THE DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM DAGG AND ANN McCORMICK

 

by Jann Callaghan Cullen

 

 

 

 

 

THE DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM DAGG AND ANN McCORMICK

 

        WILLIAM DAGG  was born Abt. 1810 in Northern Tipperary, Ireland, and died in Ontario.  He married ANN MCCORMICK in 1833, in Nenagh, Tipperary.   She was born Abt. 1812 in Tipperary, Ireland, and died in Ontario.  Their marriage is recorded in the Registry of Marriage License Bonds for the Diocese of Killaloe, but little else is known about their background or their families at this time.

 

        William and Ann emigrated to Ops Township, near Lindsay, Ontario (then part of Peterborough County) probably in about 1834.  Although there is no solid data on the date of emigration for William and Ann, all four of their children list Upper Canada as their place of birth.  Elizabeth, their eldest child, was born about 1835, so they must have emigrated in about 1834, shortly after their marriage.

 

        The 1839/1840 census for Ops Township shows William with a wife and 3 children, two boys and a girl, all under 16.  The age and sex of these children correspond with the ages of their children Elizabeth, Thomas and Samuel as listed in later censuses.   Their youngest son William would have been born about 1842 and so would not be expected to show on this earlier census.  This family owned 200 acres, at Lot 3, Concession 8, in the Mt. Horeb area of Ops township.

 

        Also living in Ops Township at the time of the 1839/1840 census, were a James Dagg (family of 9), a John Dagg (no family), and another William Dagg (with a family of 10).  The identity of these other Daggs, or their relationships to one another has not yet been determined.  The 1851 census for this area is missing, and by the time of the 1861 census all of the older generation of Daggs, including William and Ann, were no longer living in the area.  Some of them may have died, or may have moved on - indeed, they could be the same Daggs whose records show up later on in other areas of Canada.  Records suggest that at least one of these families may have moved to the U.S.

 

        By the time of the 1861 census, the only Daggs who remained in Ops Township were the four children of William Dagg and Ann McCormick.  The census shows they were all living in the same household, on the original farm at Mt. Horeb.  A decade later, only Thomas Dagg remained in Ops.  Sister Elizabeth had died, and younger brothers William and Samuel disappeared from all records, perhaps moving away, or succumbing to some tragedy.

 

Children of WILLIAM DAGG and ANN MCCORMICK are:

1.        ELIZABETH DAGG, was born about 1835, in Ops Township, Victoria County, Ontario.  She married Asa Sawyer, son of Benjamin Sawyer and Catherine Burhart, on Sep/28/1861.  Asa was born in about 1835, in Fenelon, Victoria County, Ontario, the son of Benjamin Sawyer and Catherine Burhart.

 

Eliza was one of the earliest school teachers in the Mt. Horeb area.  She taught school out of their own cabin until a proper school house could be built.  At the time of her marriage to Asa Sawyer, Elizabeth’s name was listed as E.E. Evans, so it is assumed that she was once married and then widowed.  (Her husband Asa, was the older brother of Mary Sawyer, who was to marry her younger brother Thomas.)  Elizabeth’s death is not officially recorded anywhere.  Her husband , Asa Sawyer remarried in 1873, and moved to Brock, Ontario, so the closest estimate we can presume for her date of death is some time between 1861 and 1872.  She died childless, as far as records show.

 

2.       THOMAS DAGG, was born on Sep/7/1837, in Ops County, Ontario; he died on  May/13/1917,  in Minden, Ontario.  He married Mary Sawyer, daughter of Benjamin Sawyer and Catherine Burhart.   This descendancy is the main focus of this report, and is presented in greater detail, below.  See:  Section II, below)  “DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS DAGG AND MARY SAWYER”.

 

3.        SAMUEL DAGG, b. Abt. 1839.  No further records for Samuel show up after 1861.  He may have died, or moved to another area.

 

4.        WILLIAM DAGG, b. Abt. 1842.  No further records for William show up after 1861.  He may have died, or moved to another area.

 

 

SECTION  II)           DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS DAGG AND MARY SAWYER

 

 

THOMAS DAGG (WILLIAM1) was born Sep/7/1837 in Ops Township (near Lindsay, Ontario)  and died May/13/1917 in Minden , Ontario.  He married MARY SAWYER Apr/23/1863 in Ops Township, Ont.  She was the daughter of BENJAMIN SAWYER and CATHERINE BURHART.  She was born May/10/1837 in Whitby, Ontario and died Jun/22/1922 in Ops Township, Ont.  [*Please note that a huge amount of ‘Sawyer’ family research is available from this author.]

 

        Mary Sawyer’s parents were both born in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, near Stanhope.  Catherine Burhart listed her nationality as ‘Dutch’, while Benjamin Sawyer listed his as ‘Irish’. Shortly after moving to Ops,  Mary’s father Benjamin left his wife and children to live with (and possibly marry bigamously) a younger woman.  He had several more children with his new ‘wife’.   Catherine and the children remained on the farm in Whitby, the older sons working the land.  Catherine continued to list her marital status on all records as ‘married’, until 1873 when, at the age of 60, she married George Wallis, with whom she had been living common-law for some time.  On her marriage application, Catherine listed herself as ‘widowed’  (even though Benjamin Sawyer was still alive!) 

 

      Thomas & Mary spent a good deal of their married lives moving around.  In 1871, they were living in Mariposa Township.  By 1881, they lived in Glamorgan,  on Lot 11, Concession 9.  The house was one storey, with 3 rooms,  and the farm was 150 acres.  By 1891, they had moved to the town of Minden, where they spent the remainder of their lives.  Thomas Dagg died in 1917, at the age of nearly 80.  Wife Mary Sawyer died 5 years later, at the age of 85 years.   She spent the last 3 years of her life in an institution called the “House of Refuge”.  Her cause of death was listed as “Senility”.   The burial place for Thomas and Mary is not known.

 

Children of THOMAS DAGG and MARY SAWYER are:

              1)       GEORGE WESLEY DAGG, (THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Abt. Sep/14/1864 in Victoria Co., Ontario.  He married Elizabeth Gainer in 1888.  She was born 1864 in Victoria Co., Ontario, and died Jan/29/1908 in Minden, Ontario.

 

        Children of GEORGE DAGG and ELIZABETH GAINER are:

I.      ALFRED (Stewart) DAGG, (GEORGE WESLEY3, THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Jul/8/1889 in Minden, Ontario.  The name of his wife is not known.

       

        Children of ALFRED ‘STEWART’ DAGG are:

                                                               i.       LILA DAGG.

                                                      ii.       MARY DAGG.

                                                             iii.       STELLA DAGG.

                                                             iv.       EDNA DAGG.

                                                              v.       GLADYS DAGG.

                                                             vi.       BOY 1 DAGG.

                                                            vii.       BOY 2 DAGG.

 

II.    ALICE EVA DAGG, b. Feb/1/1891, Minden, Ont.; d. Feb/1/1891, Minden, Ont.

 

III.   GEORGE WESLEY DAGG, (GEORGE WESLEY3, THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Mar/7/1892 in Minden, Ontario, and died Abt. 1928.  He married Mary Elizabeth Hopkins. 

       

                                                Child of GEORGE DAGG and MARY HOPKINS is:

                                                                                             i.            FLORENCE KATHLEEN DAGG, (GEORGE WESLEY4, GEORGE WESLEY3, THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Jul/2/1919, and died Apr/26/1997.  She married Joseph David Aubin.  She was also married to a Rivers, and a Brissette.

       

                                                                        Child of FLORENCE DAGG and JOSEPH AUBIN is:

a.     PATRICIA MARY LEE-ANN RIVERS, (FLORENCE KATHLEEN5 DAGG, GEORGE WESLEY4, GEORGE WESLEY3, THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Aug/10/1959.  She married Michael Lallone. 

 

                                    Children of PATRICIA RIVERS and MICHAEL LALLONE are:

                                                                                                                i.      ADAM MICHAEL LALLONE, b. Mar/15/1980.

                                                                                                                ii.    TABITHA FLORENCE LALLONE, b. Jun/15/1981.

                                                                                                                iii.   CHERISH AMBER LALLONE, b. Nov/6/1984.

 

IV.   CARL ‘PERCY’ DAGG, b. Apr/7/1894, Minden, Ontario; d. Mar/29/1908, Lindsay, Ontario.  A note from Cherish Lallone suggests that Percy may have died  young ‘from a dentist’.

 

V.    VIOLA L. DAGG, b. Jul/25/1896, Minden, Ontario.  Viola married and had 8 sons – 3 of whom died in W.W.II, according to a family source.

 

              2)      ASA (SAMUEL) DAGG, was born in 1867, in Victoria Co., Ontario;  He died in 1967, in Flatbush, Alberta, at the age of 100.  He married Mary Anne Sinclair on Apr/5/1889 in Minden, Ontario, daughter of DANIEL SINCLAIR and ISABELLA SINCLAIR.  She was born 1871 in Ireland, and died 1950 in Westlock, Alberta.  This line is covered in a separate family tree:“Descendants of Sam Dagg and Mary Anne Sinclair”.

 

              3)      MEAD DAGG, (THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born 1869 in Victoria North  (Minden), Ontario, and died Oct/13/1899 in Snowden, Ontario.  He married Margaret “Maggie” Sinclair  Jul/20/1889 in Minden, Ontario, daughter of DANIEL SINCLAIR and ISABELLA SINCLAIR.  She was born 1873 in Ireland, and died in Dryden, Ontario.  Mead died in 1899, and his widow Maggie remarried to George Whiting.  Maggie and George lived for a while in Carievale, Saskatchewan, and eventually moved to Dryden, Ontario.  Maggie died in June of 1945, and is buried in Dryden cemetery.

       

Children of MEAD DAGG and MARGARET SINCLAIR are:

                                       I.       ISABELLA DAGG, b. Dec/13/1890, Snowden, Ontario; d. Sep/28/1891, Snowden, Ontario.

                                     II.       ALBERT DAGG, b. Abt. 1891.  Albert served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WWI.

                                    III.       CECIL DAGG, b. Abt. 1892. Cecil never married.  He drowned when his boat accidentally overturned on April 26, 1926, near Dryden, Ontario.  He is buried in Dryden cemetery.

 

              4)       JOHN DAGG, (THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Jun/10/1870 in Victoria Co., Ontario, and died Sep/15/1904 in Snowden, Ontario.  He married Margaret Marion “May” Milburn Apr/21/1902 in Gelert, Haliburton County, (div. of Snowden), daughter of THOMAS MILBURN and ADELIA JOHNSTONE.  She was born Abt. 1878 in Victoria Co. , Ontario.  Their marriage record reads as follows:   “John Dagg, 28, son of Thomas and Mary Dagg, married Margret Marion Milburn, born Snowden, daughter of Thomas Melburn & Margret Adeba.”

 

John and Mae moved to Toronto, where they lived until John Dagg died in about 1904.  His widow, Mae Milburn remarried to George Kellett.  John’s small sons Cecil and Jack both took the name of Kellett as well, though some records appear as the combined last name of  “Dagg Kellett”.

 

                        Children of JOHN DAGG and MARGARET MILBURN are:

                                       I.       CECIL DAGG, b. Mar/14/1898.

                                     II.       JACK DAGG, b. Abt. 1900.

 

              5)       MARTHA VICTORIA DAGG, (THOMAS2, WILLIAM1) was born Feb/12/1874 in Mariposa , Ontario, and died May/23/1965 in Minden , Ontario.  She married Joseph Henry Burns  Mar/29/1897 in Minden, Ontario, son of HENRY BURNS and ANNE NEWELL.  He was born Sep/11/1868 in Minden , Ontario, and died Jun/24/1954 in Minden , Ontario.  The line of Martha Victoria Dagg and Joseph Burns has been researched entirely by Vicki and Bob Burns.  Their extensive research is presented as a separate, stand-alone family tree: “Descendants of Martha Dagg and Joseph Burns”.

 

6)       WILLIAM DAGG, b. 1876, Victoria Co., Ontario.  Nothing is known of whatever became of William, but the children of his brother Sam and Mary Ann Dagg recall them going to Edmonton in the 1940’s to see their ‘Uncle Bill’, who was then a RCMP officer.  It is possible that it could have been this William.

 

7)       CHESTER DAGG, b. Oct/10/1880, Victoria Co., Ontario.  Chester died on Sept. 09, 1923, in Somerville, and is buried in Coboconck.  He died of complications from surgery.  Sadly, his death certificate lists ‘no family known’, so he was likely buried quietly.

 

 

 

Jann Callaghan Cullen 

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