THE MEEHAN FAMILY - CANADA PROJECT 150

In 2017 the Ontario Genealogical Society asked their members for stories about the families who lived in Canada at the time of confederation in 1867.  I thought it was a good idea and decided to write about each family unit. There were more than I first imagined.

MEEHAN FAMILY

Patrick Meehan was my great great grandfather.   He was born in Ireland about 1806 in Ireland, possibly Donegal.  He was married to Elizabeth "Bessie" Magee.  Bessie was also born in Ireland about 1812  I don't know if they married in Ireland or met in Canada.

Patrick and Bessie had at least 3 children born in Kingston, Ontario:  James, Ellen and George.  James Meehan was born on November 26, 1842 in Kingston and baptised at St. Mary's Church in Kingston on 8 December 1842.  The parents are listed as "residents" of Kingston as opposed to other listings in the parish records that refer to "immigrants".  So Patrick and Bessie were living in Kingston from at least November 1842.

The other two  children were also baptised at St. Mary's.  Ellen was born May 2, 1845 and baptised on June 8, 1845 and George Thomas was born on March 30, 1850 and baptised on May 19, 1850.

At some point between 1851 and 1861 the family moved from Kingston to Belleville, Ontario.  Unfortunately the 1851 census is missing for parts of Kingston and Belleville, so it is not clear exactly when they moved.

Nevertheless, by 1861 the family was living in Belleville, in the Coleman district.  Patrick is listed as a labourer and the family is living in a 1 1/2 stories frame house.

Patrick Meehan, W. Water Street, Belleville - 1869 Directory.

According to our family history, James joined the US army and participated in the US Civil War in 1863.  He was injured in the US and remained there and lived in Wisconsin with his wife and 9 children.  There certainly was a James Meehan, born in Canada who did live in Wisconsin.  His father was named Patrick Meehan, but the mother's name is unknown.

Ellen married Thomas Bolger in Belleville in 1872 and she died in Carleton Place, Lanark, Ontario in 1901.

My direct ancestor George Thomas Meehan married Emma Howson in Belleville in 1874. See Howson family link: Howson Family  George and Emma had at least 7 children all born in Belleville and baptised at St. Michael's The Archangel Church.  By the 1901 Census the family had moved to Toronto.  George died in 1919 and Emma died in 1913.  They are both buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Toronto.

George Thomas Meehan (1850-1919)

Patrick died in 1886 and Bessie died in 1888, both in Belleville.  They are buried in St. Michael's The Archangel Cemetery in Belleville.

MEEHAN FAMILY - PART 1

My great grandfather George Thomas Meehan was born in Kingston, Ontario in 1851 and died in Toronto in 1919.  He is the son of Patrick Meehan of Donegal Ireland and Elizabeth  "Bessie"  Magee also of Ireland.  Between 1851 and 1861 the family moved from Kingston to Belleville.


George married Emma Teresa Howson in 1874 in Belleville.  Emma is the daughter of George Howson of England and Bridget O'Neill of Ireland.  Emma was baptised at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Belleville in 1851.  Emma died in Toronto in 1913.  Both George and Emma are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Toronto.

George and Emma had at least 7 children all born in Belleville:

• Bessie  (1874 - 1876)
• Margaret Jane  (1876 - 1953)
• Mary Ann  (1878 -  )
• James   (1880 - 1950)
• George  (1882 - 1960)
• Teresa Brigid  (1886 -  1946)
• John Thomas  (1891 - 1894?)

An 1896  Belleville directory  lists George as a piler for the C.P. Holton Company.  C. P. Holton was in the timber and milling industry.  In later years he was listed as a marble polisher.  By 1901 the family had moved to Toronto and were living at 373 Queen Street East.  The family had moved to 103 Bond Street by 1910.  The 1918 Toronto directory shows the family living at 159 Gerrard Street East, along with Robert Closs who was a son in law.

THE MEEHANS OF DONEGAL IRELAND, BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA

My great great grandfather Patrick Meehan was born in Ireland about 1806.  He died Belleville Ontario, Canada  in 1886, and his place of birth was listed as Donegal, Ireland. 

The first confirmed date for Patrick Meehan and his wife Elizabeth “Bessie” Magee is for the baptismal of their daughter Ellen.  Ellen Meehan was baptised at St. Mary’s Church in Kingston, Ontario on 8 June 1845.  Then a son George, my great grandfather was baptized on 19 May 1850, also in Kingston.

Patrick’s wife Bessie is also listed as Irish.  I don’t know whether she was from Donegal as well or where the couple married.

By 1861 the family had moved to Belleville Ontario.  According to this census there was also another son named James who was born in Upper Canada about 1843.  To date, I haven’t found his baptism record in Kingston Ontario.  The 1861 census is the one and only recording of James on the Census records.

 According to a letter from a family member James Meehan went to the USA and joined the US army around 1863 for the Civil War.  He was wounded in the line of duty and lived in Green Bay Wisconsin.  Her letter goes on to indicate that James Meehan had 9 children and they all had red hair.

 On the 1900 US census for Wisconsin there is a James Meehan, born November 1846 in Canada.  His family is listed as Mary J., wife born in Illinois and children George T. , Willie, Nellie all born in Ohio.  James, John, Bessie, Frank and Charley are born in Wisconsin.  This  James Meehan's father was Patrick Meehan from Ireland.  This family lived in Marinette, and Florence Wisconsin and they had 9 children.  James Meehan of  Florence, Wisconsin, died in 1921 in Wisconsin. 

Ellen Meehan married Thomas Bolger in 1872 in Belleville Ontario and then she and her husband moved to Carleton Place, Lanark, Ontario.  Ellen and Thomas were “in service” and worked at hotels  as a servant and a porter.  Ellen died in 1901 at Carleton Place.

George Meehan married Emma Howson in 1874 in Belleville, Ontario.  Emma was the daughter of George Howson, born in England and Bridget O’Neill born in Ireland.  George and Emma had 7 children all born in Belleville, Ontario.  The family moved to Toronto, Ontario about 1900.