The Other Seattle McGinnis Family

Calvary Cemetery is the Resting Place for Another McGinnis Brother and his Wife. They are Arthur and Mary Margaret (Buckley) McGinnis Resting Under a Common Marker.

Mary preceded her husband in death by some 15 years. She was buried on November 1, 1917 and Arthur was laid to rest on September 3, 1932. A picture of Arthur has yet to surface but there are two or three pictures of his wife. Arthur and Mary were both from Chatham, New Brunswick, and they were married there in 1878, three years before he emigrated to the States. She followed a year later. Arthur presumably also followed his brothers to Chicago where his first two children, Mary Margaret and John were born. Arthur, along with his wife and probably an infant daughter, was in the 1885 Chicago city directory with the occupation of carpenter and living in the same house at 285 24th ave was brother younger brother Hugh, also a carpenter. James and his wife Mary Ellen were living on Clark Street about 5 miles north of Arthur and Hugh.

Arthur does appear in early Seattle records still a carpenter. At some time he drifted away from that occupation and went to work for the city. In the 1900 census his occupation is listed as a "stoker in a gas house", in 1910 as a "laborer" for the city, 1n 1920 as a "street department laborer" and in 1930 he is "retired".

Some of the offspring of the McGinnis clan are also buried in Calvary. A list of the succeeding generation and their places of rest still needs to be compiled though.

There were children of the marriage and any information to be found is rather sketchy at the moment but the search slowly continues whenever a new clue or idea of what to search for comes to mind.

The following picture was taken during a visit our Grandmother Mary Ellen made to Seattle to be around family. The photo shows Mary Ellen and her sister-in-law, Mary Margaret, along with John P. McGinnis, his wife and two children. Based on the age of the infant Helen in the arms of her mother the photo was taken sometime in 1916 or early 1917 before the death of Mary Margaret in November of 1917.

It's interesting to note that our grandmother, Mary Ellen, tended to be certain to save photos of family members that were probably the last she had taken of a particular individual. A photo of Robert Ferguson, Uncle of Mary Mills is another such instance.

From left: Mary Margaret (Buckley) McGinnis, Son John P., Johns wife Gretchen (Schroder) holding young Helen, Mary Ellen (Donahue) McGinnis. Three year old Mary is in front.

As stated, this was probably taken in the last year of life of Mary Margaret and but two or three years after the death of our grandfather James McGinnis. Mary Ellen had plenty of help back home during the years after her husbands death as the farm was now being run by her children. She finally had time to travel and around 1920 her and her sister Catherine made a trip back home to Manitowoc to visit all their Donahue relatives.