I'm almost there. What has caused no ends of confusion are that John's eldest daughter Mary Sarah Doherty married a man with the surname McFeely. As you know, Sarah Doherty married a McCorkell. You see how this can get confusing when spending hours sorting out descendants. And of course where John and Sarah's respective children had children, most of them had very large numbers of them.
I spent many days painstakingly going through the St Paul's parish register here in Toronto, where John Doherty and Margaret Esmonde had their children baptized. I've found 10 of them -- there were apparently 12 -- in that register.
John and Margaret's eldest, Mary Sarah Doherty--always called Sarah-- (1839-1920) married Edward McFeely (1832-1898) at St Paul's on 1 Nov 1859. The marriage details are recorded on one line of the register, across two pages, groom first, noting their ages, where they live, their parents' names, and of course the officiant's name.
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| McFeely-Doherty marriage 1 Nov 1859 Groom Details |
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| McFeely-Doherty marriage 1 Nov 1859 Bride Details |
- Look who one of the witnesses was: John R. McCloskey.
- Edward's parents, also an Edward McFeely (1798-1879) and Susanna McCloskey (1806-1887) were married in Dungiven, Ireland, in the same church (St Patrick's) that my 2nd great grandparents, Marcus Dougherty and Mary Ann Diamond were married in, and where at least three of their children were baptized.
- Sarah's father John Doherty's mother was Bridget McCloskey. Were she and Susanna sisters, or was it an aunt/niece relationship? Was the wedding witness a brother to Susanna? The McCloskey name is one that appears frequently in my Dougherty ancestors' stories.
Sarah and Edward McFeely settled first in Oakville, west of Toronto, and began their family, which grew to be ten children who survived infancy. Edward farmed. Within a couple of years, they pulled up stakes and moved to the present-day Lindsay in Ontario's Kawarthas region, where Edward is listed in directories and censuses as a tinsmith, like his father-in-law, John Doherty was in Toronto.
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| 1881 Canada census, Victoria South, Ontario |
As young men, two of Sarah and Edward's sons, Francis Esmonde McFeely (1876-1948) and Edward John McFeely (1863-1928) went to Vancouver, British Columbia where both put down permanent roots, marrying and having three and six+ children respectively. Their father Edward actually died in Vancouver during an 1898 visit there. Another son, Robert (1873-1953) settled in Vancouver, Washington, while Fred (1868-1933) settled in New Orleans.
Of Sarah and Edward's daughters, the eldest, Susanna (1861-1900) married a much older man, who was a judge in Minnesota. They were childless. She died suddenly while on a return visit to her childhood home of Lindsay, Ontario. Agnes (1869-1956) married a railway man with whom she had four children. They moved around, living in St Louis, Brooklyn and finally Dallas. Martha (1871-1940) married a Hennepin man, with whom she had a daughter. They stayed in Minnesota.
Sarah died in Hennepin in 1920, where she had spent her final years living with her unmarried daughters Frances (1863-1941), Florence (1880-1948) and Madeline (1877-1955). Florence was a nurse and Madeline was an office clerk.
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| 1920 US Census Minneapolis |
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