Bridget (O'Brien) McCarthy

Death of Mrs. McCarthy

On Friday last there died in Regina one of those sturdy pioneers of Ontario, to whose early faith and works is due in such large measure the development which Canada boasts, in the person of Mrs. Bridget McCarthy. The immediate cause of death was heart failure. The end, however, was not unexpected, as for several months the aged lady had been in very feeble health. Her medical attendant was Dr. Cotton. In her last days she was spiritually ministered to by Fathers Waugh and Woodcutter. The funeral was held on Sunday afternoon, at which there was a large attendance, many going to the cemetery on foot in addition to those who drove. The pall bearers were Messrs McCusker, McDonald, Bennett, McIntyre, Stubbings and Malone. Flowers literally covered the coffin, being wreathed in designs of crosses, etc. The age of the deceased lady was 75 years.

Mrs. Bridget McCarthy (nee O'Brien) left County Limerick, Ireland, with her husband just prior to the terrible famine years of 45-48. Mother, brothers, sisters and friends were left behind, and the then usual two months voyage was endured, until a humble home was located in the neighborhood of Burlington, Ont. some years of hard pioneer labor was their common lot before moving again westward in the the wilds of Eramose township, now a veritable garden in Wellington county. Here was the homestead cleared after unceasing toil for wife as well as husband, and the children nurtured, some to be soon laid way in the primitive church yard, the others the more tenderly cherished. The family scattered, the toil worn husband passed away in '85 and in '89 the widow and one daughter joined the members of the family already located in Regina, Before one year, that devoted daughter was laid away in the cemetery here, and last year the news of another daughter's death in Ontario reached her. Of her ten children but four survive- Edward, John and Julia in Regina, and Dennis, in British Columbia.