1871. Henry Sheridan, his wife Catherine, and sons William and Henry, were again living in Grantham, in then Lincoln, Ontario.⁷

It appears that the Sheridan family likely immigrated between 8 April 1858 and 2 April 1859 to Canada. If Mary Jane was born in 1841-42, then she would have been about 19-20 years old upon immigration.

I also considered land records, which could reveal Mary Jane Sheridan Cassidy releasing dower in any land transactions after the couple’s marriage, further narrowing the marriage window. Mary Jane’s future husband, Philip Cassidy, sold land to his brother Daniel Cassidy on 14 January 1860 in Grantham, Lincoln, Ontario.⁸ If he and Mary Jane had been married at that time, she would have had to release her dower interest in Philip’s land. However, she is not mentioned in the transaction, indicating that the couple were not yet married.⁹ This further narrows the marriage window to between 13 January 1860 to 1 December 1860.

Conclusion
Since no marriage record has been uncovered in St. Catharines, Ontario, future search will need to turn to another locality: Buffalo, Erie, New York—Mary Jane’s former home. Though technically in “another country,” Buffalo is a mere 35 miles from St. Catharines and was a bustling neighbor city and a magnet for Irish immigrants in the 19th century like the Sheridans. Perhaps the couple travelled to Mary Jane’s previous home to marry, possibly to include extended relations or to marry in the comfort of a familiar parish.

I plan to focus on finding Mary Jane and Philip's marriage record in Buffalo during the Research Like a Pro 14-day Challenge, which started yesterday, and post updates here next week.

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.

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IMAGE: St. Catharines, The Garden City, Souvenir, 1904, np, "The Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, 3 Lyman Street, St. Catharines, Ontario. c1904," unknown photographer, 1904; imaged, St. Catharines Public Library Online Collections (https://bmd.stcatharines.library.on.ca/en/3696474/data : accessed 20 Jan. 2025).

NOTES

¹ 1861 Canada West Census, Lincoln Co., ED No. 4, Grantham, line 9, Henry Sheridan household; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391944_00303 : accessed 13 Jan. 2025); citing Public Archives, Toronto.

² Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada), "Baptismal Register, 1860-1906," p. 1, Charles F. Cassidy, b. 1 Dec. 1860, bap. 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.

³ Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, Marriages 1858-1910, negative page by page search for Phillip Cassidy, 1858-1878; imaged, "Ontario Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWX-6GH : accessed 11 Jan. 2025); citing St. Catherine's Cathedral, St. Catharines. Also, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, Baptisms & Marriages 1852-1860, negative page by page search for Phillip Cassidy, 1852-1860; imaged, "Ontario Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YWX-64Q : accessed 11 Jan. 2025); citing St. Catherine's Cathedral, St. Catharines. Also, "Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61505/ : accessed 12 Jan. 2025), negative page by page search for Philip Cassidy, Mary Jane Sheridan. Also,

⁴ "Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1942," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7921/ : accessed 12 January 2025), negative page by page search between1857-1861, Lincoln Co., for Philip Cassiday or Mary Jane Sheridan.

⁵ 1855 New York Census, Erie County, population schedule, Town of Evans, p. 48, dwelling 190, Mary L. Sheridan in Henry Sheridan household; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-8B53-9XN7 : accessed 7 Jan. 2025).

⁶ 1861 Canada West Census, Lincoln Co., ED No. 4, Grantham, line 9, Henry Sheridan household; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391944_00303 : accessed 13 Jan. 2025); citing Public Archives, Toronto.

⁷ 1871 Canada Census, Lincoln Co., District 21, Grantham, p. 54, line 17, Henry Sheradin household; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D1QG-LD : accessed 15 Jan. 2025); citing Public Archives, Ottawa.

⁸ Grantham Twp., Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada West, Deeds, book C, p. 449, No. 10561, Philip Cassidy to Daniel Cassidy, 14 January 1860; imaged, "Land records of Lincoln County, 1847-1909," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H6-G3JR-T : accessed 20 January 2025); citing Registrar of Deeds, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

⁹ FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Canada_Land_and_Property : accessed 19 Jan. 2025), "Canadian Land and Property," last updated 9 December 2024, at 09:56. "Upon marriage a man’s land immediately became subject to dower, or upon a husband becoming the registered owner of land in which his wife had a dower interest."