..........McCarthy

The research into the McCarthy lineage proved to be particularly challenging because I had so little personal knowledge of that side of the family.  Since our grandmother, Eva McCarthy, died over twenty years before we were born, it is probably no surprise that we didn’t know much about her or even our Great Grandparents William and Cora.  What did she look like?  What did she sound like?  We will never know.  Dad was only three years old when she died so even he would have had a difficult time remembering anything about her.  But alas, he never spoke at all about his mother and, sadly, I never thought to ask.  So maybe that is why this search becomes even more important: to uncover as much about her as possible so that I might shine even a sliver of light onto her all-too-short a life.

What made the research into the McCarthys so challenging was that the McCarthy name changed so many times.  The 1861 Census of Canada is a great example of this:  Joseph MacArte’s name was listed as Macordi; Julie Champoux’s name was listed as Champose; and their child’s name was listed as Macondi.  To complicate my research even more, I found that Eva’s mother’s name was listed as Riendeau or Yando or Yandow in various documents.  After many frustrating hours of research I decided to hire the services of a professional genealogist from Canada to help me sort things out.  He determined that William McCarthy and Cora “Riendeau” were married in Nashua, N.H., which was where Eva was born.  In fact, according to the birth certificate, Eva was named Irene Eva McCarthy.  I will cover much more detail as I chronicle the life and times of the McCarthy’s in the following pages.  It should be noted that the McCarthy name was never seen until the late 1800s.  From the beginning of my search in the mid-1600s the name was always a French rendition such as Macardi or Marcarti. 

The first of the McCarthy family to immigrate to Canada was Jean Baptiste MacArty.  Jean Baptiste was born in 1711 in the Parish of St Saviour, Diocese of St Malo, Ille et Vilaine, Bretagne, France.  His parents were Daniel MacArty and Jeanne Auger.  Jeanne was born 22 December 1684 in Rennes, Ille et Vilaine, Bretagne, France.  While Daniel was likely born in France in the early 1680s – it is possible that he came from Ireland.  I have seen no evidence to confirm that at this time.  It is known that a fairly large number of people from Ireland emigrated around that time to escape the battles between England and Ireland.  Most of the Catholic families went to France while most of the Protestants went to Canada.  Daniel and Jeanne were married in Dinan France (image left) 2 November 1706.  Dinan is a medieval town in the region of Brittany in north-west France.  By the 1730s Daniel was the Commissioner of disabled persons in the department of Dinan.    

Jean Baptiste Macarti and Marie Ursele Vermet were married in St Augustin de Desmaures, Portneuf, Québec in November 1736.  Jean Baptiste worked as a ship owner in 1738 in that same town. 

Jean Baptiste and Ursele gave birth to Francois Eustache MacArti on 6 Oct 1743 in Portneuf, Québec.  Francois was baptized at St Augustin de Desmaures Church.  Francois was married twice.  His first marriage was to Marie Therese Juneau on 13 Jan 1772 at St Augustin Church in Montreal.  Marie Therese died on 02 Jan 1792 at the age of 53.  Francois later married Theotiste Lafond Mongrain on 30 Sep 1793 in Maskinonge.  Francois Eustache lived for 82 years, passing away on 10 April 1825 in Maskinonge, Québec, Canada.

Francois Eustache and Theotiste had several children, including Joseph MacArte, who was born on the 23^rd of June 1801 in Maskinonge, Québec, Canada, and baptized in St. Joseph Church.  Joseph led a long and productive life until he passed away on 5 November 1887 in Saint Valere de Bulstrode, Québec and was buried two days later in Victoriaville, Québec, Canada, from Saint Victoire parish.  There is some contradictory information in the records.  The record of his death lists his age as 93, while some documents have his date of birth listed as 1801 rather than1794.  I have validated the 23 June 1801 date using the actual parish register available through the “Québec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967,” which is acknowledged to be the official record.

Joseph was married twice.  His initial marriage was to Julie Dubord dit Latourel on 25 Jan 1825 in Maskinonge, Québec.   Julie passed away four years later in 1829.  Joseph later married Julie Champoux on 19 Oct 1829, also in Maskinonge, Québec.  Joseph and Julie would give birth to Louis Macarti on 1 Aug 1830 in Maskinonge, Québec.

Louis Macarti married Olive Souliere on 5 Sep 1854 in Princeville, Québec.  Louis and Olive had eight children  including William born in 1869 and Joseph born in 1874.  I mention Joseph at this point because he will later play an important role in the marriage of Albert Lorion and Eva McCarthy.  Louis died at a relatively young age (45) on 24 Sep 1875 in Princeville.  The 1871 Canadian Census listed Louis’ occupation as cultivator.

William McCarthy was the eldest of Joseph and Julie’s children, having been born 16 Aug 1869 in St Norbert, Arthabaska, Québec.  The 1881 Canadian Census lists the McCarthy family living in Athabaska, Québec.  As documented earlier in this report, William is one of our “pioneers” having emigrated from Canada to the United States in 1889.  While I have not found the actual forms, his arrival into the U.S. is documented in the U.S. Census forms beginning in 1900.  In 1891, William was in Nashua New Hampshire and employed as an “operative.”  

Cora Yando and William McCarthy

William married Marie Cordelia (Cora) Riendeau on 2 Feb 1891 in Nashua, NH.  William and Cora are my great grandparents.  While there is no confusion about when and where William was born, there is an abundance of confusing information about Cora.  According to my early research, Cora was born in Churibusco, New York in 1869.  Her name was listed as Cora Yando.  When she and William were married in New Hampshire in 1891 her name was listed as Riendeau and her parents listed as Yandow.  While it is not uncommon in genealogy research to see multiple name spellings, it certainly makes the research more of a challenge. It was not until I spent time researching in the archives of the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics that I found that her name was officially YANDO and that she was born in Ormstown, N.Y. in 1872.  Although I have been able to locate an Ormstown in Québec Canada, I can find no listing of an Ormstown in New York.  Ormstown, Québec Canada is just north of the Canada/New York border.  According to research conducted by Kenneth McCarthy, Cora was actually born in Churibusco, New York.  The 1870 U.S. Census shows Cora living in Malone NY and listed her as eight months old.  That would put her birth date at around November 1869.  Churibusco and Malone New York are both close to the Canadian border near Québec.  Census records from 1870 through 1940 list her place of birth as Canada or New York.  Even in the 1880 Census her birth location was listed as Canada.

William and Cora had nine children.  Eva was the oldest child and was born 23 September 1891 in Nashua, N.H.  Interestingly, her name on her birth certificate was listed as Irene Eva McCarthy.  William and Cora had several other children while living in Nashua before moving to Worcester, Massachusetts before the census of 1900.  They would have five more children before the 1910 census.  In the 1900 census the McCarthys were living on Cambridge St in Worcester, and in the 1910 census they were living at 1077 Main Street.  Those locations would have them very likely attending Holy Name of Jesus Church and within short walking distance of Canterbury Street where the Lorion family was living.  William and Cora later moved to Oxford, Massachusetts, where they lived until they passed away in the early 1950s.  Cora died in January of 1952 while William lived until August 1953.  They are both buried in Notre Dame Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Eva McCarthy and Albert Lorion were living in the same neighborhood, belonged to the same church, and possibly attended Holy Name of Jesus School together.  While I don’t know the details of their relationship, they eventually planned to marry, and decided to do so in Victoriaville, Québec, Canada in 1911.  This was the area where William had been born and raised, and where most of his siblings still resided.   

Eva and Albert married in the parish of Ste. Victoire in Victoriaville 11 Jun 1913.  The wedding is documented in the parish register published by the Québec Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967.  In the register the priest wrote that Albert and Eva were from the parish of Holy Name of Jesus in Worcester MA.  The returned to Worcester, where Albert worked as a core maker at a foundry in Worcester and Eva worked as a stitcher, likely at the Royal Worcester Corset Company on Wyman Street.  At this time there were as many a 22 foundries in Worcester.  While I have not determined exactly which one Albert worked in, there were at least two foundries in close proximity to where he was living on Canterbury Street.

Eva would give birth to four children between 1914 and 1918: Cecile (1914); Edmond (1915); Francis (1916); and Lillian (1917). In 1918, Eva was expecting another child when she fell victim to the nationwide influenza pandemic and passed away on 15 October 1918.  She had given birth to her third son only a day before and tragically he passed away the same day.  Both Eva and the unnamed boy were buried in the family plot the next day.