A ship with two names ...

The day I discovered the passenger list below was an exciting day for me.  It was the result of many hours of searching to determine the exact date that Joshua and Elizabeth Cave McCourt arrived in Quebec from Ireland.  It provided a great deal of information that was helpful in my continuing research.

I learned from the above document that the ship they sailed on was named the SS Waldensian.  It sailed from Belfast on April 18, 1875 and arrived in Quebec on May 14, 1875  -  a 16 day trip.  The McCourt family was listed among the "steerage" passengers, or those who held the cheaper tickets and shared their cramped and public accommodations with most of the other passengers.

SS Waldensian

When I first discovered this document I thought it was strange that none of the sons were listed along with their parents and sisters.  I knew that Moses, the oldest son, had arrived in Quebec prior to 1871 but I couldn't account for the other sons.  I have since learned that the sons were the first to emigrate, in three different groups, and that once they had all arrived in Quebec, Joshua, Elizabeth and the girls all came together on the SS Waldensian.  I learned another interesting coincidence about this particular ship that I will explain below.

There were four sons in the Joshua McCourt family.  Starting with the eldest and in order of age they were Moses, David, Thomas and Joshua.  I have found the emigration records for each of these boys, except Thomas, and according to his obituary (see my previous post - Disaster on the Grand Trunk) he came to Quebec when he was 14-years-old.  Since he was born in 1851, that means he would have arrived in Quebec sometime around 1865 or 66.  However, a thorough search of passenger lists for that time period comes up empty.  I know that he arrived prior to 1872 because he married Mary Thompson in November of that year in Compton, Quebec.

There is a family story that was told to me a number of years ago by a distant cousin who lives near Montreal that could, if true, provide some answers about how Thomas arrived in Quebec.  I, myself, am cautiously skeptical of the story since there seems to be no supportive evidence to its being true, but with the lack of hard evidence to the contrary, it's a story worth sharing, if only for the entertainment value.

According to the story, the first member of the McCourt family to arrive in Quebec came as a young man who had been conscripted into the British Navy while living in Ireland.  During its tour of duty, the ship docked at Quebec City.  As it was leaving port, the young man decided to jump ship and try to swim to shore knowing that once the ship was underway, they weren't going to turn around for one "scrawny Irishman."  As he was swimming to shore, some of the soldiers on board were ordered to shoot him for desertion.  They tried but he was able to make it to shore safely.

This story could explain how Thomas arrived in Quebec at a young age - as his obituary indicates - and also why he can't be found on any passenger lists of that time period.  Conscription supposedly ended shortly after the war of 1812, many years before Thomas was born, but there may still have been some instances of forced service taking place, especially among the working class of Ireland.

The first documented arrival of a McCourt family member is that of Moses McCourt, the eldest son.  He arrived aboard the ship North American through the port of Portland, Maine.  He arrived on April 26, 1867 which is about a year after Thomas would have arrived, if indeed he was in Quebec at the age of 14.  Portland was the starting point of the Grand Trunk Railroad which ran through parts of New England and into Quebec.  Moses probably traveled by train from Portland to Sherbrooke, Quebec (170 miles) where he was living during the 1871 Canadian census.

The next to arrive from Ireland were the two brothers, David and Joshua.  They sailed from Londonderry, Ireland aboard the ship Saint Andrew and arrived in Quebec on May 10, 1872 - five years after Moses had arrived.  David is the fourth passenger in the list below and Joshua's name appears as the fifth.

As I was learning more about the ships the McCourts emigrated on, I discovered a very interesting coincidence.  The Saint Andrew, which David and Joshua sailed on, was built and launched from Glasgow, Scotland in 1861.  It made numerous voyages between Quebec and the British Isles, including the voyage in 1872 which brought David and Joshua.  Later that same year, the Saint Andrew was dry-docked and rebuilt.  New engines were added and the ship was nearly doubled in length.  It was launched again in 1873 under the name SS Waldensian - the ship that brought the rest of the McCourt family over in 1875.

 

Saint Andrew

 So by an interesting coincidence, most of the McCourt family arrived in Quebec on what was technically the same ship, three years apart and under two different names!

Biographical Sketch - Charles John McCourt

Charles John McCourt, the younger brother of my grandfather, Thomas Henry McCourt,  was the sixth child and third son born to Joshua Albert and Mable Jane McGee McCourt.  We was born at Lennoxville, Quebec on July 19, 1885 and was christened in the Catholic church at Sherbrooke that same year.

His family entered the United States when he was a young boy, probably around May of 1895,  and settled in the Hammond, New York area.  At the age of 19 he married Hattie Louisa Brown of Morristown, New York.  Hattie's father, Frank Brown owned a farm which bordered Black Lake near Morristown.  Charley, as he was known by his family, and Hattie lived with her family where Charley was employed as a farmhand.

Marriage Register

Charley and Hattie were the parents of one daughter, Mildred Glenna McCourt.  She was born October 16, 1913 and grew up on the family farm where Charely and Hattie continued to live and work.

Mildred Glenna - July 1971

Mildred would later become a school teacher and spent her adult life in that profession teaching in the local schools.

She never married and continued to live on the family farm until her death on May 29, 1988.






In February of 1915, at the age of 29, Charley filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States.  He became a naturalized citizen on September 17, 1917.

 

 

Declaration of Intention

Charley spent 50 years farming at the family homestead on Black Lake and occasionally worked at the general store in Edwardsville.  He also served as assessor for the town of Morristown for nearly 25 years.

Charley and Hattie - circa 1959

Charley at the family farm on Black Lake

Charley died at the age of 78 while a patient at Hepburn Hospital on May 15, 1964.  He had undergone surgery that morning for a peptic ulcer.  He was buried in the Edwardsville Cemetery on the shores of Black Lake, not far from the family farm.

Funeral Program

Morristown is a small village along the St. Lawrence river in upstate New York.  Like most small towns, people tend to know one another and there is a great sense of community.  I grew up in a town like that myself.

Charley lived near Morristown from the time he was a small boy.  He attended the local schools, eventually graduating from High School.  He married a local girl whose family had been in the area for generations.  He worked and served the community and was active in his church.  It's a given that he knew the people in the area and they knew him.

When I first started researching the family of Joshua and Jane McGee McCourt, Charley and Hattie were some of the first records I found.  I wrote to the town clerk of Morristown requesting some additional information.  The town clerk sent me a wonderful letter.  She knew and remembered the McCourts.  She was a personal friend of Mildred's and spoke fondly of Charley and Hattie.  They were loved and respected by their neighbors and the community who knew them best.

Grave concerns!

I'm so excited to share the above photograph with the rest of the family!  After years of searching and hoping to someday visit that little cemetery in Windsor, Quebec an email I received just this week included this photo!  I can't put into words how grateful I am to a dear friend and 3rd cousin, Anne McCourt Fowlie for sending this to me.  I know she doesn't realize what a significant piece of history this is to me and many other members of the McCourt family who are far removed from the area where our Irish ancestors first settled.  Thanks, Anne!!

This headstone is located in the Protestant Cemetery at Windsor and marks the final resting place of Joshua McCourt, his wife Elizabeth Cave, their eldest son, Moses and his wife, Mary Wood McLeod as well as Moses and Marys' daughter, Isabella Hope McCourt.

The official record indicates that Joshua died 26 March 1901 at Windsor.  His death was mentioned twice in the same newspaper with a few, minor differences between the two accounts.  From page 3 of the March 29, 1901 edition of the Sherbrooke Record newspaper, under the Richmond News heading, it reports that Joshua McCourt died March 27, 1901 in Windsor and that he was the father of Thomas McCourt of Richmond.  The second account is on the same page but under the Windsor Mills News heading and reports that "Moses McCourt Sr. (leading me to believe that his full name may have been Joshua Moses McCourt) of Lower Windsor died March 25, 1901, aged 87 of general debility.  He came to Canada 30 years ago from County Armagh, Irealnd and leaves a large family."

Death Record of Joshua McCourt

After Joshua's death and until her own on 22 September 1907, Elizabeth lived with her son Moses and his family. 

Death Record of Elizabeth Cave McCourt