Caughlin

(submitted by Dr. Michael Murphy)

This short article reflects findings from a recent foray into family history. My great grandparents were William “Bill” Caughlin (1873–1956) and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dolan (1886–1949) of Warwick, Watford and Sarnia. Their oldest child was my grandmother, “Gramma” Mary Verna Caughlin Murphy (1905–1969). She was born in a log cabin on 9 Sideroad, Warwick Twp., that is, east and south of the control gate at the Warwick Conservation Area park entrance in 2008.

Evidence indicates that this Irish Roman Catholic family was among the early settlers of Warwick. James and William Caughlin possessed separate lots in Warwick Village in 1836. A year later, Michael Caughlin served with the Warwick Volunteers, a unit which played a small role during the 1837–1838 Rebellion. James and Michael, according to the Canada Census for 1851–1852, lived on Lot 10, Con. 2 SER, while William farmed on Lot 29, Con. 6 SER. Subsequent federal censuses reveal sufficient information to conclude that William and Michael were siblings and James' sons. For decades the Caughlin families farmed adjacent lots, probably eventually rolling them into one farm. This property remained in Caughlin hands well into the twentieth century.

Harold and Mary Verna Caughlin, Watford, c. 1908. Courtesy M Murphy.

Although little is known of James' wife, Michael's spouse was Mary Eagen. She was born in 1809 in Longford County, Ireland; moved to Warwick in 1837, “settling on the Kingstone estate”; married Michael in 1839, and helped him to raise five sons and two daughters. A widow for her last fifteen years, Mary died of “old age” in 1890. Their children, in descending birth order, were: James, John, William, Bridget, Michael, Edward and Catherine. This group presented Michael and Mary with almost fifty grandchildren.

James' son, William, also took a Mary from Longford for his wife. Like her sister-in-law, she came to Warwick with the Kingstones in the 1830s. Their children were James, Thomas, Margaret and John. This is the same William Caughlin whose tombstone is embedded in the cairn near the entrance to the Warwick Conservation Area. William died in 1870; Mary passed away thirty years later, at age 95.

The log cabin from 9 Sideroad was relocated to 6217 Guy Street, at the corner of the Egremont Road, in Warwick Village.

The musical gene seems to have found a home in Caughlin bloodlines. Perhaps more Caughlins were musicians “of note”, but at this point, the sources lead to the children and grandchildren of William and Mary, as well as to the great granddaughter of Michael and Mary. According to the Guide-Advocate (14 August 1896), John W. Caughlin, William and Mary's fourth child, was “one of the best all round musicians in the West and… the father of a family of musical prodigies”. A barber by trade, John's musical career spanned at least three decades (the 80s, the 90s, and until his death in 1916). Composed of “musical artists and vocalists”, the “famous” Caughlin Family Orchestra was regularly profiled in local newspapers, as they played throughout southwestern Ontario. In addition to “Professor” Caughlin, the “talented family of musical wonders” consisted of his wife, Ellen (also a nurse), and their daughters Nettie, Alexia and Belle — a “trio of clever musicians”. Less is known about John's older sister Margaret; but it appears that she was an accomplished pianist, playing, for example, at the 1914 wedding of William Francis Caughlin and Mary Alice Mason.

In 1917, there were six Caughlin sisters living, the daughters of John Caughlin and Sarah Jane Cox. They were Margaret (Gavigan), Sarah (Lyon), Lena (Mc Keon), Kate (Cundick), Ada (Walsh) and Anne (Mason). Two daughters had died in 1903. There were four boys in this family as well.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Caughlin Family

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