Thursday 15 March 2012

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.

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