The Islands: Biographies: Wolfe Island Bio 5

Wolfe Island Biographies 5




PATRICK MCAVOY and CATHERINE DAWSON
An Irish-Style Wolfe Island Love Story

By Pat McAvoy-Costin



Patrick MCAVOY was born about 1824 in Moulinette, Ontario near Cornwall, Ontario. He was the son of Irish immigrants, Cornelius McAvoy and Mary Nowlin of County Down, Ireland. He was in his early 20�s when he came to Wolfe Island to find work in his trade as a blacksmith.

When Patrick first came to Wolfe Island around 1848, the Island was a booming area. The timber industry was going strong and he was one of four local blacksmiths. There was plenty of work and that was a good thing for the young immigrant. He came to Wolfe Island with only the money in his pocket and the shirt on his back.

He began working at a blacksmith shop in the village. Blacksmiths were in big demand on Wolfe Island around the late 1840�s. Work was so plentiful that Patrick wrote to his younger brother, Cornelius, (also a blacksmith), and asked him to join him on Wolfe Island. Conn arrived around 1849 and the two brothers lived and worked together for a few years.

Now, although Patrick worked hard, he wasn�t an all work and no play type person. While he was working in the village he met Catherine (Kitty) Dawson a daughter of John B. Dawson who owned a hotel on the island. Catherine had been born on Wolfe Island around 1832.

Since the DAWSON family was considerably better off than the MCAVOY brothers, there may have been some doubts about Catherine�s future with the young blacksmith. But the DAWSONS were also originally from Ireland, so Patrick�s Irish blood was likely a point in his favor when he asked for Catherine�s hand.

Patrick and Catherine married in September 1850 at Sacred Heart Church on Wolfe Island. Not having much money, they continued to live with Conn to keep expenses down. But being good Catholics, Patrick and Catherine immediately began to raise a large family and eventually Conn left the Island for a place of his own.

Through the years Patrick and Catherine had twelve children�Mary (1851), John (1853), Amelia (1855), Michael James (1856), Catherine (1858�died young), Teresa Henrietta (1860), Edward George (1862), Cornelius Frederick (1864), Francis Patrick (1866), Richard Thomas (1869), Daniel Stafford (1871) and Joseph Murray (1875). Following the local custom of the day, the last two sons took their middle names in honor of the local Sacred Heart priests�Father Stafford and Father Murray.

By 1865, Patrick had saved enough money and was able to go into business for himself. He purchased Lot 11 on Main Street in Marysville for his blacksmith�s shop for the hard earned sum of $125. Catherine, needing more space for her growing family, purchased the family farm of 50 acres on Concession 8-2 SBL for $250.

While the MCAVOY family grew, Wolfe Island also grew to its� peak population of 3,601 in 1861. But by 1870, the Islands� population dwindled to 1,737. This depopulation was partly due to the end of the timber industry after the Islands forests were cleared.

When many young Islanders left to seek jobs elsewhere, the MCAVOY children were among them. The MCAVOYs left for Kingston, New York, Michigan, and Illinois. There are currently no MCAVOYs living on the Island.

But before the MCAVOY�S left the Island behind, however, some of the children made lasting unions with other Islanders that carried the MCAVOY/WOLFE ISLAND connection down through additional generations. Additional MCAVOY Wolfe Island marriages include:

John MCAVOY and Elizabeth ROGERS (daughter of James ROGERS and Margaret MCGUIRE ), Amelia MCAVOY and William MCGRATH (son of Peter MCGRATH and Bridget MCDONNELL), Michael James MCAVOY and Anna BRIGGS (daughter of George BRIGGS and Isabella GRANT), and Cornelius Frederick MCAVOY and Ellen MCDONNELL (daughter of James MCDONNELL and Mary LACEY).

The years of 1888 through 1891 were sad ones for the MCAVOYs who remained behind on the Island. In November 1888, Amelia MCAVOY-MCGRATH died at the tender age of 33, one of her three children was only 6 months old. In December of the same year, Patrick died at the age of 65. Two months later in February 1889, Michael James died at the age of 31, also leaving 3 young children�the youngest just seven months old. Francis Patrick, unmarried, died in 1891 at the young age of 24. They were all buried in the Old Sacred Heart Cemetery on the Island.

Catherine lived for about 17 years after Patrick�s death. From time to time, other MCAVOYs found refuge in her household. At the time of the 1901 census, daughter Amelia�s three children and son Michael James widow, Anna, were living under her roof. Catherine�s oldest daughter, Mary, also lived with her, as she never married. Eventually, Catherine sold the farm and moved back to Marysville. Patrick�s blacksmith shop was also sold probably to Wilson TAYLOR (who had also married into the McGRATH family).

Catherine died in 1905 at the age of 73 and her daughter Mary died in 1909 at the age of 59. They are both buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery with the rest of the WOLFE ISLAND MCAVOY family.

Sources

Pieces to solving this family puzzle were based on information from:
1851 Wolfe Island Census Transcription�by Russ Waller, UE
1901 Census, Marysville, Wolfe, Frontenac, Ontario, Canada�Courtesy of Chris Morrell
�Ganounkouesnot�the Long Island Standing Up� by Renie Marshall
Kingston Land Registry Office, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Sacred Heart Church Records, Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada, LDS film 2032236
Ontario, Canada
�Wolfe, Garden and Simcoe Island 19th Century Families� by Russ Waller, UE


Additional information was posted on Jen�s Genealogy Page: The Islands�Copyright Jennifer Wylie nee Hoeltzel. The information included:
� Sacred Heart Baptism Transcriptions�Courtesy of Chris Morrell
� Winston Cosgrove�s Wolfe Island Past and Present�Transcribed courtesy of Chris Morrell
� Woodman House Information�Courtesy of Bruce Devine


Pat McAvoy-Costin



The Islands: Biographies: Wolfe Island Bio 5
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