September 2000 Genealogy Forum News

More From Canada

American-Canadian Genealogy Society

Fall Conference Weekend, Manchester, NH, Sept. 22 â_“ 24.

Featured speaker this year will be Georges Arsenault, who will speak on the "Folklore and History of the Acadians of Prince Edward Island." Arsenault has published numerous books and articles on the Acadians of Prince Edward Island. He was a cultural officer for the Society Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin (Acadian and Francophone Society of Prince Edward Island) and then became Visiting Professor in Acadian Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. Since 1986, he has hosted Radio-Canada's morning radio show for Prince Edward Island.

Full details are available at: http://www.acgs.org/

From Host GFS Donna:

(Received from Jangorm)

A Total Dead End ??

My great-grandfathers were GORMAN brothers who were born in Ireland and taken to Ontario as very young children. Thomas was born ca 1827 while James was born ca 1817. Who were their parents who brought them to the Canada, probably in 1827-29? Where might the parents be buried?

From census and church records, it is clear these two men lived at different times in Marlborough or Goulbourn Townships of Carleton Co. or the adjoining Beckwith Township of Lanark Co. Ontario. However, all of the records I have found show them AFTER they are married. Furthermore, there are several Gorman families in the area !! No good clues as to their parents. The local priest recorded very few marriages...so no record of their marriages.

Recently I was in Canada and learned of an abandoned cemetery used by the earliest Roman Catholics in Marlborough Township of Carleton Co. From the available information, I believe this is most likely where my GORMAN great great grandparents are buried. Is this my total dead-end on identifying these GORMANS??

The book "Who's Where, A Guide to the Cemeteries of Rideau Township" edited by Jim Kennedy in 1980 (published by the Rideau Heritage Board) contains an article by Dr. George Neville that originally appeared in the Ottawa Genealogical Society's periodical Branch News (Vol. 7, Num 3, Mar 1975) which describes the burial ground as being on parts of Lots 22 and 23, Con 9, Marlborough Township.

While I did not visit the site, the article stated that it was reached by going on a side road off Dwyer Hill Road, and then walking into a reforested area, following a bush trail near a huge hydroelectric line, which became part of the Rideau Trail, and then taking a specific fork. Whew !! Dr. Neville wrote that one had to maintain a sharp lookout for a row of blackened and lichen-covered stones intergrown with white cedars and that it was so thickly overgrown as to be virtually unrecognizable.

According to Dr. Neville, the use of this cemetery was probably abandoned about 1867, when a new Roman Catholic cemetery was begun at St. Clares R. C. Church on Dwyer Hill. It was believed that the GORMAN, WHELAN, O'NEIL (two families), HANRAHAN, MCKENNA, HAGGARTY and O'BRIEN families, all early Irish Catholics in the area, have members buried in this area.

There are no known records for the burials in this cemetery. Its location does not appear on historical maps of 1863 or 1879, but it apparently straddled lots owned by T. Haggarty and James Hanrahan in 1863.

It is believed the original markers were made of pine slabs 4 to 5 inches wide, 4 feet thick and 4 feet tall, with about one foot in the soil. The pertinent information was applied to these markers with heavy lead paint which was renewed from time to time. In time these markers took on a carved appearance because the surface where the lead paint was preserved while the rest eroded. No wooden markers stood after 1940, according to Dr. Neville, who also noted that the "old-timers" in the area recalled that the last standing marker had recorded the death of a Mrs. Gorman who had died in childbirth aged 41 years.

As a regular to GFS Susan's Monday night chat on Ontario and late night on Tues., she is aware that I recently traveled to Ontario in search of my ancestors and to meet my "cousins" and asked if I could do a little article for your Premier Edition of the New Canadian newsletter.

I wrote the following and Susan liked it and asked that I forward on to you:

Meeting the Cousins...

Early this summer, I had the pleasure of meeting distant cousins Bill, Harry, Marilyn, June, and Elizabeth near Ottawa, Canada. Over the past couple of years, we had found one another on the "net" and finally met in person. While I didn't note any family resemblance, I did meet some fine people!

Bill had the original posting on Rootsweb which I found, he already knew Harry, Elizabeth is a cousin to Harry, Marilyn also found Bill, and, with the information we had exchanged, this past winter I found June on the Purdy GenForum. And we do come from a variety of locations, Bill lives in Tennessee, I am in Maryland, Marilyn, Harry and Elizabeth are in the Ottawa area, while June is from the Toronto area. We all use different ISPs.

We are all researching the PURDY family of Carleton Co., Ontario. Bill has actually written one book already and we decided last year to corroborate on an update -- with a goal of 2002 (I think). Bill has rethought some things in the book and wishes to make some changes. And we all have more descendants to add!

Bill and June go back to a William Purdy who settled in Gloucester Township of Carleton Co.; Marilyn and I go back to William's brother Henry Purdy who settled in Goulbourn Township, while Harry either goes back to brother Robert, or brother James of Goulbourn Township. Harry is having problems finding a record of his grandfather's birth in Lanark County! There was a sister Mary Ann who also came to Canada and married a BURROWS in Ottawa. Bill hopes to get some research done on that line before our publishing date.

As of this time, we believe the family came to Canada circa 1830 (although there is evidence Robert was there about 1824) from County Antrim, Ireland. In early records, all the brothers professed to belong to the Church of Scotland; however, Henry was married to a Roman Catholic before arriving in Ontario and raised his children in that faith; William and his wife apparently went the Anglican route, while Robert's descendants are, in the main, Methodist.

Bill, Marilyn, Harry and I, at one time or another, had met Lucy (now deceased) who was married to a descendant of Henry Purdy and had kept listings of descendants and had written down some of the family legends. Lucy had said that her father-in-law had lived with her and her husband in his older years and had recited these family stories as she went about her housekeeping chores. She really served as the historian for the family and her listings have served us well in searching for the family records. We haven't been able to "prove" all her stories as yet.

Descendants of these Purdys are now scattered from coast to coast in the US, and west to BC and Saskatchewan in Canada. This year, our little group decided we should try to organize a PURDY family reunion...but give us a couple of years to get that organized. Jan Gorman

© 2000 GFNEWS, a monthly publication of the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Inc. of Franklin, MA.
(America Online Keyword: roots.) The Editors welcome your ideas and articles,
success stories, favorite genealogy research tips, comments and suggestions.