Emma McCabe, unfortunately, has no confirmed surname at the moment, and it's a shame. We only have her married name of "McCabe," however, with persistence, we could eventually nail her surname down. Let's try doing that tonight!
For some time, I was convinced her surname was Morley, but after some research, I have found that I was on the wrong trail.
The Emma McCabe I am looking for is the mother of Mary Josephine McCabe, who eventually married Henry Marris, and gave birth to my friend's grandfather, Morley Marris, in Hamilton, Ontario.
According to Canadian Census records, over the course of 30 years, Emma McCabe lived in an area in London, Ontario called Strathroy-Caradoc, which is fairly close to Detroit, Michigan. Please see the map below:
According to Canadian Census records, over the course of 30 years, Emma McCabe lived in an area in London, Ontario called Strathroy-Caradoc, which is fairly close to Detroit, Michigan. Please see the map below:
Looking over several Canadian Census' over thirty years, you see some slight changes - Let's compare these and see if we can catch anything that can give us some more clues!
1861 Canadian Census - James McCabe is shown as being born in Upper Canada (U C) and his age is 34 years old and he's an Inn Keeper. Emma is 29 years old and at this time, they have only two young daughters.
So, remember when I was giving up on the Emma Morley McCabe whom I was speaking of earlier in my post due to her maiden name being McCabe, when I was hoping it was actually Morley? Well, I have not lost total hope on this lead. Let's look at things from a different direction this time -
One of Emma's and James daughters, Laura, married a Charles Hand, who was from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada and according to the 1891 Canadian Census, his occupation was stated as Hotel Keeper [at St. Clair House]. There just happens to be a hotel in Sarnia named Vendome Hotel - see below - with further research, I found that Charles Hand died just three years after the Vendome Hotel was built and his wife actually owned it afterwards, having her son, Charles Hand Jr, take over as Inn Keeper when he came of age. The hotel was in the family until as late as the 1930s. Unfortunately, the hotel was razed in the 1970's for a parking lot:
Notice anything of interest? Yes, Emma McCabe happened to die at the Hotel Vendome in 1909. This may very well be our very same Emma McCabe. The only really confusing part of this Death Certificate is that it's naming James McCabe as her father. Was this just a typo? Addendum: After sharing this post with a family member of my friend's, they suggested that whoever told the person the family info may have confused their own father (James McCabe) with Emma McCabe's own father, and therefore the reason why James McCabe is named as her father, when in reality he was her husband and her children's father.
Nevertheless, all the evidence points to this being the actual Emma McCabe that we were hoping for , but weren't sure until now!
So, below is what we can now say about Emma McCabe and her life -
- She was from Norwich, England, born July 26th 1830.
- She lived in Strathroy-Caradoc, a suburb of London, Ontario, Canada and married James McCabe of Ireland there, starting their family of 4 children.
- She died on August 9th, 1909, at the age of 79, at the Vendome Hotel, the hotel her daughter Laura [McCabe] Hand owned at the time, from septicemia.
Sources:
Billy Ryder and the Vendome Hotel
1861 Canadian Census - James McCabe is shown as being born in Upper Canada (U C) and his age is 34 years old and he's an Inn Keeper. Emma is 29 years old and at this time, they have only two young daughters.
1871 Canadian Census - There have been a few changes. Emma has had two more children. She is now 40 and James is 42. Their ages don't seem to quite match what the 1861 Census shows. James line of work is now showing as a Laborer.
1881 Canadian Census - James is now showing as 60 and Emma as 50. There is an obvious discrepancy with their birth years, unless they were providing inaccurate information when they reported to the record keeper. This record is barely legible, so it's hard to say that whoever transcribed it got it right or wrong. Hopefully a better copy will show up soon. James' job has changed once more - he is now showing as an engineer. His children are showing as factory hands. It's hard to say just exactly what kind of work they were doing.
So, remember when I was giving up on the Emma Morley McCabe whom I was speaking of earlier in my post due to her maiden name being McCabe, when I was hoping it was actually Morley? Well, I have not lost total hope on this lead. Let's look at things from a different direction this time -
One of Emma's and James daughters, Laura, married a Charles Hand, who was from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada and according to the 1891 Canadian Census, his occupation was stated as Hotel Keeper [at St. Clair House]. There just happens to be a hotel in Sarnia named Vendome Hotel - see below - with further research, I found that Charles Hand died just three years after the Vendome Hotel was built and his wife actually owned it afterwards, having her son, Charles Hand Jr, take over as Inn Keeper when he came of age. The hotel was in the family until as late as the 1930s. Unfortunately, the hotel was razed in the 1970's for a parking lot:
Remember when James McCabe was an Inn Keeper in his younger years? So, this is starting to all to come together. Remember later on James McCabe became an engineer. He may have been an Engineer at this particular hotel, and his daughters could have been workers ("factory hands") here, too.
What ties this all together? Look at my lead for the Emma Morley McCabe Death Certificate below:
Nevertheless, all the evidence points to this being the actual Emma McCabe that we were hoping for , but weren't sure until now!
So, below is what we can now say about Emma McCabe and her life -
- She was from Norwich, England, born July 26th 1830.
- She lived in Strathroy-Caradoc, a suburb of London, Ontario, Canada and married James McCabe of Ireland there, starting their family of 4 children.
- She died on August 9th, 1909, at the age of 79, at the Vendome Hotel, the hotel her daughter Laura [McCabe] Hand owned at the time, from septicemia.
Sources:
Billy Ryder and the Vendome Hotel
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