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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,...

Holiday Blog Post Roundup!

Image: rawpixel.com

Hello Dear Readers,

I've enjoyed writing about some favorite holiday memories over the past few years. This week, I thought I'd "round" them all up to share as my Christmas 2025 post. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did writing them. 

If you have your own holiday memories to share, please drop a comment or post a link to your own stories. I'd love to read them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Nancy

My Holiday Blog Post Round Up 

Butter Cookies - No Christmas was complete without Mom's wonderful cookies (recipe included)!

Mom's Chocolate-Covered Cherries Caper - How my mom unwittingly became a Christmas thief!

Spider's Christmas - A fun holiday story written by our daughter, Anne, about how this tiny creature learned about Christmas.

 My Mom, the Queen of Christmas - No one loved to celebrate like Mom!
The Thumb's Christmas - Another cute little story written by our Anne for her little brother James.

The First Christmas Tree I Remember bore striking similarities to a Charlie Brown tree!

A Christmas Memory - This one was written by my husband Jim about one of his own favorite memories involving holiday lights.

Ornamental Christmas - Special memories behind several family Christmas tree ornaments.

Opening the Christmas Memory Box - Two cherished Christmas memories of my children. 

Another Gem from the Christmas Memory Box - One loving gesture meant so much. 



Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread - Enjoy this holiday classic recipe! 


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