The Family of William

oBridget	oBernard	oMary Elizabeth	o	William Joseph and Michael Patrick	oHannah
oLulu	o The Triplets	o Margaret	o	Patrick

To this point in the account of the life of William Slattery, emphasis has been on his career, with personal and some family matters included where relevant. It remains to deal more fully with his personal life. Table 4 summarizes the relevant statistics of William, his two wives, and their children.

There were three infant deaths. In 1855 the twins born to Honorah lived only one day. In 1867, Margaret's child John lived only nine days. Lastly, one of the triplets, Clara Ann, born in 1871, lived only tow months. High infant mortality was very prevalent in those years, and the by-Ward area with overcrowding and inadequate sanitation conditions would likely been a significant factor also.

Public health was a serious problem during the lifetime of William and his family. Epidemics took many in the prime of life, and few people lived to a ripe old age. This was particularly true in the last 15 years or so of the 19th century. In 1889, a daughter, Mary Elizabeth died age 26. In 1890, William's wife Margaret died age 56. In 1891, Michael Patrick, second son of William died age 30, and in 1892 William Joseph died age 33. Four deaths in four years. An almost identical tragedy took place with the Grimes family who lived in Aylmer, Quebec, where the mother and three of her children all died within months of each other in 1892. In the latter case and epidemic of scarlet fever followed by diphtheria swept through their household. This must have happened also in the Slattery home, as in many other homes in the Ottawa region.

The Children

Bridget
The baptismal records of Notre Dame Cathedral reveal that Bridget was born February 21, 1851, to William and Honora. She was also recorded in the 1851 census. An 1861 entry for William and his family has not been found, even though he lived very close to his brother Myles who is listed. Presumably Bridget would have been at home. In the 1871 census, William and family were found again; however, the oldest, Bridget, was not listed.

Searching through other 1871 census records in the Ottawa area, I found a "Bridget Slattery" in the census of Nepean Township, where she was shown as a "stray". age 19, born in Ontario. Apparently "stray" meant that there was no information of any family connections. Further review of this record revealed that Bridget was living in a household along with seven other young people, which was owned by Mrs. Dora Duncan, a boardinghouse keeper. The location was in St. George Ward of Nepean Township. The city directory of that year showed Mrs. Duncan's address as Clarence, near Dalhousie, and was likely next door to William's house. In spite of the Slatery spelling, it was clear that his was William's daughter. The family house must have been very crowded by 1871, and arrangements were probably made for Bridget to live at Mrs. Duncan house.

Bridget married William Lawrence, an Ottawa butcher, on October 28, 1873 at St. Patrick's Church. This was the year Bridget's father bought the property on Spring Road to which the family moved shortly afterwards. This probably accounts for the family church being St. Patrick's rather than Notre Dame Cathedral. Bridget was then 22. Perhaps her impending marriage and preparations for the family move to the Ottawa Sough property were factors in her move to Mrs. Duncan's house. In 1875, they were living at 139 Clarence Street, with William listed now as a bricklayer.

Bridget died May 10, 1884, only 33 years old. She was buried in the Lawrence family plot at Notre Dame cemetery, as well as their four infant children. The names of the children were Mary, William, Gertrude and William (again) but no other information. William died May 21, 1899. William's name is not on the family tombstone, although Bridget and the children's names are shown.

Bernard
The second child of William and Honora was Bernard, born August 23, 1852. Because of his important business career and the large size of his family, all information on his career and his family is described in Section 3 of this account

William Joseph and Michael Patrick
William (Willie) was the first of the children of William and Margaret, born in 1859. Michael Patrick followed in 1861. The two boys would have started to work for their father in his Byward butcher shop while in their teens. In his later years their father gave Bernard a major share in operation of the business. When their father died in 1885, Bernard, then 33, and his younger half-brothers, age 26 and 24 respectively, inherited their father's business.

The second son died first. "Michael Patrick Slattery, butcher" died in August 1891 at age 30. He had been predeceased by his mother and his sister Mary Elizabeth. He left a will listing considerable assets, his share of this father's estate. He lest $400 to his other sisters Margaret and Emma, 20, and to his brother Patrick, age 19, when Patrick reached aged 21. The balance of his estate he left to his brother William Joseph. This would have included all his real estate and all other business related assets.

William Joseph (Willie) died eight months after Michael Patrick in 1892 at age 33. He too left a will, listing similar business assets and real estate as had his brother, but considerably more personal property. His monetary bequests were $1000 to his sister Hannah, wife of John Grimes; $2000 each to his unmarried sisters Lulu, Margaret and Emma; $1000 ho his aunt Eliza Kavanagh; with these payments to be delayed until his young brother Patrick reached 23 years of age. All the rest and residue were to go to his sisters and brother at times chosen by the trustees. There were two other clauses. His executors were to secure a house in Ottawa were his sisters and brother "shall" live together. Finally he willed his gold watch to his uncle John Slattery. The last named must have been his uncle in New York.

Elizabeth (Eliza) Kavanagh was the widow of Patrick Kavanagh. He died in December 1871 and is buried at Notre Dame Cemetery. It seems very likely that Patrick Kavanagh was a nephew of Bridget, the wife of Patrick of Limerick, and therefore a first cousin of William and uncle of Willie. He had purchased Lot 20 on the south side of Clarence Street in 1854. He built a large 21/2 story frame building there, containing four residence addresses of 142,144,146,148 Clarence St. The property remained in the Kavanagh family until Elize sold it to Bernard Slattery in 1900. My great grandfather, John Grimes, lived there from 1877 to 1880.

Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth was born in 1863 and died in 1889, the first of the four deaths in a few years as described earlier. All that I know of her life was that she was a sponsor at the baptism of William (Bill) Slattery, the first of Bernard's children, in 1880.

Hannah
Hannah was my grandmother. She was born in 1865, the fourth child of William and Margaret. In the register at Notre Dame Cathedral she is listed as Mary Ann. I believe her name was properly Mary Hannah, and the "Ann" came about because of a pronunciation error. During the tragic years of 1889-192, she added a happy note when she married John Grimes in 1890 in St. Joseph's Church (actually in the chapel of Ottawa College). The family had evidently left St. Patrick's in favour of St. Joseph's Church, Hannah moved with John to Toronto, where he had recently started to work in the hotel business. They had ten sons, of whom eight lived, but no daughters. When they returned to Ottawa about 1904, they were fairly well to do. In due course they bought a large house on Gilmour Ave., the Windsor Hotel, and property at Kingsmere Lake and Old Chelsea, Quebec.

A full account of Hannah, John , and their children for several generations has been given in my story of the Grimes family: "You and I and All of Us, The Story of Michael Grimes, A Pioneer of the Ottawa Valley and of His Descendants". (Available for a modest sum from the author!) (Also for the very thrifty, the book is available in the library of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society on Stanley Street, and also in the Outaiuois Regional Archives of the National Archives of Quebec on Hotel de Ville St. in Hull).

John Grimes died in 1933, but Hannah not until 1950. As with all the Slattery's and Grimes' she was buried at Notre Dame Cemetery in their respective large family plots.

Lulu
She was born in 1869. In some of the few documents that list her she was also called Lula. We all caller her "Aunt Lu". she was somewhat of a "character", I have been told that se was a nurse. She moved to the United States but visited Ottawa often. It was probably after 1893 that she moved because in June of that year, when se was 24, she was a sponsor at the baptism of her niece Irene Slattery. She was married in the USA to Lloyd gilbert and lived there the rest of her life. I have heard too that she was an outspoken campaigner for woman's rights, long before it because a popular cause.

Mary Megaffin of Toronto, whose grandparents John O'Leary and wife were close friends of Hannah and her husband John Grimes, found some items in her mother's mementos that relate to "Lu". In February 1917, there was a telegram from Akron, Ohio to John O'Leary, signed "Lue". The next month there was a letter to John O'Leary from Akron, signed "Lu". A Mass card, requested by Mrs. Floyd Gilbert, was signed by a priest of Annunciation Parish in Akron. I believe that these three messages were probably prompted by the death of John O'Leary's wife. In August 1925 there was a letter, postmarked Ottawa, to Mary Megaffin's mother. Lastly, three was a letter of August 8, 1926 to Mary's mother on the occasion of her daughter's birth.

In her later years she may have moved back to Ottawa because as a child I remember her visiting my grandmother Hannah at the Grimes cottage at Kingsmere.

The Triplets
Among Margaret's children were the triplets, Clara Ann, Margaret and Emma. With respect to these, the Ottawa Citizen of September 13, 1871, reported:

"Mr. W. Slattery was this morning presented by his wife with three daughters. The children are all strong and healthy, and Mr. Slattery's friends say he has every excuse for doing on a drunk if he is so inclined, on account of the auspicious event".

(Could this be a hint that William was known too enjoy a "wee dam" now and then?)

Margaret
She was one of the 1871 triplets. In 1898 she married Jack Logue, and went with him to Maniwaki. The Logue family has been prominent in Maniwaki for many years. Their ancestral home became known as "Chateau Logue". Although I haven't enough information for any narrative on them, I have included some family tree names for more current generations in Table 1 of this book.

Patrick
He was the youngest of the family and the final recipient of the family estate. He died in 1901, only 29 years of age.