BARB'S GENEALOGY TIDBITS #10- SUSAN MC WATTERS WHERE WAS SHE BORN??

SUSAN MC WATTERS( MAC WATTERS, MAC WATTERS, MC WATERS)

Susan was one of my maternal great-great-grandmothers. All variations of the last name are searched each and every time. Variations could include Macwatters, McWatters, McWaters, MacWaters, Mc Watters, Mac Watters.

She was the wife of George Witheridge- married in Ontario. There is a comprehensive history of the Witheridge family but for the purposes of this article just Susan will be the topic. They had 9 children. One of those children was my great-grandmother Elizabeth Maude Witheridge who married Patrick Arthur English.

Susan was said to be born in County Armagh, Ireland. However in this article, there is documentation to state she was born in Ontario. One documentation states she emigrated to Canada in 1870.

Copious amounts of research has been done to find Mc Watters roots both in Canada and Ireland.

So what do we know about Susan. Born February 20, 1846. No definitive birth certificate found yet so no definitive name of her mother and father. There is a John Mc Watter in Family Search documents and a marriage in 1839 to Susanna Johnston. In Find My past, he was also married to a Barbara Dick in 1836. The original note on this marriage can be found in the Ballymoyer Parish Church Records- Ballymoyer, County Armagh. Three children- Susan, Thomas born 1844, Ireland and Agnes who may be a twin of Susan.

Kathleen ( Kathy) Witheridge whose research on the the Witheridge family stated in her letter of March 7, 1993 that Susan was young when she came to Canada. They settled in the Newcastle area. Susanna died August 10, 1847 and little Agnes died August 7, 1847 at 18 months, 3 days prior to her mother. A family correspondent to Kathleen had stated Susanna and John were Susan's parents.

In the 1881 Canadian Census, Darlington, Durham West, Ontario Canada- Susan is married to George Witheridge. her birth year is 1846 and birthplace is Ontario of Irish roots. George Witheridge, Jr., age 35; Susan age 35; William age 13; John age 11; Elizabeth age 9; Albert age 7; Arman age 6; Annie age 4; Frederick age 2. All children born in Ontario.

Kathleen did pay a researcher- David McElroy from Irish Roots- Holbeek House in 1989 in Ireland to find information. Here is a summary of his results before reviewing the two factual pages.

There are only 3 families with the surname of McWatters in County Armagh in the mid-nineteenth century. He found more Johnstons in the area than McWatters. There was a James McWaters in 1835 in Killevy Parish. Killevy tithe book had 3 MacWat(t)er families in 1864 but no Mc Waters remained there in 1864. He found the McWaters/Johnston marriage in 1839 previously mentioned. In the Baptism records he found some Johnston families but no Mc Waters in Ballintemple. Due to fire in Dublin in 1922 that destroyed many records in Ireland, he could not do further research. The John that is mentioned in the summary of the research could be Susanna's father or brother. He stated most of the Johnstons in Ballintemple were relatives of Susanna.

Page one of facts found by David.

Page two of facts found by David.

In an earlier census, it was cited that Susan was born in Ontario. In the 1891 census Susan and George are living in Durham West. In this census, it states she was born in 1846 and in Ireland.

In the 1901 Canadian census, she is living in Toronto with her husband George and children in Toronto West. In this census as an addendum, it was cited that Susan was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1870. This contradicts the family thinking as well as other documentation that she was born in 1846 after her parents came to Canada. So were Susanna and John her parents or other relatives? After Susanna died, did John remarry? He did have another wife before Susanna- Barbara Dick that he married in 1836. However, I still have not found him to confirm anything.

I subscribed to the Find My Past genealogical website. I have not found any records of Susan in county Armagh.

After George died Feb. 14, 1916, according to my mother- May Arline Ellis, great-granddaughter, Susan lived with daughter Elizabeth Maude to almost 89. She was noted for her crocheting and tatting. She liked to eat Scotch mint peppermints.

Susan on left with her daughter Elizabeth Maude Mitchell( nee English ).

Susan died August 22, 1934 in Toronto Ontario age 88, 6 months, 2 days. Her death certificate states she was a widow, living at 88 Walmer Road, retire, born Ireland but the names of her mother and father unknown. It also states she was in the province 85 years.

The certificate was completed by a physician who obviously would not know much of her history. She had sustained a hip fracture in May and was bedridden dying from paralysis agilnas in August. She is buried in St. John's Norway Cemetery, Toronto, York, Ontario. Range 5, Section 6, Grave 33. On the burial cards obtained  in 1989 from the cemetery, there were 2 addresses- 101 Sumach Street and 735 Coxwell Ave.

Research has always been helped by connecting with others doing research. I revisited all my McWaters research. Phyllis Litton from Cincinnati Ohio was very helpful. She was an avid family historian. Unfortunately she died, March 8, 2008.

Kathy Witheridge has been instrumental in helping may North American Descendants search for their Witheridge history and roots.

So how much do I really know about Susan. Not much. The conflict between being born in Ontario or Ireland or coming in 1870 has not been resolved.Since she can not be located in Ireland, it seems plausible that she really was born in Ontario and did not come to Canada in 1870. The only possibility is her father returned to Ireland after Susanna's death, remarried and stayed there or returned to  Canada. More research will be done to try to solve this conundrum.

REFERENCES

Witheridge, Kathleen- Unpublished letter March 7, 1993. Updated and compiled Withridge family history.

Family- Search-John MC  Watters is found- batch number 89011932, source Call no- 1553330, Type Film, County Armagh, Ulster Province, Ireland.

1881 Canada Census- Susan Witheridge- page 25, household ID 624258, Digital folder number 4466081, Image Number 00074 and GS film number 1375878.

1901 Census- Ward/Quartier o.2., Toronto ( East/Est) (City/cite) , Ontario, district Number 117, Subdistrict Number-b-9. Archives Microfilm: T-6498. Automated genealogy 1901 Census Indexing Project online- 4/26/2010

Ellis-Park, May. Oral recollection of family history.

Ontario Deaths- 1869-1937. 1934- County of York, Township of York, city of Toronto.

Litton, Phyllis- Family researcher. Unpublished correspondence and information. 1988. 1991.

Blammoed Parish Church Records- Ballymoyer County Armagh- 1839

County Armagh research 1989 by Irish Roots researcher- David McElroy.

Find my Past website researched for MC Watters information.

Witheridge Family history. Witheridge Family History Society.

Barbara Di Mambro
Copyright 2018
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