Biographical Sketch - Mable Jane McGee

Mable Jane McGee McCourt Hughes

My great-grandmother, Jane McGee, has always been a missing puzzle piece in my family history research.  So very little was known about her and the McGee family when I first started researching the family.  What I started with was little more than her name and place of birth.  I knew nothing of her parents and siblings, and except for my grandfather, Thomas Henry, I didn't even know the names of her children.  In recent years, as more and more family history information is made available through greater advances in technology, I have discovered a number of documents and photos that have helped me piece that puzzle together.  There are still many missing pieces, and as time goes on I'm sure more will be discovered, but I've found enough to allow us to begin to see what the finished picture of this family looks like.

According to family knowledge - most of which has been passed down by her son, Thomas Henry, her full name was Mable Jane McGee.  While that is the name that is reflected on group sheets and other family history documents, I've yet to find a historical document that lists her full name.  Everything I have found to date simply records her name as Jane. 

Her birth record is yet to be discovered so her birth date and place have been taken from other historical records.  From her death certificate, I learned that she was born May 4, 1855 and that she was the daughter of Edward and Mary Farrell McGee.  The earliest historical document I have found to date is the passenger list from the SS Neera which lists the family of Edward and Mary McGee.

Passenger List from the SS Neera

The SS Neera sailed from Belfast on August 14, 1873 and arrived in Quebec on August 29th for a total trip of 16 days.  At the age of 19, Jane was listed as the eldest child of this family and her status was listed as spinster.  Her father, who was 40-years-old at this time was listed as a laborer.  Jane was the eldest of nine children, eight of which are listed on the passenger list above, the youngest, Thomas Henry McGee was born after their arrival from Ireland.  This younger brother only lived a few weeks but I find it interesting that Jane would later name her first born son, Thomas Henry.  Her siblings on the list above were, in order of age, Robert, Catherine, Margaret, Mary, John, Edward and Elizabeth.

Two years to the day after her arrival in Quebec, Jane married Joshua McCourt in the Anglican church (St. Peter's) at Sherbrooke, Quebec.  The date was August 29, 1875.

Marriage record of Joshua McCourt and Jane McGee

According to this marriage record, Jane was living in Lennoxville at the time and Joshua was living in Sherbrooke.  Neither could write their own names and therefore signed the record by placing their mark next to the notation made by the priest. 

Joshua and Jane were the parents of seven children.  The first six were born while the family was living in Lennoxville.  Below is a page from the 1881 Canadian Census showing the family of Joshua and Jane with the first four of their children.

1881 Canadian Census

Jane was a devout Catholic and saw to it that each of her children were christened in the Catholic Church.  I have copies of the christening certificates for each of the children and it is noted on each one that the father was not present at the christening ceremony. The McCourt's were largely Protestant in their religious preferences and this might explain Joshua's absence from the christenings.  It's unknown to what extent the differences in religion were between Joshua and Jane but I've been told most of my life that it was a major point of contention.

Sometime between July 1885 and November 1888, the family relocated to Brockville, Ontario where the youngest child, William was born.  Brockville is located on the St. Lawrence river directly across from Morristown, New York.  It's in this area of Upstate New York where the family would later settle (See the earlier post "Biographical Sketch - Charles John McCourt").

I'm not sure of the exact date, but it was about the time William was born that Joshua and Jane separated.  Thomas Henry, their eldest child, would leave with his father and both would end up settling in Utah where Joshua remarried and had eleven more children with his second wife, Rhoda Evelyn Brundage.

A few years after the separation, Jane would also remarry.  Her second husband's name was Patrick Hughes.  Like Jane, he was an Irish immigrant who came to Canada years before and settled in Brockville, Ontario.  The 1900 United States Census shows that Patrick and Jane Hughes were living in Morristown and that they had been married six years.  It also showed that they had a son, Earl James Hughes who was born in Hammond, New York on September 20, 1894.  By this time, Jane's children from her first marriage were either married or working as servants and farm laborers and living with other families in the area, except for William who would have been 12-years-old.  It appears he wasn't living with his mother and stepfather at the time, but I have no idea where he was.

Ten years later in the 1910 United States Census, Patrick, Jane and their son, Earl are shown living in Theresa, New York.  Theresa is a small village in Jefferson County about 30 miles southwest of Morristown.  William appears again in this census but is living with the Parke family in the neighboring town of Philadelphia.  He is listed as a hired hand.

From the 1910 census, I also learned that Jane's widowed mother, Mary had come to live with them in Theresa.  The census listed her age as 70 but I believe, based on other documents, that she was actually older than that.  Mary died March 6, 1912 in Theresa and was buried in the Oakwood cemetery.  The date and location of her husband's death is still a missing puzzle piece.

Jane's husband, Patrick died of stomach cancer in 1919.  He is buried near his mother-in-law in the Oakwood cemetery.

In September of 1922, Patrick and Janes' son, Earl James Hughes died of pneumonia.  He was 28-years-old and the father of three small children.  A fourth child and only daughter was born 10 weeks after her fathers death.  Earl James is buried next to his father in the Oakwood cemetery.

The tall headstone in the top-right corner is the headstone for Patrick and Jane Hughes.  The two smaller stones below this headstone are the foot stones for Patrick and Jane.  The headstone in the bottom-right corner of the picture is that of Jane's mother, Mary McGee and the small headstone just to the left of Patrick's foot stone is the marker for Earl James Hughes, son of Patrick and Jane.

Closeup of Patrick and Jane's headstone

Closeup of Jane's foot stone

The last historical document I have for Jane is her death certificate which indicates that she died in Dexter, New York, a neighboring town of Theresa, on June 30, 1927.  The cause of death was listed as "fatty degeneration of the heart."  In addition to learning who her parents were and the date of her birth, I also learned that at the time of her death, she was employed as a kitchen maid, specifically as a "salad maker" by a Mr. Hiram F. Inglehart.  Mr. Inglehart was a wealthy merchant and financier in Watertown, New York.  He served as Mayor of Watertown from 1893 to 1894 and was the proprietor of two resort hotels in the area.  I'm guessing she worked in the kitchen of one of those hotels.

As my research continues, I've been focusing a lot of my time on the McGee family.  I've learned that while living in Ireland, the family didn't stay in the same place for very long.  Nearly every one of the children were born in a different location.  After arriving in Quebec, some of the children would marry and settle in parts of Vermont and New Hampshire while others remained in Canada. 

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