Examining Possible Relationships From Church Records, Nelson and Chatham, Northumberland County, New Brunswick Canada / Marriages of Catherine and Mary McGinnis, Our Great-Grandaunts / Also the Ferguson Connection

It has proved impossible to date to find any data or method to really define where any of our Irish ancestors resided in the home country. Someday that may change but as of now the only records of any kind for either the Donahue’s or the McGinnis families can only be found in North American records beginning around the mid 19th century.  Finding even these records has proven out to be a significant find for me personally.  This is an attempt to present some sort of a lasting record regarding what we know so far.  Again this is an attempt to piece together a few facts and provide some sort of an explanation for others someday to expand on as other records are found about the family.  I do not consider this as proof of anything, only my assessment of the events.

With the McGinnis family, the earliest surviving documents to be found during my searches are to be found in the Catholic parish records of Eastern Canada.  These records are found on microfilm and published by the Drouin Genealogical Institute of Quebec.  This storehouse of information is priceless and it’s origin is as described from a posting here in June of 2009:

“The Drouin Genealogical Institute of Quebec took on the task of microfilming all the church records of the various Catholic parishes administered out of Quebec City which is a considerable amount of records. The area involved in the task essentially covered every parish in the provinces of Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, all under the auspices of the presiding Archbishop or Cardinal residing in Quebec City or Montreal. The effort begun in the 1940's was primarily meant to record French genealogy records but as is evident the task encompassed all parishes, French or English speaking. Since the Maritime Provinces, unlike Quebec of course, are primarily English speaking with many sizeable pockets of French culture it was determined that all records would be filmed in order to capture the data of all the French families”.

Searching through these records the possible existence of other early McGinnis family members to Canada began to surface, namely the names of two likely sisters of our McGinnis Patriarch, John McGinnis Sr.  John immigrated to Canada in 1836 and died in Chatham, New Brunswick in 1860 leaving behind his second wife Margaret McCarron and six children, one of which was James McGinnis Sr., our grandfather.  The two possible sisters can only be proven through making associations recorded in the parish records which is not a foolproof method but it the only process available due to the lack of civil records.

The two possible sisters are Mary and Catherine McGinnis.  Those two names combined as Mary Catherine were passed on to two succeeding generations of the family of Hugh and Catherine McGinnis.  Hugh of course was a brother of our grandfather James, both of the surviving six children of John Sr.  This is not a definite proof of the existence of the two possible sisters of John Sr. since these are both such common names in the Irish tradition of naming children.  But it is something to be considered when attempting to piece all this together.

The most direct proof that might apply then are in the parish records of two churches, St. Patrick’s in the small community of Nelson and St. Michael’s in Chatham, the two small towns being but ten miles apart.  St. Patrick’s was established about 1811 and St. Michael’s in 1839.  Keep in mind an extremely confusing issue comes to play here in that a McInnis and a McGinnis came together in marriage making the records somewhat mind boggling to read through at times.  Keeping the names straight while attempting to absorb the events and dates has proved out to be very challenging at times.

The following events have been found in the microfilm records but they are not all the entries regarding the family available. I only include those events that I feel tend to validate the existence of the two sisters of John McGinnis Sr.  The events and the witnesses are the key to this puzzle.  The names of Mary and a sister Catherine intertwine in important family events over a period of many years.  It may only be circumstantial on the surface but personally I do believe it is highly probable that the two sisters did exist.

1. According to the 1850 census of Chatham an entry states that John McGinnis Sr. entered Canada in 1836.  This is my beginning point for our McGinnis family.
2. An entry in the parish record of November 18, 1839 in St. Patrick's parish in nearby Nelson records the marriage of one Andrew McInnis and Catherine McGinnis.  At this point we might only assume this is a sister of John Sr. for one John McGinnis is a witness.  It is still not established that this is the same John McGinnis that entered Canada in 1836 nor that John and Catherine in the record are brother and sister.  This also begins the task of attempting to keep the two surnames, McInnis (sometimes spelled McInnes) and McGinnis straight in the mind to keep the spellings from confusing the issue.  McInnis and it’s variants are of Scotch descent and of course McGinnis is of Irish origin.
3. The next date of interest in December 27, 1840 when at St. Michael’s parish in Chatham, Andrew McInnis and Catherine McGinnis baptized their first child John McInnis.  Witnesses were John McGinnis and Mary McGinnis.  We still cannot say for sure that this is the same John McGinnis that entered Canada in 1836.  It is reasonable to assume though that the parents of the child are the same that married about a year earlier in Nelson.  What is worth considering here is that one John McGinnis was a witness at both events suggesting that it is the same person in both instances.  The record spells the parents name as McGinnis and I suggest that the priest was in a hurry and did not record the surname of McInnis correctly.  These records were sometimes put together days if not weeks after the actual events providing room for error as the priest might sometimes attempt to bring his records up to date from memory only.  Spelling of surnames was really rather haphazard at times regardless of when the record was entered which is easy to see when looking through many microfilm pages.
4. On January 30, 1845 a marriage record is entered in St. Michael’s parish in Chatham between John Ferguson and Mary McGinnis.  This marriage is what establishes the relationship of Mary Agnes McGinnis and Mary Mills as second cousins.  It was well known in our family that the two, our mother Mary Agnes and Mary Mills, were cousins and in order for this to be a fact this marriage establishes that John Ferguson married a McGinnis of our line, a sister of John McGinnis Sr. in all likelihood. It is well known that John Ferguson was the grandfather of Mary Mills and he was married to Mary McGinnis and for the cousin relationship to be established Mary McGinnis, the grandmother of Mary Mills, had to be of our McGinnis line.  This works out to establish that an unknown McGinnis in Ireland, the father of John McGinnis Sr.  and his sister Mary McGinnis Ferguson, was a great-grandfather to both of these cousins.  Note: this marriage was entered in the records as both January 30 and September 30, 1845.  I have accepted the earlier date for now due to date of birth of the first child of the marriage, Robert, in late December 1845.
5. Time goes by and the next date of interest in the church records is December 21, 1845 when Robert Ferguson the first child of John Ferguson and wife Mary McGinnis was baptized.  This child later becomes the uncle of Mary Mills and the man that established his farm in Florence next to James McGinnis.  The two were first cousins based on the unknown McGinnis patriarch in Ireland.  Both men settling next to one another to live out their lives adds to the credibility of the relationship of the two families.  Robert never did marry but his sister Catherine married Luke Mills and were the parents of Mary and Charlie Mills.
6. On September 15, 1847, our grandfather James McGinnis, first child of John McGinnis Sr.and Margaret McCarron, was baptized. The godparents were one John McCarron and Mary Ferguson. If the tradition of naming relatives as godparents holds true then assumedly Mary (McGinnis) Ferguson is a relative. John McCarron is a mystery but if tradition is followed here then he might be a brother or cousin of the mother, Margaret McCarron. John McCarron disappears from all records after this event.
7. John McGinnis Jr., the second child of John McGinnis Sr. and Margaret McCarron, was baptized on August 26, 1849.  The godparents were Andrew and Catherine McInnes.  Again, if tradition is followed then the godparents were relatives.  This adds substance to the relationship of Catherine as a probable sister of John McGinnis Sr.
8. On March 25, 1850 the fifth and last child of Andrew McInnis and wife Catherine McGinnis was baptized.  The godparents were John Ferguson and Margaret McCarron.  This brings family in as godparents as John Ferguson is married to Mary McGinnis and Margaret McCarron was the wife of John McGinnis Sr.

Personally I feel the intertwining of all these people within just these family events is more than telling, it is really rather substantial proof but based on circumstances only.  There are no definite records uncovered to date that really state factually that John McGinnis Sr., Catherine McGinnis McInnis and Mary McGinnis Ferguson were siblings.  The events and the names above tend to provide strong credence however and until more records are found someday this is what I consider my reasonable assessment of the relationships.

One issue remains to be examined and it may be very important and that is to examine the entry dates to Canada of the two sisters, Mary and Catherine, as well as their year of birth.  It very well may work out that the sisters immigrated before their brother John McGinnis and these facts might cast a different light on what I have presented here.

To summarize…………….

Credibility of Catherine McGinnis are found in items 2, 3, 7 & 8

Credibility of Mary McGinnis are found in items 3, 4, 5 & 6

I apologize if this really belabors the issue and only tends to present a confusing explanation of my take on all this.  To me it is all rather clear and that I suppose is because I have pored over these records so many times and as a result much of it is committed to memory.  Not everyone will see it as I do but do give it time.  It very well may eventually make sense, at least that is my hope.

The Crane Incident- The Flying Types, Not Mechanical……….. !

In Florence, about summer of 1950-

Probably the strangest event I have ever witnessed- 


Life along the river on a quiet summer night could be very peaceful.  The occasional sound of a passing steam powered train a half mile north across the river was one of the sounds that might arise to really disturb an evening after all the truck and automobile truck traffic along the road in front of the house had lessened.  After dark, traffic really was light and it could be several minutes between vehicles.  It could be very pleasant and near sublime at times, at least to me in my memories some sixty years or so later.

During the pea harvest season, the constant sound of the trucks carrying the freshly vined peas, stacked in neat wood box crates on the back of the trucks, going up and down the river road in front of the house, going back and forth between the vining machines on the many farms of the area and the cannery in Stanwood. So much of the areas harvest passed in front of our home every day and into the night during the corn and pea harvests.   Not every night, but quite often, in order to keep the local harvests on schedule the pea vining crews would work under lights at the vining machine well into the night.  How late I never realized for I always drifted off to sleep even with all the quiet noise one encountered in that wonderful period of my life.

Of course, on occasion, one might hear the loud bray of a  bull confined to his small pen adjacent to the barn milking parlor on the farm directly across the river from Uncle John's home, the home where Mother grew up.  What might disturb the animal, I never understood, for his brood, his private harem, had completed their evening milking before sunset and  were all lying down and at rest in the fields for the night, chewing their cud in the rapidly declining light, and once again awaiting the morning milking routine.  All was at peace until the "Bull" gave his call of unrest.  Or was it his sign of approaching danger?   But he could certainly assert himself and give notice to all around him, that this was his right, his duty to express his instincts of the moment.  Poor guy, what a life to live.  I need not say more, for his duties certainly had it's ups and downs.  Sometimes he was needed, sometimes he was not.  Perhaps his call was nothing other than an expression of extreme frustration.  Most likely he was still hungry, I shall never know.

But I was a distant witness to his demise one evening just after dusk.  Something I shall never forget, and once again it was the loud call of this confined bull across the river.  A very strange thing to have witnessed and it happened so quickly.

It was a common sight to see large winged cranes fly along the river, usually in the morning and the evenings as I recall.  One evening while on the side porch with Uncle John feeding his faithful old dog "chummy" I did notice a crane flying in the weak light along the river at a customary height, about the height of power poles.  Not really very high, but that was not unusual for it seemed to be a convenient height for them when they were in flight.  But this one time was the last time for one surprised crane.

For some reason, the crane decided to alight and rest this one evening, and his choice of locations proved fatal for him and the old penned up bull.  I do have a slight memory of just watching the crane land on what was probably a common place to find  temporary roost for many cranes in the area.  That place was on a power line that ran along the road on the opposite bank.  A natural place to land for sure, it was at his level of flight but what happened then is difficult to describe in detail for it all happened at a seemingly lightning speed.  I turned away from watching the large bird and immediately I heard a squawk, saw a bright flash of light, and an extremely loud cry from the bull, a very drastic call for help I am sure, but alas it was his last call in the evening light.

What had happened was that the crane after settling on one wire of the dual-strand power service atop the poles, had for some reason reached across and in some fashion had made contact with the second strand of wire which immediately short-circuited the power as it went through it's body.  Of course it immediately killed the animal and it of course fell to the ground near the bull, which was penned outside at the corner of the barn directly below the bird.  But that was not the end of the event.

The power lines being damaged due to the direct short between the two wires caused by the bird, apparently weakened, broke and fell to the ground right within the bulls pen.  As commonly happens when a live power line comes into contact with the earth it begins to bounce around erratically powered by it's continuing contact with the ground.  The result was inevitable I suppose for the out of control live power wire instantly made contact with the bull, causing it to cry out in pain, and it too fell to the ground dead.  Again, a most horrible cry of helplessness I have never heard since in my life.

But that again was not the end of the story.  No more life of any sort was lost after the initial onslaught but the next thing to happen was that the live power wire then made contact with the barn somehow and immediately set the barn on fire.  It was rapidly building in strength as Uncle John and I stood there watching in disbelief what had just transpired in what seemed like just a split second.

We did eventually gather our wits and I was told to run next door to Mary and Charly's house and alert Mary to call the East Stanwood Fire Department.  Mary and Charley had the closest phone in the area. To this day I can't really remember what excited words may have come out of my mouth but Mary somehow understood and went immediately to her phone with Charley putting on his boots to race next door to view the scene with Uncle John.  It wasn't very long before we heard sirens coming from town and eventually wind their way down the river road on the far side to the barn.  The barn was actually saved, but with some serious damage.

What a sight it must have been for the farmer coming out of his house as well as for the arriving  firemen to come across the scene and to see such destruction.  Even today it seems an almost impossible scene to  me but I did witness it.   It doesn’t seem to have traumatized me for life however.  At least I hope not.  I do look for large flying birds whenever near a river though.  Never know what might happen.  Lightning can strike twice they say.

Cousin Mary Mills, A Milkmaid, A Terrific Baker, A Wonderful Memory-

To expand on some memories of Mary and Charlie Mills, what comes to mind more than anything is the lasting memory of Mary’s baking skills. She must have loved to bake and I can only say thank the Lord she did.

Anyone visiting Mary and Charlie was always offered a cup of tea and a sample of the latest from her oven. Be it cake, cookies or my very favorite her fresh baked biscuits as she called them. A biscuit was a large dinner sized bread roll, split open and covered with a generous smattering of butter. For those too young for a cup of tea, fresh milk from the days milking was the offer.

The one year we lived on the farm in Florence, from the summer of 1949 through the fall of 1950, was a special time for me. It was a totally different environment going from living in a city to living on a farm and along with the summer vacations, living on the farm where Mother was born and raised brings back the happiest memories of my young life.

Mary apparently enjoyed having children next door and when ever we could make an excuse to visit Mary and Charlie we would make a bee-line across the small field between the two houses to approach the back door knowing full well a baked treat of some sort was in store. Early on the excuse became “can we go over to Mary’s and read today’s funnies” in the morning edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer, a subscription that Mary and Charlie always had delivered to the front gate daily. We were always met with a smile and the anticipated offer of would you like a piece of cake or a biscuit as the well read daily paper was retrieved from the top of a small table, just large enough to spread out the paper and corral the treat that Mary retrieved from her small pantry off the kitchen. Such a small narrow space with but a small sink and lined with shelves where she stored all her baking supplies and utensils. Not large enough for cooking for certain so her mixing and preparation was always performed at the large oil-cloth covered kitchen table.

The funnies retrieved and the treat served a quiet time came upon the room as the funnies were absorbed. Occasional conversation would arise as Mary, or Charlie from his usual chair beside the stove, might ask a question about school or how Mother and/or Johnnie might be that day. Always a pleasant way, to spend the time after jumping down from the school bus that delivered us home each day and the time that milking began about four to five PM. But the underlying motivation was always to taste the wonderful product of Mary’s daily baking. The funnies, well they were important, but not as enjoyable the daily treat.

Mary and Charlie might have had a sweet tooth, for fresh baked goods were always at hand and if not baked by Mary, they might have been purchased at the front gate from the bakery delivery truck that would sound it’s horn at the road twice a week. Mary did not bake loaves of bread, only her wonderful bread biscuits, so their sliced bread was always purchased off the truck as he ran his route every day to all the outlying farms in the area.

What follows is taken from something I wrote several years ago about the wonderful memory of the bakery truck. It really was a special event to witness for nothing like this service was ever experienced while living in the city. It was a unique experience and the memory has always remained in a special and pleasant segment of my memory.


Golden Rule Bakery Truck

This was really something special. This was a bakery on wheels from Seattle with routes through the more remote areas of the Puget Sound area. The particular route we were on would bring the service to our door maybe two or three times a week but I could have dealt with it every day. When this panel truck sounded its familiar horn at the front gate of Mary Mills next door it was always an exciting time. I would rush to the road and run the fifty yards or so in order to be there, as Mary would come from the front door of the house and head towards gate at the roadside. As she approached the truck with the script written sign on the side panels proudly stating the name of the company,



then the driver would swing open the back doors of the truck and out would rush the most wonderful smells of fresh baked goods of all kinds. I can still recall those wonderful mouth watering smells to this day and no bakery in my lifetime has ever matched the wonderful memory of this special truck. The bakery goods of all kinds were all in neat packages from bread, to rolls to cookies, pastries and cakes all efficiently packed in tight from floor to roof , from front to back all placed in specially built shelves that the driver would pull out for one to see his luscious products. But the lingering smell was most wonderful on a warm summer morning after the sun had been beating on the steel sides and roof of the truck allowing the aroma of fresh baked goods to build up and concentrate to suddenly be released as the doors were first opened. It was magnificent ambrosia to a young one from the city.

It was probably a purchase by Mother or Uncle John that first introduced me to the pastry delight called a “Bear Claw”. What a wonderful treat this was for someone from the city where such items were a real luxury while growing up in Bremerton. I could never get enough of them and almost every summer day I would hope that today the truck would be stopping at our gate and Bear Claws would once again be purchased. If not a Bear Claw then perhaps something else as sweet and delectable would do just as well but this wish certainly was not fulfilled as much as I would have liked. The driver would only stop at our gate if Mom or Uncle John flagged him down as he reentered the road after pulling away from Mary’s house. Mary Mills was a good customer for the truck stopped faithfully every time for her and if I was within earshot of the unique musical sound of the trucks horn that the driver would proudly blast to announce his arrival at the gate. I would avail myself of every opportunity to be present as the doors were opened on that truck and it was even better than Mary’s kitchen on a baking day.

I missed the farm, Uncle John, the family dogs, Mary and Charlie when we moved back to Bremerton in 1950. Those times on the farm were so very special. Looking back on these times so many years later it is easy to see how Mary especially filled a place in my heart. She became almost a Grandmother figure which is something that never occurred to me early on in life. Only now can I make that connection. Our grandparents were long deceased by the time we were born. I wish the times could be given back.

The Cousins Next Door- Ferguson & Mills

Robert Ferguson, Mary Mills holding young Thomas Fountain McGinnis and Charlie Mills at the right,

circa early 1925

(The above photo, and the one of Charlie Mills that follows were provided by Molly McGinnis Wright, saved from her grandparents collection. This group photo serves to verify the identification of the elder gentleman on page 36 of the Album Mary Ellen McGinnis left behind that was never validated as being Robert Ferguson)

Mary Mills and her younger brother Charlie lived on the farm to the east of where Mother grew up in Florence. Neither of them ever married and I never, ever heard a word of anger come from either one of them. Politically or when discussing the ethics of other local citizens, Charlie could become very animated in his discussions, but Mary was always just the opposite. Soft spoken and with very gentle mannerisms. Some of my fondest memories are of these two. The one year we lived on the farm beginning in the summer of 1950 I believe through early fall of 1951 really is the time that my most warm and lasting memories of the two really are traced to.

They were friends, neighbors and relatives all in one. Mary was known to us as “Mamie”. Looking back I look on her almost as if she were my own Grandmother. Since she was 18 years older than Mother, looking back I can see how that came about. By the time I was born, all my grandparents had been long departed. Mamie seemed to fit the bill to me but I never ever expressed that openly. It was just an internal thing with me.

Actually Mother and Mamie were cousins and when tracing the family line, Mother, Mary and Charlie, can be traced back to a common great-grandfather. This patriarch of the McGinnis family has never been formally identified by name or place but it is assumed he was born and died in Ireland, probably in County Monaghan.

We grew up always knowing that Mother and Mary were cousins but just how they were related as second cousins was never explained and only in recent years due to interest in family history have I been able to define the relationship. Granted, perhaps there are other ways through marriage that created the relationship but all available evidence really traces the connection back to one unknown McGinnis great-grandfather of the two, a man whose given name we do not know, a man that most certainly lived his entire life in Ireland.

The following abbreviated family tree and table identifies the relationship of various family members to that one unknown man in Ireland. This connection is what establishes Mary Agnes McGinnis and Mary Mills as Second Cousins to one another. To my generation, the children of Mary Agnes and Charles Jones Sr., we are “Second Cousins Once Removed” to Mary and Charlie and to the unknown McGinnis ancestor from long ago Ireland, we are labeled as “Second Great-Grandchildren” to him.

The McInnis surname in the table is a branch of the McGinnis clan in New Brunswick. This branch comes from another child of the unknown ancestor, a daughter Catherine that married an Andrew McInnis, of Scotch descent, in Nelson, New Brunswick, in the vicinity of Chatham. A McGinnis marrying a McInnis makes looking through old church records a virtual nightmare when first coming across the marriage. No data tracing the McInnis descendants to current times has been found as yet. Another daughter, Mary, married into the Ferguson clan in Chatham which provides the relationship link to Mary and Charlie. In summary, the unknown ancestor had three children that we know of, son John, our great-great grandfather, as well as the two daughters described above. All the known descendants of these three siblings are included in the table.

Mary and Charlie lived on the ten acres of land inherited from their Uncle Robert Ferguson after he died in 1927. They continued tending their small herd of milking cows also left to them and through hard work on both their parts they managed to support themselves up until their deaths in the 1960’s. An album left behind by our grandmother Mary Ellen contains two photos on a page, side by side, of an older gentleman and another photo of Mary. This is what might be considered strong evidence that the gentleman is Robert. Our grandfather James McGinnis and his next door neighbor Robert Ferguson were first cousins. The two purchased the land for their farms, side by side, the very same day and began their life of farming in Florence together in 1891-1892.

Robert Ferguson (1845-1927) and Niece Mary C. Mills (1878- 1968)
Page 36 of the Photo Album Assembled by Mary Ellen McGinnis

Mary and Charlie were born in Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada where all the McGinnis family originated. Mary was born in 1878, Charlie in 1890. Their father Luke Mills married Catherine Ferguson, sister of Robert Ferguson. Catherine and Robert’s mother was Mary McGinnis and all evidence points to the fact that Mary McGinnis was a sister of our great-grandfather, John McGinnis. Difficult to put into words and thus a family tree is inserted here. Begin with the unknown McGinnis and the connection can easily be seen.

Mary and Charlie were but two of seven children with the birth years ranging from 1877 when William Mills was born to Charlie’s birth in 1890. Using census data it can be established that Mary left home in the early 1900’s and traveled to Boston to work as a domestic in homes in and around Boston. Her Boston destination was established through later anecdotal facts passed on to friends in Florence, namely from Ivy Hansen as related to her by her mother-in-law, Stella (sometimes spelled Estella) Hansen. Mary is not in the 1901 Canadian census nor has she been found in the 1900 U.S. census and the 1910 census states she immigrated in 1902. This establishes that she left New Brunswick at about age 24 or 25 when Brother Charlie was around 12 years old. As a rough estimate Mary was probably working in the Boston area as a servant of some sort beginning around 1900 or 1902 through about 1907 or 1908 when she came west to Florence to the farm of Robert Ferguson, her uncle.

Uncle Robert Ferguson had been farming about ten years when Mary left home and was probably well established. A single man, he rather than his sister Catherine Ferguson, now Catherine Mills, far away in Chatham, took on the responsibility for caring for their aging father, John Ferguson. John Ferguson is found in the 1900 Florence census living with his son Robert and his data states he immigrated in 1891 but had been in the States for 8 years meaning he immigrated in 1892. The latter is the most likely year he arrived in Florence for his son was still establishing his farm in 1891 and he probably would not have traveled all that far until some sort of a living accommodation was available.

John Ferguson died in March of 1908 in Florence, at the age of 88. His death certificate indicates a sudden but non-suffering end. From the document: “Cause of Death-Senility” followed with a statement: “He was not sick. Walked outside and came back and sat in a chair and died in a moment. Duration: 0 days.” No pictures of the senior Ferguson exist. His son Robert is buried beside him in the Florence Cemetery.

The facts tend to establish that Mary may have been asked to come west to Florence, assumedly from Boston, to help care for her grandfather whose health may have been failing. If not that reason, certainly the aging Uncle Robert was also soon to be in need of help around the farm and Mary in her late twenties in 1908, still single, may have been encouraged to come west and eventually fall heir to the farm since Robert had no other direct heirs. The exact year Mary arrived in Florence is not known but since she is in the 1910 Florence census the timing of her arrival to care for her grandfather is highly probable making the year she may have arrived in Florence as 1908, perhaps 1907.

Based on the 1930 Florence census data, brother Charlie Mills arrived from Chatham in 1925 to also help out on the farm. Their Uncle Robert died but two years after Charlie came on the scene and presumably the uncle’s health had begun to fail in the early 1920’s meaning more and more work was falling on Mary and she definitely needed help.

Charlie Mills, about 35 years old

Holding Young Thomas Fountain McGinnis (1923-1995)
Tommie probably about a year old (born November 20, 1923) making this photo date to be at least November 1924. Charlie’s 1930 census states he immigrated in 1925. If so then this might be very early 1925 making Tommie just about 14-16 months old. Regardless, this photo of Charlie had to have been taken just about the time he arrived from New Brunswick.

As stated both Charlie and Mary remained on the small farm of ten acres the rest of their lives managing a small dairy herd that I recall was always around ten cows. This was about three or four more than cousin John McGinnis next door always maintained alone.

Mary remained a devout Catholic all of her life and was active in maintenance of various church needs of St. Cecelia’s parish in East Stanwood that fell on the members of the Altar Society, a traditionally woman’s role in any Catholic parish. During our stays on the farm Mother did not always attend Mass on Sundays and many times Mary would take Don and me in tow and be off to Mass with us on foot to ensure that we completed our weekly obligation.

Mary and Charlie both would often relate stories to Don and me as we sat in the dining room of the Mills home as they told of the cold winters of their upbringing in New Brunswick. Of course these sessions were usually accompanied with milk from the mornings milking and fresh baked bread rolls or cake. Their stories always fascinated me as they acquainted us with a land so near yet so far away with a climate that seemed unimaginable. Obviously they were both pleased to have found sustenance for themselves in a much milder climate in North America. These early stories remained with me always and served to help arouse my curiosity in later years to pursue early family history in the Chatham area of New Brunswick where all these first generation Irish were raised.

Charlie preceded Mary in death by two years when he died on February 24, 1966 at the age of 76. Mary lived to the age of 90 when she passed away January 2, 1968. Just who the heirs were is unknown but perhaps their property passed to some distant Seattle cousins of the Gagner or Bagnall families. It is felt that these families maintained contact with Mary and Charlie over the years. The graves of Mary and Charlie are yet to be found and photographed but all indications are that they were both laid to rest in Anderson Cemetery in Stanwood, the same resting place for cousins John and Jim McGinnis.

The memory of Mary and Charlie Mills by Ivy Hansen, a long time friend and neighbor, as recently related to Molly McGinnis in a letter reveals Ivy’s memory and opinion.

"They did not inherit the McGinnis good looks, but were so jolly and smiling. Mary was a long time friend of my mother-in-law. She told me that before she came west she worked in wealthy homes in Boston, which was a train ride south of her home town. I can't remember whether she lived in the U.S. or Canada. She made strong tea. They had no car and on Memorial Day I would take her to the Florence cemetery where she tended the graves of her uncle Bob Ferguson and his father (her grandpa)."

Grave, Luke (1848-1919) and Catherine Ferguson Mills (1850-1915)
Parents of Mary and Charlie Mills

St. Michaels Cemetery, Chatham, New Brunswick




Mary Agnes McGinnis and Mary Mills
On the McGinnis Back PorchCirca 1911-1912, Mom about 15 years old, making Mary about 33 or 34. The earliest picture found of Mary.



Mary Mills and a Seattle Fitzpatrick Cousin
Feeding Chickens on the Mills Farm




Mary Mills and Marie McAteer
At The McGinnis Front Gate
Marie Was a Long Time Family Friend of all the Florence Families, From Seattle




Mary Ellen McGinnis, Mary Mills and one of the Seattle Fitzpartick Cousins
Oat Harvest in Progress





Mary Ellen McGinnis Standing on the Right, Next to Mary Mills, Sitting Second From Right
Even Mary liked her hats





Mary Agnes and Mary Mills
Circa late 1920’s to early 1930’s, Mary about 50 years old perhaps. No pictures of Mary later in life than this photo have been found.




At the Roadside in Front of the House

Mary Mills on the left next to James McGinnis Jr. Molly McGinnis has identified the two people on the left as Cecil and Clarence James brother of Aunt Marie and his wife. Joe Lyons is in the car and the little boy to the left is Clarence and Cecil's eldest son, Alva

Ivy Hansen Recollections-

Chuck Jones and Ivy Hansen

April 2008, Stanwood, Washington

Taken by Mike & Louanne Jones in the Stanwood Historical Museum

What follows is the summary of a reply from Ivy Hansen of Florence, the small island in the delta of the Stillaguamish River, near Stanwood, Washington, wrote to Molly McGinnis Wright, a McGinnis cousin in the Newberg, Oregon area. Molly had written Ivy in early 2008 asking what she may remember about the McGinnis families during the early history of Florence. A few weeks later Ivy graciously replied.

Ivy is the wife of Howard Hansen, now deceased. Howard was raised on a small farm along the river road to the west of the McGinnis farm and the lives of the families intertwined over the years. The Hansen farm was adjacent to the Hall or Jorgensen acres probably less than half a mile from where our Mother, Mary Agnes McGinnis was born and raised. Howard was also a member of St. Cecelia’s parish in Stanwood and remained a good friend of the McGinnis clan for many years.

Howard and Ivy married sometime in the late in the 1940’s and I have but a vague recall of Ivy. Howard I remember very well.

Molly wrote Ivy inquiring on various family history questions she had primarily regarding her own Grandfather, our beloved Uncle Tom. Molly’s summary follows:


Ivy said she never met Grandpa Tom and Grandma Marie that she could recall, unfortunately. She did have a few memories of Uncle Jim, Uncle John and your mother, however.

Here's what she said about Uncles Jim & John:

"They lived together on the small family farm until they had a disagreement; then Jim moved to town where he worked as a bartender at Stanwood Hotel & Tavern. (It is still a thriving business). Though John lived very near, I seldom saw him; I was very busy as I had 6 children and didn't get out much. I do remember that he served on the grand jury in Seattle. He would get dressed up, walk to town (about 1 1/2 miles) and take the bus to Seattle. I admired him for making the effort, when he must have been in his sixties."

Do you know what the disagreement may have been she was talking about? I asked my Mom and she thought it may have been Jim's drinking.

Here's what Ivy had to say about your Mom:

"Aggie spent summers at John's farm along with her two youngest children. Charlie worked at the Bremerton Navy yard and came up weekends. In the depths of the depression, Juanita and Franklin went to Florence school for a few months where I went through 8 grades. Maybe their dad was temporarily unemployed (I'm guessing)."

I then asked about Gertrude Hall Jorgensen and her children. Here's what she had to say:

"Marie [Marie was the oldest Jorgensen child. She was the daughter of next door cousin Gertrude Donahue Hall, later Jorgensen] was my 2 year older sister's friend and I went with her to visit Marie. I'm sure I was quite young at the time. I took my sweater off in the house and laid it on the front room table. Mrs. Jorgensen [Gertrude Donahue Hall] came rushing from the kitchen and swept my sweater off the table with her hand. I was so scared by her action that I started to cry. Marie said, "Don't worry, she won't hurt you.". Did you know that Mrs. J. was insane? It started before Myrtle [Marie's sister] was born (Molly note: Myrtle was born in Dec 1929 according to census), so the children had a difficult early life. Andy was in the Army in WW2 and lived in Seattle afterward. I heard he was a dance instructor at a studio. Marie married and had 2 sons; she lived in Florence until she died suddenly at 55. Myrtle moved to the S. Oregon coast soon after she married. She had 2 daughters and a son. I didn't see her again until the kids were adults. She said the girls worked their way thru the U of O by modeling clothes. They must have been tall and slim like Myrtle was."

[I have very warm memories of Marie. Whenever Mom came to the farm in the summer Marie always stopped by to visit].

So, here's another story about poor Gertrude's problems. What a sad life she must have lead with no professional help available at the time.Since I wasn't sure exactly how old Ivy was, I asked if she remembered anything about Mary Ellen or [sister]Catherine, or Catherine's husband, Hugh.
Here's what she said:

"No, she knew nothing of them. I was born in 1923; we moved to Florence in 1930. As a child in depression years I walked to Stanwood at times to movies or on errands for my Mom. I had to walk past "Catholic Row"; 5 houses, so I knew who the McGinnis's and Mills's were. Also, Mrs. Estella Hansen's who became my mother-in-law."

Now, I'm assuming these 5 house of "Catholic Row" (what Alice Koffel said she remembered as being called "Irish Town) would have been James McGinnis, Hugh McGinnes, Mary Mills (old Ferguson place), James Hall/Jorgensen place, and the Hansen place. Is that how you read that? When I look at the 1930 census, you see these five residences listed all in a row. Do you think it is worth a try for me to send her some copies of the photos from say, pages 14, 17, 18 to see if she might be able to identify some of them? I'm pretty sure about Tom Hall, Tom McGinnes, Hugh, Jr. & Arthur but she might be able to identify some of the others even though she would have known them from a much later time. Since they were so close with their neighbors, she might be able to say if that's who some of these fellows are since we can't really identify them as relatives. Let me know what you think.

I then asked her about Hugh and Catherine's children and what she remembered about [Cousin] Tom McGinnes:

"My dad served with Tom in the army in WWI. They were sent east to Hoboken, NJ but armistice was declared then. Tom played baseball with the Florence team when he was young. They had uniforms and played against other teams (I've seen pictures). He planted a vegetable garden, but not until July 4; said it caught up with our garden planted a month earlier. He helped my husband with haying. Tom had no teeth and I tried to cook a noon dinner that he could "gum".

"He salvaged floating logs from the Stillaguamish river (out front, and across the road). He made them into a raft or boom and sold them."

About Marguerite McGinnes Garrison:

"I never saw Marguerite. I heard she worked at a Bartell store in Seattle. Her son, Bob, came to live with his uncle Tom when he was about 16; attended and graduated from Stanwood High School. I believe he remained in this area but I never saw him. His brother, Art also moved to Florence and lived with another man. I think he was helpful to Tom in his old age."

About Alice McGinnes Koffel:

"I saw her once, a pretty, and friendly lady. My brother-in-law knew the Koffels. When he was a young man in the Mount Vernon farming area, he knew the family. Alice and daughters would bake a cake, make sandwiches and invite him and other friends in. He had very good memories of that time."

Gosh, my years of corresponding with Alice sound just like what she described. She was so open and friendly and very giving. Such a sweetheart....About Arthur McGinnes:

"He, his wife and 2 daughters [Mary Catherine and Rosemary] were neighbors in the late 30's. I baby sat a few times at their house. They moved to Mount Vernon; later to Everettt where Art worked at Everett Plywood. My parents visited them as they got older."

I then moved on to the Mills family--Mary and Charlie. I loved her initial response. Read on....

"They did not inherit the McGinnis good looks, but were so jolly and smiling. Mary was a long time friend of my mother-in-law. She told me that before she came west she worked in wealthy homes in Boston, which was a train ride south of her home town. I can't remember whether she lived in the U.S. or Canada. She made strong tea. They had no car and on Memorial Day I would take her to the Florence cemetery where she tended the graves of her uncle Bob Ferguson and his father (her grandpa?)."

Okay, so they weren't as handsome as the McGinnis's....what a hoot! However, wasn't it interesting about the fact that she had gone to Boston to work as a domestic in homes in Boston before coming to Florence? I tried seeing if I could find anything in the U.S. for 1900 for Mary, but I couldn't find anyone I thought might be her. She wasn't at home in Chatham in 1901 and I think the 1910 census said she immigrated in 1902 (but it was pretty hard to read), so I tried 1900 just to see if I could find her.Lastly, I asked if she ever recalled any relatives or friends that came to visit the McGinnis/Jorgensen/Mills families from Seatlle and she said she had no recollection of any.So.....that's it. Not a huge amount of info but some nice memories and stories as well as a few insights. I noticed that Ivy's mother-in-law was born in Wisconsin so I'm going to to a bit of digging to see if her parents, the Carlsen's, had some connection to the Donahue's back in Wisconsin. I'll let you know. Drop me a line when you can.

Molly