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Donahee/ Monahan

Donahee/ Monahan

Posted: 12 Dec 2014 8:38PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Donahee/ Monahan
William Donahee ( b1872 Bathurst NB, d Dec 28 1943 Marysville, NB) ), married Margaret Ann McLean (b 1875 Strathadam NB).
His parents were John James Donahee baptized between 1868-1873 St-Jean Immaculée-Conception, Acadie (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) & Ellen Monahan ( 1843-1912)

Ellen must have been widowed at an early age. I cannot find more information about John James Donahee or who his ancestors were.

Based on 1901 & 1911 census data , Ellen was born May 7, 1843 in France and arrived in Canada 1871

Would appreciate any other information. Many thanks, leckie.151@gmail.com

Re: Donahee/ Monahan

Posted: 28 Dec 2014 2:33AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 3 Feb 2015 12:57AM GMT
Surnames: Donahee, Grames, Graham, Mclean, Monaghan
I started the following, but haven't had time to continue it. it may be useful.

Thomas.

Actually, the 1901 census of Chatham Parish, Northumberland Co., NB states that the widow, Mrs. Ellen Monahan b. 7MAY1843, was born in Quebec, was Irish and ran a boarding house. Her son was Wm Donahee (29JUL1873) with a wife, Margaret (21APR1875) and children, Joseph (10JAN1896), Ellen (26DEC1897), Bertha (28FEB1900) and Henry (28FEB1901). The birth–dates given in the 1901 census are often unreliable. According to birth records (Georgina Aurora Donahee b. Chatham Parish, Northumberland Co., NB 10FEB1902 for example) William’s wife was Margaret (Maggie) McLean or Margaret ‘Grames’ (Mary Ellen Donahee b. Chatham Parish 27NOV1897; note the difference from the birth-date in 1901). However, this may not be the same Ellen, Margaret and William as a William Donahue of Chatham Parish had a wife, Margaret Graham. William Donahee (b. Bathurst, NB ca. 1873) did not name his parents when he married Chatham Parish, Northumberland Co., NB 28AUG1895 Maggie Grames (b. Richibucto, Kent Co., NB ca. 1873), d/o James and Eliza (Whitney) Grames. He was, like William Donahee in 1901, a shoemaker. So Maggie Grames may have been a 1st wife and Margaret McLean a 2nd wife. Joseph Donahee, when he married York Co., NB 30JUN1917 Vera May Taylor only gave his parents as William and Margaret Donahee. Bertha Donahee, when she m. St. Mary’s Parish 7JUN1929 John Lowell McLaughlin, gave her parents as William and Margaret (McLean) Donahee. As near as I can figure Margaret McLean and Margaret Grames/Graham were the same person.

In 1910, William and Margaret (McLean) Donahee were in Northesk Parish, Northumberland Co., NB when a daughter, Sarah Donahee, was b. 16FEB1910. William was living in Marysville, St. Mary’s Parish, York Co., NB, in 1942, when he attested to the birth of his son, William Donahee b. Bridgetown, Northumberland Co., NB 30JUN1913. The mother was given as Margaret M’Lean, an archaic yet correct spelling. Bertha (28FEB1900 in 1901) was Elizabeth Bertha Stella Donahee b. Chatham Parish 28JAN1900; again indicating the inaccuracy of the 1901 census. Margaret May ‘Donahue’ (b. Strathadam, Northumberland Co., NB 10MAR1907 was the daughter of William and Margaret (McLean) ‘Donahue’, and apparently worked in the cotton mills in Marysville as her sister, Mrs. Mary E. Daley, lived in Marysville in 1968 when she attested to Margaret’s birth and Margaret was a mill worker.

Ellen Monahan b. Gaspé, Québec ca. 1842, d. Newcastle Parish, Northumberland Co., NB 26DEC1912 age 70 years as the result of an injury. Her death record suggests that her maiden name was Donahee, but this may be a reference to a previous marriage.

In 1891, in Chatham Parish, Charles Monaghan (b. Prince Edward Island ca. 1851, parents b. Ireland) was a shoemaker. His wife is given as Mary Ann (b. Québec ca. 1843, parents b. Québec). With them was William ‘Donaghee’ b. Québec ca. 1871, parents b. Québec, also a shoemaker. William is given as a lodger, but it seems that Mary Ann was actually Ellen, so Charles’ stepson.

In 1881, in Chatham Parish, Charles Monaghan (37) and presumably a brother, Peter Monaghan (23), both b. PEI, were shoemakers and unmarried.

The 1911 seems to be more a matter of fiction than of fact. Even the parish they were in is doubtful. The census appears to be of Chatham Parish but the heading states that it was Northesk Parish. William Donahee (variously transcribed as ‘Donaha’ and ‘Donahue’) (JUL1874) is given as b. in ‘Portannal?’ Ellen Donahee (MAY1847, age 64) is given as arrived in 1831. Her place-of-birth is difficult to read. Something that looks like ‘Perisie’ (Percé?) was crossed out and something that might be read as ‘Frances’ written in, but I really doubt that she was ever in France.

Variations of the name Donahee are found in Percé Co., such as Thomas ‘Donoghue’ (49) in 1881. There was, in Montreal in 1881, a William ‘Donohue’ (b. Québec ca. 1837) with a wife whose name is given as ‘Allen?’ (b. Québec ca. 1844) with children James (21), ‘Hellen’ (19), Matilda (18), Mary (11), William (8), Clara (6) and Eva (2). ‘Allen’ was French where William, a merchant, was Irish. I would be reluctant to suggest that this was the family you sought, but there do not seem to be many alternatives so far.

Re: Donahee / Monahan

Posted: 3 Feb 2015 1:20AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 3 Feb 2015 10:26PM GMT
A great piece of detective work, Thomas, really strong. Charles Monaghan, a native of PEI, RC, died at Chatham, NB 3 September 1896, age 52. Charles would account for the name Monaghan and Monahan by which surname William Donahee's mother was known in later years.

The Donahea clan settled at Percé in the Gaspé in the 1790s, they are there still today. William's mother may have been born one of them. I can find no baptism for her, a set of potential parents for her might be William Donahue & Ann Baker (she was COE) who married at New Carlisle 1827. The place of birth of her son given in the 1911 census resembles Port Daniel, Quebec, but yet again the name Donahue does not fit easily there. If indeed William was born at Bathurst, the baptismal record may exist, or the mother may have spent some years in Bathurst after leaving the Gaspé, before moving on towards Chatham. Margaret Donahea married Thomas Blondin or Blondel in Bathurst 21 Nov. 1864; Margaret &/or Thomas could also be Gaspé-born people, unclear.

Re: Donahee/ Monahan

Posted: 9 Feb 2015 1:21AM GMT
Classification: Query
Wow, many thanks for all the information- a lot more to digest, for sure. I appreciate the detective work !!
Lynne

Re: Donahee / Monahan

Posted: 10 Feb 2015 2:38AM GMT
Classification: Query
I'm very glad that the data is useful. Sometimes, there is a maiden aunt or an old bachelor in the household who remembers all key details in the last century; but others find it rocky to get by the hurdles of variant surname spelling; names than seem fluid, and relocation. If you found a Testament registered in the court, there might be fresh data to mine, also land transfer acts -purchases, donations, these records help fill in the blanks.
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