This family history was provided by Shelley Born, who received it from an unknown McGinn descendant online.
Our early McGinn family history is derived from a combination of written and oral family history and from official documents uncovered during the course of this research. In some cases oral family history and family member notes may not exactly match or conflict with information found in numerous official documents or vice versa. In all accounts information provided reflects the best possible conclusions taking into account all sources especially those where information can be confirmed from numerous sources.
As far back as research has taken us thus far and supporting evidence suggests, our McGinn family origins start in the County of Armagh, Ireland which is confirmed on early family member headstone markings and death certificates. The specific town or parish in the County of Armagh where the family originated is unknown. Our Canadian origins begin with the migration of the pioneering family of John McGinn who came to the Guelph, Ontario area as early as 1828 and settled on 100 acres of land in Nichol Township just north of Guelph at a time when the area was largely virgin forests never before cut by man. This arrival period in Ontario is well documented by land records and supported in early family member obituaries. One today can only wonder what reasons drove them from their ancestral lands. Was it eviction, strife, persecution or promise of a better life then that brought them here? We likely will never know for certain the reasons now long lost in the oral history of the older generations. We can say for certain the great Irish famine of 1845-1849 did not bring them here as their arrival predates this by many years. We can only imagine their sorrows as the bid tearful goodbyes to those loved ones they knew they would never see again, the conditions of their ship quarters and challenges they faced as they made their way across the ocean which in those days took well over a month under favourable conditions to more than two months in less favourable conditions. We might envision their joy at the first sighting of land in the new world and the crude paths they followed, the enormity and thickness of the tress they passed carrying what few possessions they brought with as they made their way to their new homeland.
Family history notes indicate our early John McGinn was married twice. This notion has only been brought to light in recently surfaced old family letters of Sister Celestine (Jane McGinn), in which she indicates that John’s son Felix (her grandfather) had two half sisters. Indeed we have been able to trace one of these half sisters that her notes identify to one having a maiden name of McGinn. The trail she leaves us for the other half sister actually leads us to a sister of Felix’s wife Catherine Hawkins so she appears to have confused one of the half sister’s names. This sheds new light on the early family and also raises many new questions. Legal documents show the name of John McGinn’s noted widow at the time of his death was Phoebe (aka Mary? as noted in the 1861 census) which leads us to conclude that if John was indeed married twice that Phoebe would then had to have been his second wife. The known children of John McGinn at this time in order of birth were Felix McGinn (father of William McGinn), Margaret McGinn Duggan, Mary McGinn Heffernan, and Catherine McGinn Murphy (the noted half sister of Felix McGinn). Felix and Margaret are known to be full blooded siblings per historical recordings of the area. Mary in family accountings also appears to be a full blooded sister of Felix and Margaret. Catherine according to Sister Celestine is one of two half sisters of Felix. Unfortunately because of the error in Sister Celestine’s notes the identity of the other half sister is still unknown. It may be possible that Mary is actually a half sister instead of a full blooded sister but no evidence exists to date to suggest this. The close proximity of her age to her older sister Margaret and age gap to Felix’s noted half sister Catherine would suggest otherwise though.
Though no documented information exists there are several pieces of evidence that when combined would suggest John McGinn’s first wife (the mother of Felix McGinn) likely died in Ireland. One being the fact that Felix’s noted half sister Catherine McGinn Murphy, according to her daughter Ann’s death record, was born in Nichol Township. The other being the fact that this Catherine gave birth to her first child Mary around 1845. Given the family’s documented arrival year in Nichol of 1828 and evidence that Catherine (a daughter from John’s second marriage) was born in Nichol would almost certainly suggest John and Phoebe had to have been married prior to the family arrival in 1828 for their daughter Catherine to be wed and of childbearing years by 1845. This information does now raise the question of who John McGinn’s first wife was who would also have been the birth mother of Felix McGinn. It does however provide strong evidence that John McGinn’s noted wife Phoebe (aka Mary?) at time of his death was likely Felix’s stepmother and not his birth mother. The notion of Phoebe being Felix’s stepmother may be further suggested in the 1842 release of dower document between Phoebe and Felix. In this document she is not specifically noted as Felix’s mother and places specific legal monetary and provisional demands on Felix for her care which seems somewhat of an uncharacteristic legal arrangement to have to be made if Phoebe was actually Felix’s birth mother. No evidence has been found to date as to the name of John’s first wife.
It should be noted that there are terse written family history notes that mention another brother John who arrived with Felix in the United States but they parted and never heard from him again. We do not know the origin or accuracy of this information as no evidence has been found nor any serious research been conducted to date regarding this possible other brother. However we must take his existence as a serious possibility given the statement has been handed down orally in our family history.
Our early McGinn family, their neighbours and relations were for the most part simple and humble farmers of large 100+ acre parcels of land throughout the area around Guelph. Many of their earliest homes were referred to as shanties by census takers as Felix and his wife Catherine Hawkins dwelling was referred to as in the 1851 census as opposed to a designation of a log home or framed home. Clearing their lands for farming was an arduous process often proceeding at a pace of just a few acres a year. On their lands they raised crops and livestock with the family farms often being handed down to the eldest son(s) in the family. Early family marriages were typically to nearby neighbours, who were also of Irish Roman Catholic origin. Families were quite large with 8 - 12 children being commonplace in these early days.
John McGinn’s children Felix, Margaret, and Mary all married into families of neighbouring farms and bore and raised their children within a short walking distance of one another in South Nichol as documented in land records. Felix married Catherine Hawkins whose family arrive in Nichol Township in 1841 from Carlow, Ireland and owned a neighbouring parcel of land on Concession 10 near the McGinn homestead. Margaret married Timothy Duggan of the neighbouring property on Concession 8. Mary married John Heffernan from the neighbouring Heffernan family on Concession 10. Catherine (the noted half sister of Felix McGinn) married William Murphy who owned a farm just across the road from the farm of John and Mary Heffernan and died at a young age.
These early families all endured the humility and hardships of early pioneer life, suffered crop failures, died of illnesses and diseases such as scarlet fever, diphtheria, tuberculosis, complications from fevers, etc. The loss of a wife or a child due to complications of child birth was commonplace.
Many of our earliest Canadian McGinn ancestors worshipped at what is today The Church of Our Lady in Guelph (formerly St. Bartholomew’s 1846 - 1877 and St. Patrick’s 1835 - 1844). They were deeply devout Roman Catholics with several of their offspring answering the call of God to serve as nuns and priests. Some of our earliest family members to die may possibly be buried in a small pioneer cemetery located on the corner of Concession 8 just a short walking distance north of the original McGinn homestead. No burial records exists and nothings remains today of this cemetery except a small roadside monument. More likely the earliest to die were buried on the consecrated groups of present day Church of Our Lady until their remains were moved to present day St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery while others are buried in cemeteries throughout the Wellington County in areas north of Guelph and Nichol Township.
The arrival of our early McGinn family members is sketchy at best and it is doubtful we will ever know with any certainty the details associated with their arrival in Canada. Any stories of their arrival would have been handed down orally as no diaries would exists as these earliest family members could neither read nor write. Did they come to Canada together? What was their actual port of arrival? Canada or US? Did John come ahead of the rest of the family in 1828 to establish land rights perhaps accompanied by elder children later followed by his wife and youngest children? It is difficult to say for certain as assessment records for the years 1829 - 1838 of their land in Nichol shows inconsistent unnamed numbers of males and females over and under the age of 16 appearing on the property at different times giving us no clear indication who is actually there. Some written family history notes speak of John’s wife and daughters arriving later but it is not clear if this means they remained in Ireland and came at a later date or lived nearby while land was being broken and a dwelling established? It seems unlikely though they would separate and arrive at different times from Ireland during this period given the significance, difficulty, and risks of such a journey and known illiteracy of the family.
From obituaries of John’s children we get only a glimpse of their arrival and early life…
Felix McGinn (d. 1885) "… The deceased was one of the pioneers of the township. He came to Canada in 1828 from the county of Armagh, Ireland, and settled on the Lot 1 of the 9th concession, Nichol, where he resided to the time of his death. The first tree in Guelph was only cut about a year before he took up his residence in Nichol, which was then a forest, and he had to undergo all the hardships incident to pioneer life…
Mary McGinn Heffernan (d. 1893) "… The deceased was well known in this section the family being among the early settlers of Nichol, and were much esteemed and respected. The deceased came to this country from the County of Armagh, Ireland, 63 years ago when only ten years of age, with her parents, the late John and Mrs. McGinn. They came straight to Nichol and settled on the farm of the late Felix McGinn. She was married at the age of 17 to her deceased husband, who took up 175 acres of land on the 10th con., of Nichol, which they cleared. It is unnecessary to say that they underwent all the trials, hardships and privations which the early settlers had to undergo. In time, they mastered the difficulties and secured for themselves a comfortable home…"
We do know early Nichol Township assessment records show that John McGinn’s name first appears in 1829 on 100 acres of uncleared land on Lot 1 of the 9th Concession in Nichol Township, at that time part of Waterloo County and what is today the County of Wellington in the province of Ontario located just north of Guelph. By the 1830 assessment records show John McGinn and one male under 16 and one female over 16 now on the property with 2 acres of cleared land. By the time the 1831 assessment was taken another male over 16 and female under 16 appear with the family which may possibly suggest a staged arrival of family members onto the land. The family would continue clearing land at a pace of a few acres a year and by 1838 had cleared a total of 18 acres. In 1839 for reasons unknown the family is no longer identified as owning all 100 acres. A man named Peter Grassick is now shown as owner of 50 acres of the 100 acre parcel previously shown as having belonged to the McGinn family according to assessment records prior to 1839. Land records show no bargain of sale agreement indicating the McGinn family sold the parcel to Grassick so it appears they may never have had legal rights to all 100 acres or somehow lost the rights to half of their land or were incorrectly assessed as owning all 100 acres from the period of 1829 - 1839. John McGinn would not officially take ownership of the SE half (50 acres) of Lot 1 until 1841 having cleared a total 20 acres of land. He would die the following year leaving the land to his son Felix.
Felix would inherit the original family homestead on lot 1 concession 9 following his father John’s death in May of 1842. According to written details of an indenture between Felix and John’s widow Phoebe dated June 28, 1842, John McGinn died on the 6th of May prior without a will and that his son Felix was lawful heir of the family property on Lot 1 of Concession 9. Phoebe McGinn, noted as widow of John McGinn, released her dower rights to Felix at this time upon an agreement that Felix would pay her six pounds Canada currency yearly for the duration of her natural life or continuation of her widowhood to be paid semi annually on the 1st day of January and July of each year. They further agree that Phoebe may live in the dwelling house on the property and has free use of one acre of land immediately surrounding the home and that Felix will provide her with all firewood she requires. Both Felix and Phoebe sign the agreement with their mark “an X” indicating neither could write.
It should be noted that land records also showed that in 1832 Felix (then over 20 years old) would take his own 100 acre parcel of land on nearby Lot 4 of Concession 10 which he began clearing some time after 1834 according to assessment records. By 1842 he had cultivated 16 acres of land. An 1845 property map of the area show a dwelling on this property and assessment records indicate Felix was living on this property separately from his father and family as of 1833. Felix would officially take ownership of the property on Lot 4 of Concession 10 in 1844.
It is during this time that it is believed Felix McGinn first became acquainted with the William Hawkins family who arrived on the property next door to his on Concession 10 in 1841. Felix would later in 1847 marry Catherine Hawkins of this family. Sometime between 1842 and 1845 following the death of Felix’s father John in 1842, Felix moved back onto the original family homestead on Concession 9. Felix would attempt to sell his other parcel of land on Concession 10 on two occasions once in 1845 and again in 1856 only to get it back each time because of the death of the owner as he was the holder of the mortgage. He would finally sell the property in 1869 to a Heffernan nephew.
Felix McGinn would later expand his land holdings in 1861 acquiring a 100 acre parcel of land to the north in Parker in Peel Township located on the east ½ of Lot 10 of Concession 14. In 1873 he purchased two additional 123 acre parcels of land (Lot 25 and 26 in the 3rd Concession in Guelph Township) a short distance south of the family property in Nichol, but still made his residence on Lot 1 on Concession 9 for the duration of his life.
Felix’s eldest son John farmed the land and began raising his family with his wife Isabella Healy on the properties at lot 25 and 26 in Guelph Township following his marriage in 1874. John and Isabella and their first born children appear on this property in the 1881 census and again in 1901. Felix’s son William would clear and farm the land in Parker beginning some time prior to 1881 and later begin raising his own family with his first wife Mary McGrogan and his second wife Margaret Ann Byrne. Felix and Catherine’s daughter Mary would marry John Keating, Bridget would marry Michael Griffin, Elizabeth would remain unmarried her entire life, Catherine would marry Thomas Healy and Rose Ellen would join the order of The Sisters of the Precious Blood. Another daughter Margaret (unknown birth year) is said to have died as an infant. Most of these children lived their lives throughout the surrounding areas in Wellington County.
The following census information gives us a glimpse of the farming operation of the Felix McGinn family in 1871.
250 acres, 60 acres of which were occupied, 50 acres of which were improved, a ½ acre orchard which yielded 5 bushels of apples, with 2 dwelling
At the time of Felix’s death in 1885, the 50 acre family parcel on Concession 9 in Nichol remained the property of his wife Catherine where she resided until her death in 1911. The other two 123 acre parcels of land in Guelph were inherited by eldest son John while the parcel in Peel Township was willed to his son William. Each of Felix’s daughters received a sum of 800 dollars from their father’s estate.
Felix’s son John would in 1888 expand his property holdings purchasing the other half (NW ½ 50 acres) of Lot 1 concession 9 (part of the original 100 acre homestead) which adjoined the family farm in Nichol Township. He is known to have moved from his farm in Guelph and lived here with his family next door to his mother Catherine for at least some period of time between 1888 and 1901 as he is shown living there in the 1901 census.
During this period Felix’s son William farmed his land on the property in Parker in Peel Township, marrying in his late 20s in 1881 and having 3 children (Jane, John, Kathryn) with first wife Mary McGrogan (who died in 1889 of pneumonia) and five children (James, William, Leo, Ursula, and Gerald) with his second wife Margaret Ann Byrne. William would pass away unexpectedly as a result of appendicitis in July of 1897. He left to grieve him a wife in her late stages of pregnancy and 6 young children (one previously passed away) not yet old enough to carry on the family farm. The Peel Township farm was sold in November that same year and Margaret Ann moved with her children to the nearby town of Arthur except for daughter Kathryn who had lived with her grandmother Catherine Hawkins McGinn and her daughter Elizabeth since the death of William’s first wife Mary. There was much tragedy in the family of William McGinn beginning with the death of his first wife at a very young age, followed by the death of his third born son William (Willie) at the age of 4 just a few months prior to his own untimely death at age of 43. Certainly these early events influenced and shaped the deep religious devotions of his family.
In 1904 Felix’s son John McGinn would sell the two 123 acre parcels Lot 25 and 26 in concession 3 in Guelph and the NW ½ 50 acres of Lot 1 in concession 9 in Nichol that he purchased in 1888 and take up a homestead near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He is believed to be the first of the family to head west to the Saskatchewan area followed later by other family members such as William’s sons John, James, and Leo and various other cousins and nephews. Many of John’s own children would eventually take up their own lands in the areas around their father and further west in Canada and in areas of the upper US.
Felix’s wife Catherine would remain on the original family farm in Nichol until her death in 1911, residing there with her daughter Elizabeth and raising her granddaughter Kathryn through adolescence. Catherine’s remains would be interred at St. Joseph’s Cemetery next to her husband Felix amongst many of the earliest generations of the family. At the time of Catherine’s death the original 50 acre family homestead on the SE ½ of concession 9 was inherited by Felix and Catherine’s grandson Felix (son of John McGinn). Grandson Felix would eventually sell the property in November of 1933 ending over 100 years of McGinn family ownership of the original family homestead first settled by John McGinn and his family.
The original pioneering spirit of the McGinn family continued into the successive generations of this family in the late 1800s and early 1900s with many of the early McGinn descendants pursuing their own fortunes taking westerly Canadian homesteads in and around the areas of Moose Jaw and Regina, Saskatchewan and places beyond. Others went to seek their fortunes in the big cities of Canada such as Toronto and others large cities in the United States. Since this time, generations of descendants have spread across Canada into the US and throughout North America. Not only are the names of their descendants McGinn, but also Heffernan, Duggan, and Murphy and their immediate descendants Keating, Griffin, Hughes, Burns, Kennedy, Healey, McCarroll, Furlong, and Light to name but a few and the countless until family names descended from these names.
From the historical fragments that remain of their lives, we can now only look back at our early courageous industrious ancestors in wonder and imagine their mental and physical strength, the journeys they made and lives they lived and amaze at the changes in the world that they witnessed… from a world of no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing or toilets, staying warm only by the side of a fire, clearing and farming the land by hand and beast, wasting nothing, walking down dusty dirt roads to school and church, their daily farm chores, cutting and stocking wood and preparing for the winter months, traveling to town for supplies in a horse and wagon, reading by the light of a fire, coping with the risks of child birth, their crude early accommodations, large families living in very modest sized dwellings, hand me down clothing, the simplicity of a special family gathering and coping with frequent early tragic loss of life of a family member… to the world as we know it today.
May they serve as an inspiration for all of us who follow.
May their souls rest in peace. Amen.