Connecting & News

I've been telling the story of my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Jane Sheridan Cassidy, over the past few weeks and had hoped to complete her story this week. However, I was out of town over the weekend happily visiting my daughter, and though I had planned to continue writing while there, that didn't happen. So, I don't have the end of Mary Jane's story this week. I want to give the final chapter the time it deserves, so will work on it this week and have it for you next week.

Moral of the Story: Go visit family and connect! 

 

 Instead, I have some other cool genealogy news and accompanying "morals of the story."

First, I was contacted by my 2C1R a few weeks ago. This young man is my son's age and came across my information on Find a Grave for our shared ancestor Catherine Ryan Gilbride (1855-1881). He then found my email and reached out to find out more. Turns out he is very interested in family history and the story of our shared Gilbride family. My daughter and I met up with him and his girlfriend in Colorado where I was visiting last weekend. It was GREAT! I definitely see some family resemblances between him and my grandfather. We are excited to collaborate in the future. 

Moral of the Story: Keep putting out that cousin bait. It does pay off!

Second, I realized that one of the benefits to my Ontario Ancestors-Niagara Peninsula Branch membership is that I have access to the digitized collection "Lincoln County Surrogate Court Wills 1794-1870." I decided to search there and they had digitized several probate documents, including my 2x great-grandfather Philip Cassidy's application and affidavits for the administration of his brother Daniel's estate in 1867. I had no idea that Ontario Ancestors had images of the original documents! I have an even greater appreciation for the work that they do.

Moral of the Story: Be sure to thoroughly check out the websites of all of the genealogy societies you belong to, so you don't miss any goodies!

Philip's application to administer Daniel Cassidy's estate. Note his signature at the bottom.¹

 

Third, I utilized the services of my local Family History Affiliate Library—Denton Public Library—to do a lookup for me in the FamilySearch collection, Lincoln County, Ontario, Probate records, 1794-1902; index, 1794-1968 for my Sheridan, Cassidy, and Saul ancestors. They struck gold: One document, also part of Daniel Cassidy's estate file, specifically includes the language that I had long sought. The court granted letters of administration of "the personal estate and effects of Daniel Cassidy late of the Township of Grantham..." to "Philip Cassidy of the same Township...the brother of the said intestate."² While I had indirect evidence that Daniel and Philip Cassidy were brothers, this is the direct evidence that outshines all else.

Moral of the Story: Don't give up on the FamilySearch collections that are not viewable from home. Use your local FamilyHistory Center or affiliate library to access these gems. Pro Tip: Many will help over email. I didn't have to make the drive 30 minutes down the road to do a lookup. The library staff did it for me and sent me the image.

Don't know where your local center or library is? 

Find a FamilySearch location:   https://locations.familysearch.org/en/search

FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries: https://www.familysearch.org/en/affiliates/about 

 

Lastly, I took a chance and entered Ontario Ancestors' Keffer Essay Competition last December, with a piece on three generations of my Baker and Cassidy families who served the Catholic Church in Ontario for a combined 140+ years. Today, I learned my essay was awarded fourth place and will be published in a future issue of their quarterly, Families.

Moral of the Story: Challenge yourself to write up your family's stories and get them out there. 

Until next time... 

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.

P.S. Did you know that you can add Leaves on the Tree to your reading list on Feedly, Bloglovin', and Blogtrottr? Get new posts directly added to your feed by adding this link: https://myleavesonthetree.blogspot.com/ .

 

NOTES

¹ Lincoln County, Canada West, Surrogate Court, Estate of Daniel Cassidy, No. 261, Application for Letters of Administration by Philip Cassidy, 26 July 1867; digital images, "Lincoln County Surrogate Court Wills 1794-1870," Ontario Ancestors/Niagara Peninsula Branch (https://niagara.ogs.on.ca/niagara-members-only/goverment-collections/ : accessed 27 March 2025). 

² Lincoln County, Canada West, Surrogate Court, Probate Records, Vol. 7, p. 33, Estate of Daniel Cassidy, Letters of Administration granted to Philip Cassidy, 9 August1867; digital images, "Probate Records, 1794-1902," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/183525 : accessed 24 March 2025); citing Denton Public Library, a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, Texas.