Goodwin O'Grady (1893-1938); husband of Clara Belle (Dodge) Morgan

You never know where genealogy research will take you. In the 1931 Canada Census, I found that Clara Belle (Dodge) Morgan had remarried and was wedded to Goodwin O'Grady. Upon finding that Clara had remarried, I had a lot of questions, including: 'Who is Goodwin O'Grady?' 'When did they get married?' and 'Why did Clara retain her married name of Morgan instead of O'Grady in all the records I had already found for her post 1940?' In finding and researching Goodwin O'Grady, a door has been unlocked and an entire life discovered...as well as finding more pieces of the genealogical puzzle I didn't know were missing.

Who is Goodwin O'Grady? Goodwin O'Grady was born on July 20, 1893 in the District of Goleen, the Union of Skull, in County Cork, Ireland. He was the son of Carew O'Grady (1850-1919) & Mary Hingston (1862-1897). Below is his birth registration from 1893. He is on line #32.

1893 Birth Registration

In the 1901 and 1911 Census of Ireland, Goodwin is listed with his father. Each census record is recorded by family and attested to by the head of household. Below is the 1911 Census of Ireland, listing Goodwin and his father. There is no difference between the 1901 and 1911 Ireland Census form, other than the date of the Census.

1911 Ireland Census

On April 3, 1914, Goodwin boarded the ship S/S Ascania from Queenstown, Ireland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving there on April 14, 1914. His arrival was actually recorded by United States Immigration, which had the responsibility to record alien arrivals from Europe who came through Nova Scotia. His entry information indicates that he is going to Winter, Saskatchewan. His brothers, Thomas & James O'Grady, had already immigrated to Canada. Below is the ship manifest and an extract of his entry into Canada via the United States. 

Ship Manifest for the S/S Ascania. He is the last entry on the manifest.

Manifest - Entry into Canada as recorded by the United States

It is important to note two things here. First, as Canada and Ireland were both part of the British Empire, no action was needed for him to obtain Canadian Citizenship, as he was already a subject of the British Crown. Second, his immigration to Canada was only a few months before Great Britain's entry into World War I, which would cost the lives some 49,000 Irishmen. Had he remained in Ireland, he very likely would have gone to war, with the real possibility of not coming out of that conflict alive.

Following his entry into Canada, he made his way to Winter, Saskatchewan, where he applied for a homestead in June 25, 1914. He obtained his first homestead patent in 1918. He later applied for, and obtained, a second homestead, which patent was issued in 1922. By this time, he homestead a total of 280 acres. During this time, Canada had conducted Census enumerations in 1916, 1921 & 1926. Goodwin is listed at Township 42, Range 25, West of the 3rd Meridian in both the 1916 & 1926 Census of the Canadian Prairies but is not found in the 1921 Canada Census.

When did they get married? In 1929, Goodwin married Mrs. Clara Belle Morgan. Clara had been separated from her first husband, William John Morgan, since 1923, following foreclosure of his homestead the year before. It was presumed that he had abandoned her and that his whereabouts were unknown. Clara & Goodwin are listed together in the 1931 Canada Census at Goodwin's homestead located at Township 42, Range 25, West of the 3rd Meridian. Also listed are Clara's daughter, Mary, son-in-law Clarence McNab, and grandson Wilbert McNab.

'Why did Clara retain her married name of Morgan instead of O'Grady in all the records I had already found for her post 1940?' Their marriage was short-lived. In 1935, it was found out that Clara's first husband was still alive and possibly living in Ontario. In searching through the available court records that are found on Family Search for the courts in Battleford and Wilkie, Clara never filed for divorce from her first husband. Goodwin filed for an annulment, which was granted on March 19, 1935. Below is a newspaper article which I found today documenting their marriage and annulment. 

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix: March 22, 1935

Goodwin O'Grady did not live long following his annulment. According to the book Blended Heritage, published by The Blended Heritage History Committee, Unity, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1978, Goodwin met 'his untimely death on March 22nd, 1938. He was bucked off a bronc onto the frozen ground.' He is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Neilburg, Saskatchewan.

I am in the process of obtaining additional records for Goodwin O'Grady, including the marriage and annulment records for Goodwin & Clara, as well as the death record for Goodwin. I will share these additional records once I receive them.

1931 Canada Census

On June 1, 1931, Canada conducted its Seventh Decennial Census, enumerating over 10 million people. Clara Belle Morgan (born Clara Belle Dodge) and her family were enumerated in this Census. In the last national census conducted in 1921, Clara, her husband William John Morgan, and their children William Hiram and Mary Anne, were found at Township 41, Range 18, West of the Third Meridian, near the town of Wilkie in Saskatchewan. In 1922, their homestead was foreclosed for failure to pay back a mortgage that had been taken out several years earlier, in 1917. William John Morgan left Saskatchewan at that time, leaving Clara and their children in Saskatchewan. He went back to Ontario, where he ended up living out the rest of is life.

Canada conducted a special Census in 1926 of the Prairie Provinces. Clara, along with her daughter Mary, are listed at Township 40, Range 16, West of the Third Meridian, near the town of Red Pheasant. Clara was listed as a lodger at the residence of Arthur Amor, and her daughter Mary was listed as a Domestic. I was unable to locate her son, William Hiram Morgan, in the 1926 Canada Census.

In 1911, Clara had immigrated to Canada with her family, while her siblings remaining in the United States. 20 years later, in 1931, her siblings were found in Colorado, Wyoming and California, as follows:

- John Edward Dodge: Fairplay, Colorado

- Rachel Elizabeth (Dodge) Newitt: Grand Junction, Colorado (She would move with her family to Tacoma, Washington at the end of 1931).

- Frances Cleveland (Dodge) Nemetzky: San Francisco, California (She married her second husband, David Nemetzky, in January of 1930; he was honorably discharged from the Army in January of 1931).

- Dwight Hector Dodge: Woodlake, California

- James Robert Dodge: Laramie, Wyoming

- Ann Hazel (Dodge) Graham: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Unlike the United States, which has a 72-year restriction on publicly releasing census records, there is a 92-year restriction on the public release of census records in Canada. Yesterday, the 1931 Canada Census was made public and is available on Ancestry. The Census, which is organized by enumeration district,  is available to search by image. The names in this census will be indexed using AI technology (much like the 1950 US Census was when it was released). 

Several years ago, I found her son, William Hiram Morgan, in the 1935 Canada Voting List in the locality of Winter (about 20 miles south of Neilburg) in western Saskatchewan. I decided to use the information from this voting list to search for Clara and her family in the 1931 Canadian Census. Looking through the images, and using information I had previously found, I found Clara, and her daughter, Mary, as well as her son-in-law Clarence McNab, and grandson Wilbert (spelled Wilber) McNab at Senlac Rural Municipality #411. However, I didn't find her son listed with them.

Clara and her family are located at Township 42, Range 25, West of the Third Meridian in this Census. Clara and her daughter were both born in the United States, and 1912 is the listed year of their immigration to Canada. Her son-in-law, Clarence McNab, and her grandson, Wilbert, were both born in the Northwest Territories. Wilbert is one year old, although his family have told be that registration of his birth was delayed by two years as they were living in a very remote location when he was born.

Each Canadian Census lists the national origin of each person enumerated. Clara and Mary were listed as Irish, while Clarence and Wilbert were listed as Scottish. Each Canadian Census also lists the religion of each person enumerated. Clarence, Mary and Wilbert were Anglican, while Clara was listed as an Adventist. Her parents were baptized in the Adventist Church when she was a young girl in Colorado.

The most surprising thing I found in this Census is that Clara had remarried. This is something that I never would have expected to come across, as all the later records of her (1940 and forward) all list her name as Clara Morgan. Her new husband's name is Goodwin O'Grady, and Clara is listed as Clara O'Grady. The Census indicates that they were married. Goodwin O'Grady was 37 years old, and Clara lists her age as 41 years old (she was 47 at the time of the 1931 Census, having been born in 1884).

From what I have found so far, Goodwin O'Grady was born in July of 1893 in Ireland, immigrated to Canada in 1914, and applied for and received a homestead. He is found at this location in the 1916 and 1926 Canadian Census (I didn't find him listed in the 1921 Canada Census). He passed away in 1938 (the exact date is unknown) and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Neilburg, Saskatchewan. In looking at the 1935 Canada Voting List, Goodwin O'Grady is listed on the same voting list as William Hiram Morgan.

I am in the process of requesting a marriage record for Clara & Goodwin, as well as a death record for Goodwin, in addition to the homestead record. Once I have these records, I will share what I will have found. Once the indexing for the 1931 Census is completed, I will need to take the time to search the name index to locate Clara's family that I am still missing. Until then, please enjoy the image of the 1931 Canada Census I found of Clara, her husband, daughter, son-in-law & grandson.

1931 Canada Census