Steve’s Genealogy Blog

On 15 May 1895, William H. McGinn and Léa Poirier were married in the parish of St. Joseph, Shédiac, New Brunswick, Dominion of Canada.

The Marriage Record of William H. McGinn and Léa Poirier - 1895

SOURCE: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin. Shédiac, New Brunswick, Dominion of Canada, 1895. Marriage Record of William H. McGinn & Léa A. Poirier, page 129.

Click on the image above to enlarge it. Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Marriage Record of William H. McGinn and Léa A. Poirier - 1895. Translated from the French the record reads:

M[arriage]. 4
William H. McGinn + Léa A. Poirier

 On the fifteenth of May 1895, with the dispensation of two bans, the other having been announced at mass the parish, not having found any impediment to the marriage between William H. McGinn, son of legal age of Patrick McGinn and Mary Jane Ellison of Fredericton of the first part, and Léa A. Poirier, daughter under legal age of André S. Poirier and Philomène Bourgeois of this parish of the second part. We have secured their mutual consent in the presence of Charles M. McGinn and Emma A. Poirier.
                                                        Ant. Ouellet, priest

This record can be found as image 229/260 in the Acadia French Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1670-1946 on Ancestry.com as part of the records for Shédiac 1863-1899. The record appears on page 129.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko

Pascal Poirier and Mathilda Celeste Casgrain were married on 09 Jan 1917 in Ottawa, Carleton County, Ontario, Canada.

Pascal Poirier

SOURCE: Pascal Poirier. Photographed by Jules Alexandre Castonguay (photograph in the public domain, Library and Archives Canada).

The Marriage Record of Pascal Poirier and Mathilda Celeste Casgrain - 1917

SOURCE: Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1857-1924, No. 015152, Poirier-Casgrain, 1917; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 September 2008); citing Archives of Ontario microfilm MS932, reel 428.

This marriage was the second for Pascal Poirier and the first for Mathilda Casgrain. Click on the document image above to see an enlarged image. Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Marriage Record of Pascal Poirier and Mathilda Casgrain - 1917.

The record states that:

• Pascal Poirier, age 64, was born and residing in Shediac, New Brunswick
• He was a Roman Catholic widower whose occupation was senator
• His parents were Simon Poirier and Henriette Arsenault
• Mathilda Celeste Casgrain, age 49, was born in Quebec and residing in Ontario
• She was a Roman Catholic spinster
• Her parents were Philippe Baby Casgrain and Mathilda Perreault
• The marriage took place in Ottawa, Carleton County, Ontario, Canada
• The Rev. Charles Edward Paqueth solemnized the marriage

Pascal Poirier made history as the first Acadian appointed to the Canadian Parliament. He served in parliament for a total of 48 years, 6 months, 18 days.

Pascal’s wife, Mathilda Celeste Casgrain, was the daughter of another senator, Joseph Philippe Baby Casgrain, another prestigious figure in the history of Canada.

This document shows that Pascal Poirier was the son of Simon Poirier and Henriette Arsenault. As such, he was the grand uncle of Leo McGinn, who in turn was the husband of my aunt, Bertha (Bronisława) Danko.

I had previously known that Leo McGinn was related to Pascal Poirier, but I did not know the relationship. My cousin Jim (who is the great-great-grand nephew of Pascal Poirier) is visiting in San Francisco this week and he clarified the relationships for me.

This record can be found as image 873/1133 in the Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1857-1924 on Ancestry.com as part of the records for Carleton 1917. The record appears as number 015152.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Canada have posted an index to a large number of vital records, and some of those records are linked to images of the original documents.  I searched for the marriage record of William McGinn and Lea Poirier who were the in-laws of my aunt, Bertha (Danko) McGinn.  As yet, the Provincial Archives have not linked the image to the index entry for this marriage, so I searched for this record while I was at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City.

I found the image on FHL US/CAN Film 2024682 (you can click on the image below to enlarge it or you can view, download, and print a PDF file of the record).

In addition, I looked through a series of films of the New Brunswick vital statistics from newspapers and found a entry for the marriage in FHL US/CAN Book 971.5 V2nb V. 99, which appears to be a transcription form The Daily Telegraph, Saint John, New Brunswick on 16 MAY 1895:

W.H. McGINN and bride passed through the city yesterday en route to Fredericton.  Mr. McGinn was married yesterday morn. to Miss L.A. POIRIER.  The ceremony was performed by Rev. Fathe Ouellett.  Mr. McGinn is superintendent of the electrical works at the Celestial City.

I also looked up the biographical entry for Pascal Poirier, who is related to Lea Poirier, although I’m not sure how (I’ll have to check with my McGinn cousins to find out about this).  I found the entry in Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography FHL US/CAN Book 973 D36ap 1887-89 v. 5.  You may recall from a previous post that Appleton’s contains at least 200 entries of fictitious individuals.  Pascal Poirier’s biography appears to be accurate, however:

     POIRIER, Pascal, Canadian senator, b. in Shediac, New Brunswick, 14 Feb., 1852.  He is of Acadian descent.  He completed his course of studies at St. Joseph’s college, Memramcook, studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Quebec in 1876.  In 1872 Mr. Poirier was appointed postmaster of the Dominion parliament, which post he held till his appointment to the senate, 9 March, 1885.  At an early age he contributed to the press, both French and English, and he has published “L’Origine des Acadiens” (Montreal, 1874).