Searching

for a

Kingston Penitentiary Guard's

Origins in Ireland

born about 1848

died in Portsmouth in 1928

 The facts as presented:

I was contacted by a woman from Toronto, Ontario, in mid-February, 2023. Years ago she had written down what was known about her grandfather. She had intended to investigate his life and origins more fully after she retired. But, now that she was retired, she found that her 'problematic eyesight will not permit that'.

The challenge:

Can you stand in for my eyes, and find details about my grandfather? Absolutely!

The results:

It was determined that it would be best if I provided digital images of any records I found - this would allow her to enlarge and zoom in on specific facts, and help her to develop her stories while avoiding the eye strain of carrying out the actual research.

In the end, we were successful at identifying who her grandfather's parents were. It was also established that her great grandmother appeared in Kingston for the first time in the fall of 1856 - at which time she was described as being a 'widow'. Unfortunately, no obvious traces of the great grandfather and his death, and the place the family lived at prior to landing in Kingston, have been found.

The grandfather's time as a guard at the Provincial Penitentiary at Kingston (Portsmouth, Kingston Township) from about 1863 on was established. But after his retirement from the Pen, he took work as a 'watchman' at the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, a bit farther west from Portsmouth Village. 

The name, origins, and circumstances of death of the grandfather's first wife (previously known about, but name unknown) were established. More details about the grandfather's second wife were developed, and the grandfather's family by his second wife was reconstructed and different stories that had come down to the woman were clarified.

A previously unknown sibling of the grandfather, who died prior to the 1861 Census of Canada West enumeration in January, was identified. Other siblings - three sisters and another brother were also confirmed. One of the siblings - a much younger sister, having had what had been recounted as 'a difficult life', was tracked through at least 3 marriages, through to probable death in Rochester, New York, in the 1920s. Little work was done concerning two of the siblings - a middle sister and a younger brother, because it was believed that they had both died in unusual circumstances in Portsmouth in the latter part of the 19th century. The oldest sister was reputed to have married a former Confederate agent in Kingston in about 1866 (but no trace of a marriage record has turned up). She moved to upstate New York, then to the mid-west US, and by 1901 was living with her growing family just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The family was enumerated there in 1901, and in a most unusual manner, the specific place of her birth in Ireland (and presumably the place of the family's origin) was recorded.

The response:

"Thank you ... for your thorough and thoughtful research on the [______] family ... if I decide to look in to other branches of my family I hope you will be available."

A follow-up challenge:

There were three components to the follow-up request - 1) Could I find a record of the penitentiary guard's first wife's death, which occurred near Kingston some time between 1891 and 1897? 2) The penitentiary guard's youngest sister had married three times by 1909, but her circumstances following from the death of her third husband in Toronto in 1909, until her death, were unknown. It has been determined that she did not die in Rochester, New York, in 1927, as originally thought. An obituary published in Kingston when the penitentiary guard died in 1928 indicated that the youngest sister was alive and living in Detroit, Michigan. Might I be able to find out anything about this woman after 1909, and determine where and when she died? 3) The penitentiary guard's middle sister was known to have died as the result of a fire near Kingston on a specific date in 1867. Could I determine whether a newspaper story about the event was published?

The follow-up results:

Details about the death and burial of the penitentiary guard's first wife were quickly found. A most enlightening story concerning the fire that caused the penitentiary guard's middle sister was also quickly found, published on the day of her burial in Kingston. Finding details about the penitentiary guard's youngest sibling was more difficult, but ultimately, and well within the budget allowed for the work, it was established that she had remained within her step-son's household in Toronto after 1909, and had moved to Detroit, Michigan, with the step-son's family in about 1915. This woman died at the "Little Sisters' Home for the Aged Poor" in Detroit in 1929, and a copy of her Wayne County death certificate was obtained and forwarded. Perplexingly, the birth of the youngest sister was recorded as having taken place in a very different County in Ireland, than the place suggested for the oldest sibling in the 1911 Census of Canada.

- - - - Project No. 230221 (Finally Completed 26 April 2023)