Stephen McCormick

Stephen McCormick was born March 26th, 1849 in Lower Canada, (Quebec). He was baptized April 8th, 1849 at St. Ann’s church on Grand Calumet Island. Stephen married Bridget McDermott on May 3rd, 1881 at St. Anne’s Catholic church, Sudbury, Ontario. Bridget’s parents were John McDermott and Mary Cullen. Stephen died October 28, 1929 in Sudbury, Ontario. He was buried October 31, 1929 at St. Ann Catholic church in Sudbury. Stephen lived with his daughter Marie Ann.

In the early 1970s St. Ann church underwent a major renovation and addition. The cemetery was converted into a parking lot for the church. The graves were moved to (Christ The King Catholic church)) a few miles away, however it is believed not all the graves were moved and that Stephen may still buried under the parking lot of St. Anne’s. Stephen’s age on his death certificate lists his age as 85 years 7 months and 11 days which puts his birth date at March 17th, 1844. According to his baptismal record he was born March 26, 1849. The discrepancy tells us a lot about the harsh times they lived in. Birthdays were obviously not as important as they are today. There were so many children born into families that sometimes dates were confused or forgotten completely. People didn’t have calendars readily available as we do today and births took place at home usually without a doctor. Most important to people was survival, putting food on the table and in the case of new emigrants to Canada like Thomas & Bridget, surviving the Canadian winter. The baptismal record will be the correct information. Also on Stephens death certificate it states that his mother was Mary O’Connor. To the best of our knowledge and as stated on many other records and documents, his mothers name was Bridget O’Connor. I doubt Stephen would forget his mothers name and a plausible explanation is that her name was Bridget Mary or Mary Bridget, but most likely his children and Grandchildren mixed up the name of their Grandmother as she had died in the early 1880's in Vinton, Quebec which is literally 1000 kilometers away.