My Trails into the Past

I have previously written about my 2x-great-grandaunt, Mary Martha Tierney, who entered the Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns of Ottawa) in 1874 and professed her commitment on 13 December 1877. Since that post, I have learned more about Sister St. Melanie. She was born on 25 July 1857 in Fallowfield, Carleton County, Ontario, to John Tierney and Ann Murray, the last of eleven known children, and was baptized at St. Philip Church in Richmond. [1] Previously I had written that she was baptized “Mary Martha” but the baptism record supports only “Martha” as her name. Teaching Years She taught school in the old grade school at St. Mary’s Academy in Ottawa. She was later transferred to Buffalo and taught at the Holy Angels Academy. In Lowell, Massachusetts, she taught at the Immaculate Conception High School. [2] I attempted to locate city directories to support the above bio from her obituary. Searching in Ancestry for nuns is difficult. How do we know how the directory recorded their ...

This is a blogging theme for the month of March which is Women's History Month. I'm a bit behind but do want to participate in the daily blogging posts. These 31 posts will be posted between my two blogs "My Trails Into the Past" and " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." March 10 — What role did religion play in your family? How did your female ancestors practice their faith? If they did not, why didn’t they? Did you have any female ancestors who served their churches in some capacity? My father's side of the family were all raised as Roman Catholics.  His German family came from Westfalia in Germany and Posen in Poland.  His Irish family came from County Tipperary and County Cork.  There are a couple of men who became priests and one woman who became a nun. Grey Nun, Sister St. Melanie (aka Mary Martha Tierney) My great-great grandmother, Margaret Tierney's youngest sister was Mary Martha Tierney.  She was born July 7, 1858 in Napean, Ontario,...