Family History Friday

No offense to my Canadian friends and neighbors but Canada feels like the black hole of family history. So many trails lead back to Canada and then the path evaporates. I've been reading and brainstorming and thought I'd share where we are in the process.

Potential ways the ODoyle, Flagg and Cain families came to be in the Prescott, Ontario area in the late 1700s

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• they could have been British loyalist relocating after the Revolutionary War
• they could have been indentured servants of the above group
• the men could have been part of the Irish Brigade
"The Irish Brigade sailed from the French harbor of Brest May 3, 1755. There were two regiments in the fleet. They were stationed in what is now Kingston, Ontario and on the frontier of Lake Champlain. The Irish Brigade fought the British near Fort Oswego unsuccessfully and then captured the Fort in 1756. One Irish regimental unit, with red uniforms and green facings, was seen to have participated in the siege of Fort Oswego. Later the Irish Brigade captured Fort William Henry, which was a terrible defeat for the British. On July 8, 1758, the Irish Brigade defeated the British at Fort Ticonderoga. That was three major defeats for the British. Many of the French officers wounded in the Battle of Ticonderoga (or Carrillon as the French called it) had Irish surnames. The Irish Brigade was also stationed in the Ohio River valley at Fort Duquesne at this time and at Fort Chartres in Illinois. (4) At the surrender of Montreal, it is thought that the French regimental colors were not turned over to the English because they were in fact those of the Irish Brigade, whose members might be subject to the charge of treason. No Irishmen were among the surrendered soldiers at Montreal who returned to France aboard English vessels and it appears that many of the Irish Brigade blended in with the French-Canadian populace of Montreal."
• regular immigrants 
• mystery option 4 (there's always something I haven't come across or discovered yet)

The rest of the Irish-Canadians are more of a mystery since we're not really sure when they arrived or where exactly in Canada they lived. All were in the US by 1880. Since all my Canadian relatives arrived at some point from Ireland here are some pages I'm reading in hopes of learning more:

Irish-Canadian History
Our expert answers a question about tracing Irish immigrants to Canada

Family History Friday

Going back in time, on the same branch of the family tree as last week, to Canada and the early part of the 1800s. My 4th great grandmother, Lucinda Flagg Cain, was born in 1808 in Prescott, Ontario, which is on the St. Lawrence River, just west of Quebec. The British opened this area to settlement in 1784 as a place for loyalists to the crown to relocate from the newly independent U.S. colonies. At least two of these loyalist families were Cains (Barnabas "Barney" and John) but no proof either way yet if either is related to Lucinda's husband, Thomas Cain. We know very little about Thomas - only his name, that he is of Irish parentage, and that he and Lucinda married when "she was a young girl."

Here are some maps. First one is of Ontario (with the small inset of Canada) and then a close up of the area where Prescott sits (in the far southeast tip of Ontario, east of Lake Ontario, across from New York state).

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Prescott continues to celebrate its British history with a Loyalist Festival each summer. [2012 ought to be extra exciting as it marks the bicentennial of the War of 1812.] 

Grenville County Historical Society maintains archives for the area. They have extensive holdings (Mom, we'll have to visit some day) including ancestral information on the Cain and Flagg families (Thomas and Lucinda's families, respectively, and hopefully). O'Doyle (Lucinda's mother's maiden name) is not on the list. She remains a mystery. 

entrance to Fort Wellington in Prescott source

this blue church was built in the 1800s on the site of an older church.

grave markers look old and interesting source

Family History Friday with Irish Books

My maternal grandparents, circa 1960 (Mom is that right?). Mom made Gram's dress as well as the shirt her Dad is wearing. She is proud of her ability to match plaid on the seams, a skill she learned from her Aunt Helen. 

I assume this second photo was taken the same day; in it you can see how fair Gram was, a trait I inherited from her. It's a true sign of Irish heritage. 

As best as we know, all four of Gram's grandparents emigrated from Ireland to Canada in the 1840s during the potato famine. I learned recently that it was less expensive to sail to Canada than to the US which may explain why they chose that destination. Her family eventually made their way to the States and if asked, she would tell you she was Canadian before she'd tell you she was Irish. 

On St. Patrick's Day, I heard an interview on Weekend Edition on NPR (listen here) with author Peter Behrens who has written two books of fiction that are loosely based on his family's story as Irish immigrants to Canada. When I heard him say

Ireland was, you know, in the dim past and forgotten largely, and the memories connected to it were those of, you know, shame and poverty. They were very determined to be Canadian...

it really resonated with the stories I had been told about our family. I'm looking forward to reading The Law of Dreams and The O'Briens.

That same day, the Kindle Daily Deal (every day one book is on sale for $.99-2.99) was The Irish Americans: A History by Jay P. Dolan, professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame.

Acclaimed scholar Jay Dolan’s panoramic account of the Irish experience in the United States follows immigrants from arrival to empowerment, from the dark days of the Great Famine to John F. Kennedy’s election to the presidency. Drawing on original research and recent scholarship, The Irish Americans is the first general history of Irish-Americans since the 1960s. Rich in detail, balanced in judgment, and the most comprehensive work of its kind yet published, this is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the Irish-American tradition.

I am about 80% of the way through this book and have found it really interesting. It doesn't whitewash the facts - there is plenty of corruption, class-ism and racism - but all of it is presented in the context of life and times of this large immigrant population. It covers the era before the potato famine as well - when the majority of the Irish immigrants were Protestant (one or two of my maternal grandfather's ancestors may fall into this category, having arrived in this country prior to 1800). Overall, it is an excellent and engaging read and very educational.