OTD: August 26, 1885 Denis Moynahan Died in Detroit

My daily genealogy practice since 2017 has been to create monthly calendars using my Family Tree Maker 2017 program that lists all of the births, marriages and deaths for the 3,072 ancestors in my family tree.

Each day, I look at the ancestors listed on that particular day and I:

1. honour them by saying their name and then looking them up on my Ancestry Family Tree
2. review all of the information that I have for that ancestor on ancestry.ca
3. search for any new information on that ancestor that may have become available since the last time I checked

Denis Moynahan

 My 3rd great-grandfather Denis Moynahan died on August 26th, 1885 in Detroit Michigan.

On This Day: November 21: Timothy Moynahan Died

This is the story of Timothy Moynahan (1861-1941) and notes from my journey to locate his final resting place (pictured below) at the Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto.

I am not sure exactly what compelled me over the years to research all of the incredibly sad details of Timothy's life and I choose to believe that it was him, Timothy, who wanted this story to be told.

Photo of the final resting place of Timothy Moynahan (1861-1941)
Quote above by Della M. Cummings Wright

The fact that I finally found the final resting place of young Timothy Moynahan (1861-1941) is entirely due to all of the generous help that I received from Archives Ontario staff , Professor Geoffrey Reaume (author of  "Remembrance of Patients Past: Life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane") & Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto.

TimothyMoynahan's "Family Tree" and a 1910 photo of the
"Asylum For The Insane, Queen West, Toronto"; Special Collections of the Toronto Public Library

I first became curious about Timothy when I was searching old newspapers for "Moynahan" and the following article came up in the Essex Record:

Source: Essex Record; 14 Feb 1878; page 1 of 4

I had so many questions: Was Timothy related to my Essex County, Ontario Moynahans? Whose child was he? What did Timothy do to necessitate Sheriff McEwan sending him to the London Asylum? What happened to him at the asylum?

Timothy's Sad Story Unfolds

Over many years, as Timothy's story unfolded and at each step of the way, I was both happy to discover new information about him and ultimately saddened to read the precise details.

Young Timothy entered the London Asylum at seventeen years of age, remaining there for twenty-eight years until he was transferred to the Toronto asylum where he died in 1941. A "lifelong inmate" (sixty-three years in an asylum) as Geoffrey Reaume put it, "whose file revealed he lived a degraded existence behind the bleak walls of 999 Queen Street West...".

  "Remembrance of Patients Past: Life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane"

A Young Boy In Maidstone Ontario (1861-1873)

In June 2016, I visited the Archives of Ontario to access the London Asylum Patient Records for Timothy Moynahan Reg. No 1300. Timothy was admitted into the London Asylum on the 11th of February 1878. From the Patient Files, a note written for the 17th of October, 1878 stated that Timothy was a, 

"Labourer, Roman Catholic, Single, Canadian: About five years ago he had an attack of xxxx-spinal meningitis amid which time he has exhibited symptoms of loss of reason - dangerous and violent -not hereditary - xxxx and temperate habits - inclined to be filthy in his habits - admitted by warrant - February xxxx 1878."

(Source: Archives of Ontario:  London Psychiatric Hospital patient registers 1870-1957)

This meant that Timothy contracted meningitis at twelve years of age in 1873 and he survived it!

Timothy's younger brother James J. Moynahan (1865-1899) at thirty-three years of age would be much less fortunate when he contracted meningitis in 1899 and died "after an illness of only seventy-two hours duration"

Obituary James J. Moynahan (1865-1899) (Timothy's brother)
Source: Essex County Branch OGS; Obituary Index: M)

In 1878, there were 110 deaths caused by meningitis in Ontario (Source: Province Of Ontario - Vital Statistics, 1878 by Ontario. Office of the Registrar General https://archive.org/details/provinceofonta1878onta)

Across the river in Michigan, a paper was submitted to Congress regarding the Cerebro-spinal meningitis "epidemic": https://archive.org/details/cerebrospinalmen00bake

"This disease has prevailed in different parts of the civilized world since 1805....the characters described were: Sudden attack in the night, vomiting of green matter, atrocious cephalagia, spinal rigidity, difficulty of deglutition, convulsions, nocturnal exacerbations, petechiae, death occurring after from twelve hours to five days of illness "

Source: https://archive.org/details/cerebrospinalmen00bake

But what of Timothy's boyhood? What was his life like before the cerebro-spinal meningitis changed his life's course?

Timothy's Early Years 1861-1878

Timothy Jr. was born in Maidstone, Ontario on the 29th of April, 1861 and was baptized at St. Mary's Roman Catholic church on May 5, 1861. Jeremiah and Ellen Moynahan were his godparents/sponsors.

Baptismal Record for Timothy Moynahan (1861)
Source: Ontario, Canada, Catholic Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967

On the 1861 census, Timothy Jr.'s mother Archange (Parent) Moynahan would have been pregnant with him when the enumerator knocked on the door of their one story log home that was built almost twenty years earlier by Timothy's grandfather Matthew Moynahan (1770-1860) in 1842. (296 North Talbot Rd., Maidstone, Ontario)

Their 296 North Talbot Rd. farm was on 120 acres of which there was 20 acres of crops and two acres of orchards. Thirteen acres were being used as pasture. (Line 19: 1861 Census; All Places (Agricultural), Essex, Canada West;  C-1021; Page 7)

Timothy Jr. would be the first-born child of the union between Timothy Sr. and Archange (Parent) Moynahan's who's marriage was on July 7th, 1859 (following the death of Timothy's first wife Margaret Cronin (1811-1859)).

Also on the 1861 census:

• Line 19: Timothy Moynahan: farmer (41 years old born in Ireland)
• Line 20: Archange Moynahan 36 (years old born in Upper Canada)
• Line 21: Matthew Moynahan (19 years old) Timothy Jr.'s half-brother
• Line 22: Dennis Moynahan (14 years old attending school) Timothy Jr.'s half-brother
• Line 23: Ann Moynahan (87 year old widow born in Ireland) Timothy Jr.'s grandmother

On the 1871 census, ten-year-old Timothy was attending school with his six-year-old brother James. He was living on the farm with his parents (Timothy and Archange (Parent) Moynahan and his half-brother twenty-two-year-old Dennis who was a farmer.

Timothy's Toronto Asylum Patient File with the Schedule No. 2

One of the highlights of receiving Timothy Moynahan's complete Toronto Asylum file from the Archives of Ontario was locating the document dated February 8, 1878 "Schedule No. 2" which was the affidavit taken by Sheriff McEwan in 1878.

In this affidavit, a number of key questions on Timothy's life between 1873 (when Timothy had meningitis at twelve years of age) to 1878 were answered.

Timothy Jr. (referred to as the "prisoner") had been insane since the spring of 1877 but had suddenly attacked his family the Sunday before (1878). Timothy Jr. had suffered a violent fever five years previously (1873) and afterward was deaf for several years.  This deafness resulted in Timothy withdrawing from school. His father reported that he was dangerous and violent at present.

Sheriff McEwan forwarded this affidavit to the Gaoler Mr. Leech who took Timothy into custody until he could be transported to the London Asylum


The Justice of the Peace D.Downing added some notes to the "Schedule No. 2" writing that Timothy Sr. had reported that Dr. Casgrain attended to Timothy Jr. last spring (1877) and said then that he would have Timothy Jr. taken to the London Asylum but Timothy Sr. hoped that his son would get better and "neglected the opportunity then offered".
(For more about Dr Casgrain, see Page 14 of "Medical Men of Essex County by James Wilbert Brien)

The London Asylum 1878-1906

Archives of Ontario:  London Psychiatric Hospital patient registers 1870-1957

In the London Asylum, Timothy was placed "into canvas" for one year (from March 1878 to March 1879). Canvas or duck cloth was often used for making institutional straitjackets and its hard to believe that Timothy spent his first year at the asylum wearing one of these!

After he was taken out of the "canvas" and put back into regular clothes, Timothy's records report that he quarreled with other patients, was suicidal, "quiet & stupid" and had started working "with xxxx pickers & with wagon party".

Timothy's patient file that I reviewed at the Archives of Ontario stopped suddenly on Feb 23, 1889 and the next entry in it was in 1906 that Timothy had been discharged from the London Asylum and was being transferred to the Toronto Asylum.

Archives of Ontario:  London Psychiatric Hospital patient registers 1870-1957

As I have written earlier, at this point in his life, forty-five year old Timothy Moynahan was likely unaware that in 1906 he was the last living of his family

• His father: Timothy Moynahan died 19 Oct 1902
• His mother: Archange (Parent) Moynahan died 28 Jun 1903
• His brother James Moynahan died 24 Feb 1899 (he was married and had a child)
• His brother Enos Moynahan died 8 Aug 1903 (he was married and had a child)
• His half-sister Mary Moynahan died 8 Apr 1905 (more on this below in "Locating Timothy's Kin - 1940")

A photo of Timothy Jr.'s father Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902) taken in 1900.

I plan to return to the Archives of Ontario in the hopes of locating any records that would explain what transpired at the London Asylum between February 1889 and August 1906. I wonder what happened in those seventeen years?

The Toronto Asylum 1906-1941

1910 postcard of the"Asylum For The Insane, Queen West, Toronto"; Special Collections of the Toronto Public Library

I received Timothy's extensive patient records from the Archives of Ontario through a privacy request and it was sad to read the details of Timothy's daily life at 999 Queen St West, Toronto from 1906-1941. Suffice to say that Geoffrey Reaume put it best when he wrote that the, "file revealed he lived a degraded existence behind the bleak walls of 999 Queen Street West...".

Timothy's file was provided to me for my personal use and research purposes only and I am prohibited from publishing the material here without the permission of the Archives of Ontario.

My intention here is to tell Timothy's story in a way that I think he would approve so I am summarizing some of the key findings from his patient file below:

• A Photograph of Timothy Jr.: There was a photograph taken of Timothy on October 1935. In his patient file, to describe his appearance, it was written that he was "an old red-faced Irishman" and, after seeing his photograph, I saw a resemblance to his father Timothy Sr. (pictured above)
• Lack of information in Timothy's file from the London Asylum: This was surprising to me as I read Timothy's Toronto Asylum file. The Toronto Asylum write to Dr McCallum of the London asylum in 1906 stating that they "received no papers" for Timothy, and again that "there was no history or certificate papers received for this patient" Timothy's Case Book at the Toronto Asylum does not start until June 6, 1909 and in 1934 the official diagnosis on his file was "schizophrenia".
• Timothy's final days: Timothy was visited by a priest on November 6 when he was sent to 2B and where he was attended to hourly. He made a recovery though because on November 12 he was returned to the Verandah of 6a where he spent his final nine days .
• Timothy's Date of death: On November 21, 1941, Timothy (80 years-of-age) was found dead on morning rounds at 6 am. The Chief Coroner was notified after Dr. K.J. Walters attended him and  priest arrived at 7:05 am.
• Timothy's Burial location: Timothy was buried on November 24, 1941 at 9:30 am by Father O'Connell of St. Michaels College. The undertakers were Myers-Elliott. Internment was at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Toronto
• Locating Timothy's Next-of-kin: There was a serious effort undertaken in 1940 by the staff at the Toronto Asylum to locate next of kin for Timothy when his health was deteriorating. Due to lack of information in his file, the only clue that they had to go on was that he was from Maidstone. From 1939 to 1941, Timothy's weight went from 156 to 114 pounds. He had many teeth extracted and was fed on a diet of soup and eggnog mostly.

Locating Timothy's Kin 1940

Due to lack of information in Timothy's file, the Toronto Asylum contacted the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) with the only clue that they had to go on which was that Timothy was originally from Maidstone, Ontario.

As I stated above, when Timothy Jr. was transferred to Toronto in 1906, he was the last of his kin.

The OPP persisted and attempted to locate anyone who would know about Timothy Jr. and, based on a report dated October 16, 1940, they spoke to the following people:

1. Mrs. Mary (Moynahan) Allen (1881-1944). Mary was the daughter of my second great grand uncle John Moynahan (1844-1906) and her brother was the well-known Essex auctioneer William Moynahan whom I have written about before (see "Maidstone Auctioneer William Moynahan (1878-1950)")
2. Mr. Ignatious Halford. Ignatious was the postmaster in Maidstone, Ontario.
3. Miss NellieMoynahan. Nellie is my 2nd great aunt and she was a school teacher throughout Essex county and I have written about her before (see "Nellie" Moynahan: Teacher ")
4. Mrs. Sylvester Pheney: this name that appeared in the OPP file was new to me and sent me on a new search that brought me back to some familiar Detroit Moynahans that I had researched before!

Both Mrs. Mary Allen and Mr Ignatious Halford were confused about which Timothy the OPP were searching for. There was a Timothy Moynahan (1847-1929) (Mary's uncle) that lived in Tilbury in addition to Timothy Sr. (1813-1902) (Mary mentioned an uncle dying 35 to 40 years earlier and he would be her great uncle)

Mr Ignatious Halford believed that Timothy had died 65 years ago in a London Hospital and his father died in Detroit

Both Mrs. Mary Allen and Mr Ignatious Halford directed the OPP to contact Nellie Moynahan who was a school teacher and "could give some information regarding this Moynahan family"

Miss Nellie Moynahan (1865-1940) provided information to the OPP regarding Timothy Jr.

On Tuesday Oct. 15, 1940, the OPP interviewed Nellie at her home. Nellie died one month later on November 20, 1940.

Here is some of what Nellie said to the OPP:

• Nellie's father Jeremiah (1837-1922)  had a brother named Timothy (1847-1929) who was older than her father and who she believed had been dead for forty years. (Could Nellie have confused him with Jeremiah's older brother Matthew (1835-1910)?)
• Timothy Moynahan had been married three times and had three sons by the last marriage as follows - Timothy, James and Enos. This is it exactly! Nellie knew the family!
• Timothy Moynahan Sr. is believed to have spent his last remaining years at the St. Joseph's Sisters Home in London, Ontario. (This would explain how Timothy died in London, Ontario. I had initially believed that he was in London to visit his son at the asylum.)
• Timothy Moynahan Jr. is reported to have developed yellow fever when about twelve years of age, he was placed at a Mental Hospital, London, Ontario
• Miss Nellie Moynahan stated that she had never heard of this man's death and should the man be living he would be 79 or 80 years old 
• Miss Nellie then said that Mrs. Sylvester Pheney of West Grand  Blvd., Detroit is reported to be the niece of Timothy Moynahan.

So Nellie solves the puzzle and telegrams are then sent from the Toronto Asylum to Mrs. Sylvester Pheney in Detroit. So, who was Mrs Sylvester Pheney?

Relationship chart for Timothy Jr. (1861-1941) and Mrs Sylvester Pheney (1879-11948)

She was the daughter of Timothy's half-sister Mary (Moynahan) Moynahan who died in Detroit, Michigan in 1905 (see: "Mary (Moynahan) Moynahan of Corktown, Detroit" )

Her husband Sylvester Pheney (1875-1940) was a well-known attorney who died in May 1940 after an extended illness perhaps explaining why Margaret (Moynahan) Pheney did not answer the letters and/or telegrams from the Toronto Asylum in October 1940?

Source: Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) · Thu, May 30, 1940 · Page 16

Timothy's Final Resting Place 1941

I am grateful to Geoffrey Reaume and the good folks at he Mt. Hope Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario for helping me to locate the final resting place of Timothy Moynahan Jr. who I was blessed to visit on the 2nd of November 2017.

Timothy is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Toronto in a common grave in a pine box with three other individuals and there are no markers. Thanks to staff at Mt. Hope Cemetery I was able to locate Lot 119 and leave some white carnations for him from his Moynahan family.

On the day that I visited Timothy Jr.'s burial location, the colours of the surrounding trees were magnificent - reds, yellows and oranges; the rain stopped briefly and I could hear the sound of a  nearby stream in the ravine next to Timothy's grave.

The Mt. Hope Cemetery informed me that every year in August, there's an annual mass for the faithful departed where chairs are set up in the location of Timothy's grave. In 2018, it will be on August 15th: "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Annual Mass For The Faithful Departed" and I plan to be there.

I want to thank everyone who assisted me in this quest to tell Timothy's story:

• Archives Ontario staff  for assisting every step of the way
• Professor Geoffrey Reaume (author of  "Remembrance of Patients Past: Life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane") for supportive emails and for writing a book that honours all of the patients of the Toronto Asylum
• Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto for giving such great guidance, directions and suggestions that allowed me to pay my respects to my first cousin (four times removed) Timothy Moynahan (1861-1941)

In finding Timothy, I have somehow found myself.

Previous Blog Posts About Timothy Moynahan Jr.

• Saturday, May 31, 2014; 52 Ancestors #22: Timothy Moynahan https://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca/2014/05/52-ancestors-22-timothy-moynahan.html
• Wednesday, October 11, 2017; Young Timothy: Found At Last? https://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca/2017/10/long-since-forgotten-by-family-members.html

Previous Blog Posts About Timothy Moynahan Sr.

• Timothy Moynahan: When Windsor Was A Wilderness
• Timothy Moynahan: The Voyage from the Old Sod
• Timothy Moynahan: 1829 - Days of the Old Horse Boats
• Timothy Moynahan: The Shillelaugh Guards
• Timothy Moynahan: Timothy Moynahan's kin?

Previous Blog Posts About Timothy Moynahan Jr.'s Kin

• Enos and James Moynahan
• Tombstone Tuesday - The St Alphonsus' Moynahans 
• Mary (Moynahan) Moynahan of Corktown, Detroit
• Detroit Postal Clerk M.J. Moynahan ~ Mt. Elliott Zinc Marker

Links:

• City of Windsor Directories (1888-1964): http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/windsor-directories/
• South Western Ontario Digital Archives: Windsor and Region Publications: http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/swoda-windsor-region/

The Irish Surnames of Maidstone, Essex and Detroit

This St. Patrick's Day blog post is dedicated to the Irish ancestors who lived in Maidstone, Essex, Kent (Ontario) and Detroit, Michigan.

Below is an excerpt from the book, "Detroit is my home town" written by Malcolm W. Bingay (editorial director and columnist at the Detroit Free Press) in 1946 and found on the Internet Archive.

In the book are tales from Corktown Detroit and the song below is presented as follows:

From Detroit Is My Own Hometown

 Essex County Irish

Some Essex county (Ontario) Irish surnames compiled here by Victoria Penner https://alifeinessexcounty.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/essex-county-irish-part-1/ and some of my Irish ancestor's surnames added. The source for some of the surnames is "Commemorative biographical record of the county of Essex, Ontario : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early settled families"

Askin – came to Sandwich in the late 1700s
Atkin – originally English but fled to Ireland during the time of Cromwell. Came to Essex County in 1840 from County Wexford.
Beacom – County Fermanagh. Came to Mersea Township in 1853 after several years in Quebec (the family arrived in Canada in 1841)
Brett - County Sligo, Ireland in 1826 and came to North America 
Brien – Fermanagh, Ireland. Came to Essex in 1846.
Burke – Mary Ann (came from Montreal and married John LaMarsh).
Brennan - County Kerry arrived in 1853
Broderick - County Clare - came across the Atlantic 1843
Catherwood – first came to Peel County, then bought land in Colchester North in 1887.
Cleary – County Fermanagh – came to Montreal first, then to Windsor in 1841.
Cowan – Northern Ireland, County unknown – came to Mersea about 1842
Curry – Northern Ireland – came to Windsor in 1838.
Gardiner – came from Ireland in the early 1800s and originally settled in New York State. Son James Gardiner moved to Canada, eventually settling in Chatham in 1870.
Golden – County Sligo, Ireland. The Goldens of Ireland were originally English but were forced to flee to Ireland during the time of Cromwell. Came to Anderdon in approximately 1850.
Hanna – first came to Lanark County from Ireland in 1820. Came to Essex County in 1884.
Henderson – Ernest – came to Canada in 1883 from Ireland where he worked for the Great Northern Railroad of Ireland. 
Hincks (Rev. John Perrot Hincks) – Dublin and Belfast. Came to Canada in 1860 and to Windsor in 1880 as rector of All Saints Anglican.
Kenning – came to Canada in 1834, didn’t move to Essex County until 1887.
McCarthy – County Cork. Came to Sandwich South about 1839.
McHugh – from County Cavan, Ireland. Came to Maidstone in 1840.
McKeough – from Ballymackeough, Tipperary. Came to Paris Ontario in 1829, settled in Chatham sometime thereafter (the source book includes some Kent county settlers too so I will include them here)
McCormick – County Down and Belfast. Originally the McCormicks came to the British American colonies back in the early 1700s. Came to Colchester South in 1795. There have also been McCormicks on Pelee Island.
McNamara – Mary – born in 1822 in Ireland — Married Leonard Scratch (Kratz) of Gosfield.
Miller – Louise – married into the Vermette family.
Mooney – came to Sandwich South in 1836 after 15 years living in Valcartier Quebec. Home county in Ireland unknown.
Moynahan - County Kerry arrived in 1828, first staying in Pennsylvania for three years
O’Connor – originally came to Boston in 1824, settling up in Canada in Maidstone in the 1830s.
Osborn – Jane – Dublin – married to Walter Atkin, came with him in 1840.
Wilkinson – County Tyrone, originally, then Virginia. Came to Malden in 1801. (likely a loyalist) 

Maidstone Irish

Source: Photos taken by Louise & Jack Boyde at the 2000 Maidstone Cross Dedication

 

The Maidstone Cross was erected in the year 2000 to commemorate the the 150th anniversary of the devastating famine in Ireland 1845-1852. The Irish family surnames engraved on the Maidstone Cross helped build St. Mary's Parish.

Source: Photos taken by Louise & Jack Boyde at the 2000 Maidstone Cross Dedication

Source: Photos taken by Louise & Jack Boyde at the 2000 Maidstone Cross Dedication

 Surnames Appearing on the Maidstone Cross

ALLEN, AUSTIN, BARRETT, BARRY, BATTERSBY, BEAHAN, BRADY, BRAZILL, BRENNAN, BRODERICK, BROWN, BURKE, BUTLER, BRYNEE, CAHILL, CARROLL, CASEY, CHITTLE, CLANCY, COLE, COLLINS, CONNELLY,CONROY,CONWAY, COSTIGAN, CRONIN, CUNNINGHAM,CURNEYN, DALY, DANIBER, DAUGHTERY, DAWSON, DEEHAN, DELANEY, DENNISON, DEVLIN, DILLON, DIXON, DOLAN, DONAGHUE, DONNELLY, DONOVAN, DOOLEY, DORAN, DOWNING,DOYLE,DRISCOLL, DUNN, FAHEY, FALLON, FARRELL, FERRY, FIELDS, FITZGERALD, FITZPATRICK, FLANAGAN, FLANNERY, FURLONG, GALLAGHER, GAUGHAN, GEARY, GRAHAM, GRANT, GREEN, GREENAWAY, HALEY, HALFORD, HAMILTON, HAUGH, HAYES, HEALY, HENCHEY, HENNESSEY, HENRY, HICKEY, HIGGINS, HOGAN, HOULIBAN, HUGHES, HURLEY, JONES, KANE, KAVANAGH, KEANE, KEATING, KELLY, KENNY, KILROY, KIRBY, LANE, LARKIN, LAVIN, LENNON, LYNCH, LYONS, MAHER, MAHON, MAHONEY, MARKHAM,MARTIN, McAULIFFE, McCANN, McCARTHY, McCLOSKEY, McCOY, McDONALD, McGUIGAN, McGUIRE, McHUGH, McINTYRE, McKEON, McLAUGHLIN, McLEAN, McMAHON, McNALLY, McNAMARA, McPHARLIN, MITCHEL, MOONEY, MORAN, MORTIN, MOYNAHAN, MULLINS,MURPHY, NANGLE, NOLAN, O'BRIEN, O'CALLAGHAN, O'CONNELL, O'CONNOR, O'DONNELL, O'FLYNN, O'GORMAN, O'HALLORAN, O'KEEFE, O'NEIL, O'RILEY, O'SULLIVAN, POWERS, QUINLAN, REYNOLDS, ROBINSON, RUDDEN, RYAN, SAVAGE, SCULLEY, SEXTON, SHANAHAN, SHEEHAN, SHEENAN, SHERIDAN, SLATTERY, SMITH, SMYTHE, SWEENY, TIERNAN, TWOMEY, WALSH, WARD


As the song says,

"A great many of them, 

As you know, passed away,

But we reverence their memory

On their Patron's Saint's Day.  

Each day of the year,

when the bell tolls,

Just say a few prayers, 

For the repose of their souls."

Source: Border Cities Star March 17, 1930

52 Ancestors No. 29: Mary (Moynahan) Moynahan of Corktown, Detroit

Sometimes genealogical research has you going in circles and sometimes on the second or third time around in the same circle you discover something new.

Such is the case with my first cousin (4x removed) Mary Moynahan of Essex county who married Mathew J. Moynahan of Ireland.

When I was researching the beautiful zinc Moynahan headstones at Mt Elliott cemetry, I had no idea I would eventually return to Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902) of Maidstone, Essex county. I also had no idea that this research would take me into Corktown, Detroit and connecting with researcher Paul Szewczyk and learning about 19th century Corktown's tradition of female home ownership.

Mary Moynahan 1847-1905

Mary Moynahan was born in Maidstone, Essex co., Ontario on the 15th of October 1847 the daughter of Timothy and Margaret (Cronyn) Moynahan

Mary's father Timothy Moynahan (1813-1902)

When Mary's father Timothy died in London, Ontario in 1902, his obituary stated that of his nine children from both marriages, only two were living: Enos and Mary (who is the subject of this post).

The obituary failed to mention another living child Timothy who was at the London Asylum at the time. I suspect that Timothy died in London, Ontario beccause he was visiting with Timothy Jr in the London asylum and died there. I have no proof of this but I also have no idea why Timothy would travel to London, Ontario at 89 years of age?

I also have no explanation regarding the omission of Timothy Jr from Timothy Sr's obituary?

Timothy Moynahan's 1902 obituary
Source: Windsor Evening Record. October 21, 1902 - Page: 1 of 8

Mary's mother Margaret (Cronyn) Moynahan (b 1811) died in 1859 when Mary was twelve years old and her father remarried Archange Parent. Mary had four step-brothers from her father's second marriage (Enos, James, Timothy and Joseph).

Matthew James (M.J.) Moynahan of Detroit was born in Ireland in 1836 the son of Jeremiah Moynahan and Catherine Hearlihy.

He was married to Hannah O'Connor who died November 1870 after giving birth to twins Margaret and Emma (who also died May 1870 and June 1970 respectively)

M.J. (41 years of age) later married Mary Moynahan (30 years of age) on the 27th of May 1877 at Maidstone Cross, Ontario

Marriage record M.J. Moynahan and Mary Moynahan
Source: Archives of Ontario; Series: MS932; Reel: 23

Their Children

Catherine ("Kitty") was the only surviving child from M.J. first marriage. On the 20 Jan 1879 Margaret (Maggie) was born.

I have not had any luck finding the family on the census returns 1870-1910.

Corktown Detroit

Corktown, Detroit is located just west of Downtown Detroit, and is the oldest extant neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan

I discovered on Paul Szewczyk's excellent Corktown Blog that he had a great deal of information on Mary Moynahan's house at 11 Baker St in Corktown (now 1221 Bagley)

 11 Baker St in Corktown (now 1221 Bagley)

According to Paul Szewczyk

"Rose Lane sold 11 Baker street to Mary Moynahan for $3,350 in July of 1882. This is an example of 19th century Corktown's tradition of female home ownership. In Irish households at the time, wives were in charge of the domestic finances, and property was often held in their names."

11 Baker St. in 1884.
"The front part of the house had two stories and was attached to several one-story additions.
The house would have had a very different appearance at the time.
Source:  Paul Szewczyk

 "The home's new owner, Mary Moynahan, was a first-generation Irish-Canadian, born in Ontario in 1846. Her husband, Matthew J. Moynahan, was an Irish immigrant. The couple married around 1876 and had two children. Two years after moving into the home, Matthew Moynahan passed away. Mrs. Moynahan was listed at 11 Baker Street through 1887, after which she rented the house to Martha Fessenden, a widow. One of Mrs. Fessenden's son's, Mark, died at the home on February 15, 1889, at the age of 26. 

 Other boarders listed at this address in 1887 and 1888 included Thomas W. Richardson, a porter for Thorp, Hawley & Co.; Walter Parrish, a lineman for the Brush Electric Co.; and Frank Hutchinson, a clerk."

"On June 5, 1889, Mrs. Moynahan sold 11 Baker Street to Daniel and Isabelle Donovan for $4,000."

Mt. Elliott Cemetery

This brings me back, full circle, to the beautiful Moynahan zinc marker that I wrote about in July 2014.

The beautiful zinc Moynahan marker at Mt Elliott cemetery, Detroit, Michigan

Mary was interred here on the 11th of April 1905 with M.J and his first wife Hannah and all of their children.

Internments at the Moynahan plot - Mt Elliott cemetery, Detroit, Michigan

The last person buried in this plot was Kitty Moynahan (1858-1938) a retired school principle who was daughter of M.J. Moynahan and the only surviving child of his first marriage.

Sources:

• Marriage M.J. Moynahan and Mary Moynahan; Archives of Ontario; Series: MS932; Reel: 23
• Special thanks to Paul Szewczyk for granting me permission to use his Corktown material in my blog post.

Links

• Paul Szewczyk's excellent Corktown Blog
• Paul Szewczyk's flickr Corktown history pictures
• A Guide to Researching Your Corktown Home
• The Historian Of Detroit's Most Historic Neighborhood Digs Up Amazing Stories
• Hathi Trust
• Detroits Corktown
• Family Search: Michigan Census

St Patrick's Day Song from "Corktown"

From Detroit Is My Own Hometown