McCanna family
From birchyHistory
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| − | The McCannas were | + | The McCannas were early settlers in [[Miles City]]. The matriarch and at least two sons, both with fair sized families weathered two [[fires]] and a major death. One of the sons moved on to [[Alaska]]. They are related to the [[Rooney family]]. The adults were born in County Latrim, Ireland and came from Minnesota to Miles City. Mother Bridgett ran at least one boarding house on Main Street between 3rd and 4th streets. They are Catholic, of course. |
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| + | In Ireland, the McCannas, and their neighbors the Hanrahans intermarried and then left for the United States in the Fall of 1867. And the immigration record of Myles McCanna puts him in the United States no later than 4/4/1868, settling near Padua, MN. There were at least three households: Myles, James S. and Michael Bernard, all had their own farms. About 1868 James marries Sarah Ann Duffy. Best guess is that Myles was the father and Michael and James were his sons. (Or they could all be brothers). Presumably, their mother Bridgette was with them, as she is with them when they arrive in Miles City and their unmarried sister, also named Bridgette. In September, 1875 both Myles and James sold their farms; a locust plague devastated Minnesota from 1872-1875, being especially hard-hitting in 1874. | ||
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| + | Also in 1874, Micheal marries Katherine Ann Rooney, whose family had emigrated through Canada, and a branch had moved to this part of Minnesota in such numbers that the area was named after them. Katherine had been a local school teacher for 2 years. At the age of 20 Katherine Ann became the community's first teacher; she taught in a one-room schoolhouse a mile or so from the present-day Padua. The teacher's contract is signed by her and by the school director, her cousin Hugh Rooney, [[13 Mau 1872]]. Hugh ends up living with Katherine about the time her husband dies in Alaska. | ||
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| + | Michael and family headed west either that Fall 1875 or in the Spring of 1876. His 2nd child James is born in Fargo, ND December 1876. Presumably, Myles dies about this time, since he isn't mentioned in Miles City AFAIK. Mother Bridgett and probably Michael arrive in 1877, Michael's family (Katherine Rooney McKanna and 2 children) arrives in 1878. Sister Bridgette came either in 1877 or 1878. For 10 years, he is involved in construction projects. In 1883, he's listed as a teamster. The family lived on 4th Street, | ||
| + | between Main and Pleasant, around the corner from mother Bridgett. | ||
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| + | Sister Bridgette immediately marries [[Charles Johnson]] (1878). Johnson was one of the original suttlers, with the troops in the cantonment. He was the first merchant to set up shop when they were evicted from camp to the site of Oldtown. He and Bridgette were also the first white parents in the area. | ||
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| + | James arrives at least by 1878 and his family follows in 1881. James is listed as a teamster and a railroad contractor in 1878 and 1881. They built a hotel at the corner of Casey and Jew St in old Milestown in 1878 and moved the building to Miles City in 1880. Known as the "Tongue River House" or more often, "Mrs. McCanna's house". | ||
1880 Census: Michael is a laborer and in his house live his wife and three children, plus mother Bridget and Maggie (listed as a wife?) | 1880 Census: Michael is a laborer and in his house live his wife and three children, plus mother Bridget and Maggie (listed as a wife?) | ||
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| + | In [[8 Feb 1883]], James McCanna dies, leaving Sarah and 5 children. | ||
[[18 Jan 1884]] The Ursuline nuns stayed at her boarding house when they first arrived in Miles City and described the filth quite graphically in their letters home to the motherhouse in Toledo. | [[18 Jan 1884]] The Ursuline nuns stayed at her boarding house when they first arrived in Miles City and described the filth quite graphically in their letters home to the motherhouse in Toledo. | ||
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Apr 1886 ad: Leave your clothes at the Miles City dying works back of McCanna's. | Apr 1886 ad: Leave your clothes at the Miles City dying works back of McCanna's. | ||
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| + | In 1886, the family moves to Alaska, and they quickly become involved in the gold rush, establishing a claim near Douglas, Alaska. | ||
Dec 1886: [[Abe LeRoy]] receives a letter from [[Jimmy McCanna]] who is with his father in Alaska. He tells his "old pard" that he doesn't like Alaska as there ain't enough winter there. | Dec 1886: [[Abe LeRoy]] receives a letter from [[Jimmy McCanna]] who is with his father in Alaska. He tells his "old pard" that he doesn't like Alaska as there ain't enough winter there. | ||
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[[2 Mar 1890]] Mrs. Bridgetta McCanna, an old resident of MC, died on Sunday at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Maggie Mathews, at Williston, ND. She was quite elderly and feeble when she left MC to live with Maggie. She had quite a bit of real estate which yielded her considerable income at one time, but as the town shifted focus to the east, became less profitable. | [[2 Mar 1890]] Mrs. Bridgetta McCanna, an old resident of MC, died on Sunday at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Maggie Mathews, at Williston, ND. She was quite elderly and feeble when she left MC to live with Maggie. She had quite a bit of real estate which yielded her considerable income at one time, but as the town shifted focus to the east, became less profitable. | ||
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| + | [[13 Jun 1899]] on way back from gold fields with son Jim, Michael dies of Bright's Disease after a few years of affliction (abt 55). His daughter, Lizzie, went up on the Topeka RR from Skagway to Lake Bennett, met James there, and helped him bury their father. | ||
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| + | After her son's wife, Alma Gribble, died in 1909, she helped care for Philip's children, Hugh Hiliary and Philip. They lived with her son Hiliary at Eagle River, north of Juneau. Then between 1917-1923 she moved to Goldendale. There she took care of the two boys and their sister, Frances, until Philip remarried in 1925. When her daughter Elizabeth died in 1930, Katherine Ann took care of her brother-in-law, Robert Willis, in Goldendale. Katherine died in 1939. She was living at the time with Philip's daughter, Frances, and her husband, William Ruff. She had moved down to live with them after Katherine Margaret Willis, the daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Willis, her granddaughter, had finished college in Seattle. | ||
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| + | ==Michael's family== | ||
| + | Michael Bernard McKanna/McCanna b: 1846 in Waterford or Leitrim, Ireland ; d. 13 Jun 1899 in Alaska. | ||
| + | Katherine Ann ROONEY b: 02 APR 1852 in Farrellton, Quebec, Canada; d. 1939 LA, CA. | ||
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| + | Elizabeth Elinor MCKANNA b: 13 MAY 1875 in Grove Lake, MN; d. 1930 Goldendale, WA; m. Rbt J Willis | ||
| + | James Adelbert MCKANNA b: 16 DEC 1876 in Fargo, D.T.; d. 1918 Portland, OR; m. Francis G. Morrissette 1911; d. of pneumonia on trip to wife's | ||
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| + | family in AL. His father-in-law gave them $10,000 for a house, which was one of the best in the area. James studied at ?seminary?, worked gold fields | ||
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| + | with his father, ran a ferry company in Juneau, then was a merchant and finally a realtor. | ||
| + | Emmett Joseph MCKANNA b: 08 JUN 1879 in Miles City; d. 1958 Yakima, WA; m. Lilian Penglase 1885 MI | ||
| + | John MCKANNA b: 07 JUN 1882 in Miles City; d. ? | ||
| + | Phillip Francis MCKANNA b: 17 MAY 1884 in Miles City; tried to find gold in Alaska.; d. 1940 LA, CA. 2 wives and 7 children. | ||
| + | Robert J. MCKANNA b: 21 MAY 1889 in Douglas, Alaska; d. 1958 Fairbanks, AK; m. Theodocia L. Wheeler; worked on the docks, probably with Jim's | ||
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| + | ferry co. Served in WWI. | ||
| + | Hillary M. MCKANNA b: 11 JUN 1892 in Douglas, Alaska; d. 1957, Spokane, WA mental hospital, hung himself (manic-depressive psychosis and cerebral | ||
| + | arteriosclerosis); Farmer/Clerk/Railway Ag Dishman, transfer business; m. Vivian L. McDonald 1929 | ||
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| + | ==James' family== | ||
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| + | ==Bridgette's family== | ||
