The Cincinnati McCorkell Family

Augustin McCorkell (abt 1845-1904) was the eldest son of my 1st cousin 3x removed Sarah Doherty (abt 1826-1861) and her husband, Patrick Joseph McCorkell (1824-1904), who settled in Mara Township in what is now Ontario. I wrote about Sarah's and Patrick's family here.

Born in Ireland, Augustin was left behind when his parents first came to North America, because they were concerned he was too young for the voyage. He joined his parents in 1859, when his aunt, Elleanor Doherty, brought him across the ocean. We don't know what happened to Elleanor. No further trace of her has been found.

It's not clear when Augustin decided to leave Mara Township, or why, but he made his way to Cincinnati, and on 12 Jul 1868 at All Saints Catholic Church, married Margaret Gleason, who was also born in Ireland. They were both about 23 years old when they married. Subsequent censuses all report Augustin's occupation in Cincinnati as laborer. Was he called Gus for short? His namesake son was.

Was he drawn to Cincinnati because he knew he had family there? Specifically, his 1st Dougherty cousins once removed? Or did they meet by chance once he was living in Cincinnati? Those cousins were my three 2nd great uncles and two 2nd great aunts who made their way to Cincinnati starting in the 1840s from Quebec's Eastern Townships: James, Thomas, Catharine, Mary Louisa and Joseph M., who I write about here and elsewhere in this blog in several posts. They used the Dougherty spelling.

Augustin and Margaret had at least 11 children:

• Sarah (or Sally or Sadie) abt 1868-1959
• James 1871
• Thomas 1873-1901
• James J. 1874-1901
• Joseph Patrick 1878-1953
• Edward 1879-1887
• John 1880-1881
• Mary 1884-1919
• Michael 1885-1917
• Charles 1888-1964
• Catharine 1890-1891
• Augustin F. 1892-1966

Three died in infancy. One died aged 8, and two died in their 20s. Of those who survived, three married and had families. Charles and Augustin adopted the spelling McCorkle. All lived all their lives in the Cincinnati area. 

Did Augustin ever return to Mara Township after making his way to Cincinnati? He had family members there. Did he stay in touch with his siblings, some of whom settled in the United States? 

And did he know his Dougherty first cousins in Cincinnati? 

The never ending story continues....

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

Cincinnati - Unwrapping a Puzzle 5: Joseph M. Dougherty (1835-1886)

I'm still not near finished in unravelling and telling the stories of my ancestor uncles, aunts and cousins who chose Cincinnati as their home.

My youngest 2nd great uncle was Joseph M., who was just a boy when his older brothers James and Thomas went to Cincinnati in the late 1840s. But by 1855 he had followed them there, when he would have been just 19 years old. He was a young man during the American Civil War, but didn't enlist. I wonder why. Was there an underlying medical reason?

City directories tell us that Joseph (Joe?) lived with siblings his entire time in Cincinnati. There were changing casts of characters through the years, but always with family. He was a store clerk. He last appears in the 1884 Cincinnati city directory.

Thanks to one of those random acts of genealogical kindness, I was pointed to his 1886 burial record in St Joseph New Cemetery in Cincinnati. The name is spelled Daugherty, but his parents' names, Marcus and Mary Ann give me that confirmation, together with the fact that he's buried in the same plot as his siblings Thomas and Catharine.

Next, I went looking for more information about his death. Family Search had the actual complete record, which I didn't download and is now no longer there. He died at the Longview Asylum. The death record lists his occupation as insane, the cause of death is recorded as paralysis of the brain. I do have the death register as well, where his is one of a long list of names of deceased in March 1886.

I've read anecdotally about the broad reasons that people were confined to asylums in the 19th century, but went looking for more. Good old Snopes never disappoints. Their fact check, Reasons for Admission to Insane Asylums in the 19th century is well worth a read. But if you don't read it all, I'll post there closing paragraph here:

"In general, this document might be more accurately described as “a list of some reasons why people were believed to have eventually developed illnesses that led to their being admitted to the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane” and not a list of “symptoms” or “reasons” why people were admitted to that hospital."

I'll always wonder why Joe was committed. Was this a family decision, or was the decision taken out of their hands? He was just 49 years old when he died.

I'm still not sure why Joseph, his sisters Catharine and Louisa, and his then deceased older brother James were included in the 1861 Lower Canada census with their father Marcus. They were all clearly in Cincinnati by then.

The never ending story continues.....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

More Cincinnati mysteries: An unknown marriage and spouses buried in separate cemetery plots

I've just found my 2nd great uncle Thomas Dougherty's death registered in Cincinnati, and it contains new information: he was 56 years old when he died on 15 Dec 1886, and he was born in Vermont. I had surmised, based on other information after I discovered him last year, that he was my 2nd great grandparents' first born, in about 1820 (it's worth repeating how bad cursive handwriting could be in the 19th century) and that as such, that he'd been born in Ireland. This rejigs the order of birth as outlined in my post here.

The information also noted that he was married and died of kidney disease. Below is the extract from the burial register -- it's enlarged as much as possible. The information stretches across the page.

Now, through decades of city directory listings that I've found, if Thomas wasn't living first with his brother James (1826-1860), he was usually listed as living with his other siblings. Rarely, he lives separate from family, and when he does, there isn't a woman living at the same address. Thomas and his brother James lived in Cincinnati as early as 1849, I discovered last year. Who was Thomas' wife and what happened to her?

Continuing the theme of unsolved mysteries, Cincinnati cemetery records reveal that Thomas, his brother Joseph (1835-1886) and his sisters Catharine (abt 1824-1896) and Isabella Dougherty McHugh (abt 1832-1890), along with a niece, Mary McHugh, are buried in the same plot. But, also buried in the same plot is a woman named Diana Mylott, who died 4 Jun 1884.

Who could she be? More record checking indicates that in the 1880 census, Diana Mylott was a widow, a seamstress, with two young adult daughters. Oh, and they lived that year with my 2nd great aunts and uncles and Isabella's children at 138 Baum in Cincinnati.

1880 census, 138 Baum, Cincinnati

The Mylotts also lived at that address with my relatives in at least 1879 and 1881. City directories and censuses back to 1860 show Diana (living without a husband) with her daughters, both of whom died within a couple of years of their mother. Did her husband (whose name apparently was Edward, based on death records) die in the American Civil War? I've never found an Edward Mylott. It's not lost on me that the name Mylott may be an anglicized form of Mailhot or Maillot, French family names. Diana's daughters, Josie and Katie, are buried in the same plot as Isabella's husband James H. McHugh (1827-1905) and their son, Marcus Ambrose McHugh (abt 1856-1912). Then I saw that Katie Mylott (1860-1887), had a will, in which she left half of that burial plot to my 2nd great aunt, Isabella McHugh.

Did Katie sell part of her burial plot because my 2nd great aunts and uncles needed more space? Perhaps it was in lieu of room and board given to her, her mother and sister. We'll never know. Soon after Diana died in 1884, Katie and Josie left 138 Baum, because they then appear at another address in subsequent city directories until their deaths from consumption in 1887 and 1886 respectively.

I'd already decided that Isabella and James McHugh must have had an if not stormy, an unhappy marriage. More often than not, Cincinnati city directories have her living at the same address as her brothers and sisters, with some of her children, while James lives at another address, sometimes with one or two of their sons. It seems that Isabella definitely wanted to make sure that she and James didn't lay at rest together for eternity. But I can't help but wonder about Diana. By 1864, that year's city directory identifies her as a widow. Was she a friend to Isabella or another of my 2nd great aunts or uncles? Or was there a familial relationship between Diana and the Cincinnati Doughertys?

The never ending family story continues.....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

The mystery of Mary Ann Dougherty, born about 1854

A few years ago, when I found my great grandfather John James Dougherty (1833-1893) in the 1871 Canada Census, his household included a mystery. At the time, he was married to his first wife, Mary Ann Gannon (1838-1871)  and living in Granby, where he gave his occupation as a farmer and butcher. Yes, Mary Ann died soon after the census was conducted.

But also listed was a child, Mary Ann Dougherty, whose age given was 13 and who was reported to have been born in the United States. Who was she? I decided at that time to attribute her to an earlier marriage of Mary Ann Gannon's or of my great grandfather (although I could find no record of an earlier marriage), but was unable to find any further information about Mary Ann.

1871 Canada census, Granby, Shefford, Quebec 

1877 Cincinnati city directory 

Then, last year, I found Mary Ann in the 1877 Cincinnati city directory living at the same address as my 2nd great uncle Joseph M. Dougherty (1835-1886), along with a Marcus Dougherty, who I concluded was yet another 2nd great uncle (he couldn't have been my 2nd great grandfather, also a Marcus Dougherty, as he died in 1864). At that time, Mary Ann would have been about 23 years old.

But while that that Marcus Dougherty appears in the 1878 Cincinnati directory, Mary Ann did not, and I couldn't find her anywhere.

 Then a few weeks ago, I happened upon a 7 year old "Mary Ann Docherty" in the 1861 census of Elgin Township in Huntingdon, Lower Canada, living with an elderly couple in a log house, who was also recorded as having been born in the United States. This was just far too coincidental.

1861 census, Elgin Township, Huntingdon, Lower Canada

Aside from the consistency in birthplace and age, another of my 2nd great aunt, Mary Louisa (1838-1913)  had been baptized in Ormstown, also in Huntingdon, in 1839. It's not too much of a stretch to think that there was a friendship between the Doughertys and McMenamins that endured for several years.

I've got a theory that Mary Ann was a child of the 2nd great uncle Marcus as I'll call him, and a daughter of the elderly couple, whose family name, after some research and consultation, I've settled on as McMenamin. Note that the census taker helpfully lists Edward McMenamin, but identifies his wife as Mrs Edward McMenamin.

Did Mary Ann's mother die in childbirth? Given that Edward McMenamin was 77 and his wife was 60 in 1861, they likely died before 1871, when Mary Ann is living with my great grandfather. But she's not living with him in the 1881 census, when she would have been 27 years old.

What a sad, nomadic life Mary Ann must have had, being shunted from one set of relatives to another as a child.

What happened to Mary Ann Dougherty after 1877? I suspect that one day, I'll find another piece of the puzzle that is Mary Ann and learn more about her life.

But don't get me started about that other Marcus, who could well be Mary Ann's father. I can find no mention of him before 1877 or after 1878.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

Discovering Sarah Doherty and her descendants

A tantalizing bright shiny object (BSO) presented itself to me early yesterday morning when a genealogy cousin reminded me that she had sent me details a month ago (!) about a new DNA match. I was out of the country when that happened, but she quickly filled me in. It's a big new find.

The DNA match showed that my genealogy cousin and another person's common ancestor is my 3rd great grandmother Isabella McLaughlin, and that connection is through someone new.

I have a new, previously unknown third cousin once removed, Sarah Doherty (1826-1861), a daughter of Thomas Doherty and Bridget McCloskey. Thomas was one of my 2nd great grandfather Marcus' brothers. The name Sarah confirms that this was a family name. It was a name given by her uncle Marcus Doherty (1815-1903) of Montreal and her great uncle Rev James Dougherty (1796-1878) of Vermont to their respective daughters.

Sarah's husband was Patrick Joseph McCorkell (1824-1904). They married before they emigrated from County Donegal in about 1850 to Canada, settling first in Toronto and then about two hours north of there in what is now Simcoe County. Some of her descendants are still there today. And speaking of descendants, well, I'm still populating my genealogy database with all of them.

The 1861 Canada Census shows Sarah, Patrick and their family living in Mara, near present day Orillia, Ontario.

Canada Census 1861, Township of Mara

As you can see, Sarah and Patrick had six children:

• Augustine (abt 1945-1904)
• James Edmund (bet 1848 & 1850 - 1923)
• Catherine (1851-1927)
• Patrick Joseph (1854-1933)
• John (1856-1928)
• Sarah (1858-1871)

I've already found that four of these sons married and had children. More descendants! Sadly, not long after the census was conducted, Sarah passed away. She was only 34 or 35 years old.

Sarah Doherty's grave marker. Photo found on Ancestry

Did you notice 25 year old Margaret Doughty (sic) on the census? I wonder who she was. She wasn't Sarah's sister -- we already know of that Margaret Dougherty (1819-1893), who was part of the Kingston, New York Doughertys. 

But wait there's more. The eldest son, Augustine, made his life in Cincinnati, arriving there by 1870, and staying there the rest of his life, marrying and having eight children.

Readers of this blog will know about my Cincinnati connections. Did he know my five 2nd great aunts and uncles who were there at the same time? They would have been his first cousins once removed, with their mother Sarah being first cousin to my 2nd great grandfather, Marcus Dougherty (1794-1864).

Augustine, his wife, and some of their children are buried in the same Cincinnati cemetery as four of my 2nd great aunts and uncles.

Much work remains to be done, as I try to connect the dots of a Cincinnati connection between these two Dougherty family branches. These new discoveries have again back burnered my Filles du Roi research commitment, but this is far too huge a discovery to set aside.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

DNA confirms Cincinnati Doughertys connection

After discovering so much detail last year about my several 2nd great aunts and 2nd great uncles who made their ways from Quebec's Eastern Townships to build lives in Cincinnati in the mid-19th century, good old DNA has confirmed our connection through one of their descendants to my brother. I unravelled their stories here and here.

For the first time we have a DNA link to my 2nd great grandparents Mary Ann Diamond (abt 1802-1842) and Marcus Dougherty (1794-1864) from these Cincinnati Doughertys.

I had contacted an Ohio man who I was quite sure was a distant cousin several months ago, after finding his family tree on Ancestry. Slowly, he built out his family tree. He visited the Cincinnati cemetery where several of the 2nd great aunts and uncles are buried and sent me pictures of their markers. I asked if he had considered doing the AncestryDNA test, and eventually he did. His results came back a few days ago, and today he linked those results to his family tree. And we've got that confirmation. My brother shares Dougherty and Diamond DNA with that Ohio man, who is our 3rd cousin once removed and whose 3rd great grandmother was Isabella Dougherty (abt 1832-1890), sister to our great grandfather, John James Dougherty (1833-1893).

I'm just a tad jealous of my brother, because he is the first of us to have a Diamond DNA link. I wonder if that new link will open new research doors.

The never ending story continues.....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

Vermont lives lived: the daughters of Rev James Dougherty

As I wrote here, my 2nd great great uncle Rev James, the Congregational minister, married twice and had three daughters, none of whom married, and so after they died, he left no descendants. But his daughters have their own stories. Don't we all?

James and his first wife, Celia, had two daughters, Sarah Curran (1834-1861) and Isabella Celia (1836-1894). Sarah died aged only 26, "after a long and painful illness which was patiently born." She was, according to this lengthy obituary that appeared in the Lamoille Newsdealer on 25 Oct 1861, well loved by her students and a wide circle of friends. Her obituary starts in the first column and ends in the second column, and includes such praise as "Her attention to her textbooks did not hamper or mind or prevent general reading or liberal culture." Obituaries in the 19th century, particularly for women, were full of much flowery prose.


I think that the birth of Isabella, called Isabel, contributed to Celia's death, five days after Isabella was born.

Isabel Dougherty obit 

Isabel's passing on 1 Jun 1894 is briefly noted in a column of community and social notes. She died from pneumonia. She was the last of the three sisters to die, two weeks after the passing of her younger sister, Mary Louisa (1838-1894), called Louise, whose cause of death is listed as Bright's disease, something that today would be called chronic nephritis.

Isabel and Louise shared the same home all of their lives. They must have been very close. Their estates were wound up at the same time. Probate records are online and offer a snapshot into the household of two genteel ladies of the late 19th century, listing the household contents. Isabel had already started the paperwork related to winding up Louise's estate. Her signature appears in a court document. Both died intestate, and so on 22 Jun 1894, their cousin Judge Marcus of Montreal, signed a letter requesting the appointment of an administrator of both estates (who turns out to have been Emily Drake's husband). Always a small world. It took five years to wind up both estates. I tracked this from published legal notices.

I wonder if these three sisters, my 1st cousins 3x removed, knew their Kingston, Granby or Cincinnati cousins and their families, wrote to them or exchange visits with them. And did they know about their Irish cousins in Dungiven?

In the deposition signed on 27 Jul 1899 attached to Isabel's probate records, Judge Marcus mentions the surviving Cincinnati and Kingston cousins, and his own brother Paul in Dungiven.

"that the late Isabella C. Dougherty (and Mary Louisa Dougherty) ...was my cousin on her father's side and that she was also the cousin of Paul Dougherty, my brother, of the County Derry, in Ireland and of Catharine and Louisa, spinsters, of Cincinnati in the state of Ohio, and of  Isabella and Bridget Dougherty, both of the City of New York in the state of New York, all on her father's side also, and that all of these cousins survived the said Isabella C. Dougherty (and Mary Louisa Dougherty)..."

He definitely knew where everyone in his far flung family was -- almost. Judge Marcus notes in his deposition that Isabel's other surviving cousins on her father's side included:

"another cousin, Thomas Sullivan, who lived with Rev James in Johnson...Vermont who was much her junior, as also younger than all the above named cousins and might and would under certain circumstances presumed to have survived her ....but of whom this deponent can give no account as to his life or residence and that she had other cousins of whom this deponent can now affirm nothing on oath."

1877 Cincinnati directory

Judge Marcus doesn't include in his deposition the name of my great grandfather, John James Dougherty, who was also a first cousin of Isabel, as he predeceased her in 1893. I've never been able to find anything about Thomas Sullivan or his parentage -- and who were those other cousins about whom Judge Marcus was unable to provide any information? Were they the Marcus and Mary Ann Dougherty listed in the 1877 Cincinnati directory?

Mary Hoxie Dougherty obit

Louise's mother was Rev James' second wife, a widow herself, Mary Hoxie Drake (1795-1881), who brought one daughter, Emily Drake (1826-1892), into her marriage in 1837 to Rev James. He appears as Emily's guardian in several documents before she reached adulthood.

I've been unable to find newspaper stories or obituaries about Celia Hall Dougherty, Rev. James' first wife, who died in 1836 in Milton. So far.

Rev James, his wives and daughters are all buried at the Whitting Hill Cemetery, in Johnson, Lamoille County, Vermont.

The never ending story continues...

Unwrapping a puzzle 4: More about those Cincinnati Doughertys

Exciting finds last night in my often random genealogy research. I have trouble staying on topic, I admit it, but there are so many bright shiny objects that catch my eye. Just writing this post, I'm having to force myself to stay on topic. True!

Like last night. The 1842 Census of Lower Canada indicates that nine people lived in my 2nd great grandfather, Marcus Dougherty's household in Granby. That number now makes perfect sense since I discovered Thomas and Isabella, the two new children. All seven children and parents accounted for in February 1842. Yes, that's when the census was done. Can you imagine doing a census in the middle of a Quebec winter? That summer, my 2nd great grandmother Mary Ann died. I concluded that at some point after that is when first Thomas and James made their way to Cincinnati. Still not sure why, but did you know that Cincinnati had a population of 115,435 in 1850, including a sizable Irish population? I didn't either.

I went back to the Cincinnati city directories with fresh eyes and joined the Hamilton County Genealogical Society for access to records they have on their website.

The earliest I find a Thomas in Cincinnati is in 1849/50, James in 1850/51. There are only one of each, by the way.

1855 Cincinnati directory 

In this post I wondered if the 1853 directory showing Dougherty & Brother wines & liquor at 7 Water were James and Thomas. Last night I found the 1855 directory listing -- and look! Joseph M., brother of James and Thomas is a clerk at Dougherty & Bro and living with James. Yes, these are all my great great uncles. And yes, these were the earliest North American entrepreneurs of my line of Doughertys. Entrepreneurship has been a constant in my family history.

I also found a 13 Feb 1854 marriage between James and Mary McGough in Cincinnati listed on a Hamilton County Genealogical Society database. Previously, I had Gough as her maiden name, based on James' burial record (below) as completed by a French Canadian priest. Joseph was living with James and his sister in law according to the 1855 Cincinnati directory.

By 1857, Catharine has joined her brothers, as confirmed in that year's city directory, but the business is no more, as the occupations of James and Thomas show here:

1857 Cincinnati directory

Their sister Isabella Dougherty McHugh is living across the river in Kentucky with her young family at that point.

And yet the 1861 census of Canada lists James (posthumously), Catharine, Joseph and Louisa as living in Granby, when the previous year and following years they appear in Cincinnati records. Did they all go back, or did their father list them as living there for whatever reason?

The Granby burial record of James on 21 Mar 1860 says he died on the 18th. Did he die in Cincinnati and was his casket transferred by train to Granby? Or did he die in Granby? And what happened to his wife, Mary? Did they have any children in their six years together?

Notre Dame Parish, Granby, Quebec register

The never ending story continues ....

Unwrapping a Puzzle 3: Why Cincinnati?

Getting places in the mid 19th century was not an easy or straightforward task. Horse and buggy or coach, steamboat, or maybe--if you were lucky--trains were how people got from point A to point B.

What took so many of my great grandfather's siblings from Granby in Quebec's Eastern Townships to Cincinnati? How long would such a journey had lasted? If work was the reason, there were places much closer to Granby for them, aside from Montreal, which today is about an hour's drive from Granby. After years of research, I now know that my great grandfather and his large family had many close relatives: in Granby, nearby in Sherbrooke, in Vermont (less than an hour away from Granby today), and in Ulster (!) County about an hour north of New York City. They also likely had other Dougherty cousins in Quebec, but that's a mystery I'm still nowhere near to unravelling.

My great aunt Isabella Dougherty married James H. McHugh in Cincinnati on November 17, 1853. But what family was there with her? She may then have been as young as 18. It's hard to imagine a young woman being allowed to make her way alone on a journey that was then such a great distance. Her father Marcus remained in Granby and so too at that point, Isabella's siblings. As far as I know. But, here again is where those lovely city directories may shed some light. The 1853 Cincinnati city directory lists the following:

"Dougherty & Brother (Thomas and James)

Wines, liquors & c 7 Water

residence: 67 Richmond"

Were these my great uncles Thomas and James? I think so. My cousins will be bemused or possibly amused to see that the Dougherty entrepreneurial spirit may go way back. Did Isabella travel with them to Cincinnati? Their other siblings followed permanently after 1861, based on census and city directory records. But James did return to Granby by 1859, and died there in 1860 from consumption. How do I know this? This fact is recorded in the 1861 census. 

And check out that 1861 census for the Township of Granby. Amazing. It shows that Isabella and her husband James McHugh went to Granby from Cincinnati. I've found the baptismal records for two of their children, who were born there and not in Ireland. And they lived right next to her father and siblings. More to come about the McHugh family, who did return to Cincinnati by the late 1860s. Also, note the several spellings of Dougherty in one nuclear family. Census takers in the 19th century weren't hired based on their spelling ability or their attention to detail. I think they surmised. Lots. Just saying.

And the never ending story continues ....

Unwrapping a Puzzle 2: Marcus, Mary Ann and all their children

Going from "a lost soul" to a brother to several siblings, here is what I've discovered about my paternal great grandfather's immediate family. This has been patched together over several years, finding clues in the oddest places.

Marcus and Mary Ann married in Donegal, as early now as 1817. That part of Donegal is now in Ulster. They likely married in a small town called Dungiven. Records at the local Catholic church, St Patrick's, go back only to 1825. All before that has been lost. And the central records in Dublin were of course mostly destroyed during the Four Courts conflagration in Dublin in 1922. 

By 1830 in Vermont, Marcus and Mary Ann had at least three children:

• Thomas b abt 1830, Vermont, d 15 Dec 1886, Ohio
• Catharine b about 1824, Dungiven, d May 1896, Cincinnati
• James b 12 Nov 1826 (I have his baptismal record) Dungiven, d 18 Mar 1860, Granby, Quebec

They subsequently had at least the following additional children:

• Isabella b about 1832, Vermont d 26 Feb 1890, Cincinnati
• John James b 17 Jun 1833, South Hero, Grand Isle, Vermont, d 26 Apr 1893, Sherbrooke, Quebec (my great grandfather)
• Joseph M. b 15 Nov 1835, Granby, Shefford, Canada East, d 6 Mar 1886, Longview, Ohio
• Mary Louisa b 25 Dec 1838, Granby, Shefford, Canada East, d 15 Mar 1913, Norwood, Ohio

Thomas and Isabella are the latest discoveries, pointed out to me last week by kind souls in the Hamilton County Ohio Genealogy Facebook group. Isabella married and had a family. Watch for another post about them. And guess what? At various times, Thomas and Isabella lived at the same addresses in Cincinnati as Catherine, Joseph and Mary Louisa (who went by Louise or Louisa). City directories are beautiful genealogy resources.

But wait there's more. Because isn't there always? 

I had found Joseph in Cincinnati awhile ago, and suspected he was one of my Doughertys for a few years. Then, about five years ago, I came across an affidavit attached to the wills of the daughters of Rev James Dougherty D.D. (1796-1878), who was the younger brother of my great grandfather. The affidavit was signed by Judge Marcus Doherty QC (1815-1903), the nephew of my great grandfather and Reverend James. This nephew Marcus had come from Ireland as a young man in about 1833, taught, then went to the University of Vermont and became a lawyer. More about him to come. The affidavit, sworn on July 27, 1899, reads in part:

"that the late Isabella C. Dougherty (and Mary Louisa Dougherty) ...was my cousin on her father's side and that she was also the cousin of Paul Dougherty, my brother, of the County Derry, in Ireland and of Catharine and Louisa, spinsters, of Cincinnati in the state of Ohio, and of  Isabella and Bridget Dougherty, both of the City of New York in the state of New York, all on her father's side also, and that all of these cousins survived the said Isabella C. Dougherty (and Mary Louisa Dougherty)..."

This was an amazing and fantastic wow moment. Read the complete will and affidavit here. The affidavit is on pages 8 and 9. A fascinating snapshot of life in the late 19th century. I'll be writing all about the ancestors mentioned here as time goes on.

Back to all of my great grandfather's Cincinnati siblings for a moment before I finish this post. Again, thanks to the kindness of social media folk, last week, I discovered that the brothers and sisters, Thomas, Isabella, Catharine and Joseph are all buried in the same cemetery section (scroll down) In all cases, their parents' names are given. Louise is buried in the same section as two nieces (daughters of Isabella).

And yet there's more. The 1877 Cincinnati city directory lists another Marcus Dougherty and a Mary Ann Dougherty living at the same address as Joseph M. Dougherty. (update: I write about Mary Ann further here)

Who are these newest Doughertys? More children of Marcus and Mary Ann? The never ending story continues....