Patrick Emmett Cavanaugh (1890 - 1918)

Born 25 Feb 1890 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ellen (MacDougall) Ellard — married 1911 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Descendants

Died 27 Sep 1918 at age 28 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kerry Ellard [send private message]

Biography

Patrick "Emmett" Cavanaugh was born on February 25, 1890 in Worcester, Massachusetts.^[1]

His parents was brought up Catholic like his parents had been; his father was an Irish immigrant and his mother was half Irish-Canadian and half German-Canadian.^[2][3][4]

Emmett's father, David Arthur Cavanaugh, appears to have been born in Ireland, immigrating to Boston in 1868, and later becoming a naturalized citizen of the US.^[5] He married Mary Elizabeth Butler in Nova Scotia in 1876, and the couple eventually permanently relocated to Massachusetts. (Mary was a native of Nova Scotia.)^[6][7][8][9]

Emmett had one known sibling, William T. Cavanaugh, who was born in 1893 and died in infancy of "cholera infantum."^[10][11]

One Boston Archdiocese record indicates that he was christened "Emmett Danel Cavanaugh," which could be a mistake or transcription error, but his preferred name seems to have "Emmett D. Cavanaugh."^[12] Emmett's father's name was David, which is another possible inspiration for the use of the middle initial "D." His daughter's 1912 birth certificate listed his middle name is "David," so that is almost certainly what it stood for by that time, but it is possible that he had recently adopted that middle name in honor of his father, who had died a few years earlier.^[13]

(Based on my own research, I can state with confidence that during the nineteenth century, at least in Massachusetts and parts of Canada, it was not the default to give children middle names, and it was easy to informally change one's name in the absence of modern administrative procedures; reversing first and last names was common practice among those who had both. As society urbanized, social roles got more complex, and people around more, it became necessary for people to make use of middle names or initials in order to distinguish themselves from others with the same first and last name. These were often informally added, with many people using their mother's maiden name, or, in the case of some men, their father's first or middle name.--KE)

By the early 1900s, Emmett and his parents had relocated to Boston, where David died sometime prior to 1910.^[14][15]

Emmett supported his mother by working as a gas meter mechanic, and soon took on further responsibilities when, in 1911, at the age of 18, he married Mary E. MacDougall, a native of Prince Edward's Island.^[16]

Mary's exact birth date is unclear, but she was about the same age at the time of the marriage. Not much is known of her early life or family, but the newly married couple resided with Emmett's mother and soon had three young children:

• Pearl Elizabeth Eleanor (Cavanaugh) Trainor, 1912-1990, who usually used the name "Eleanor E." for official purposes but went by "Pearl."^[17]"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QK-YYQ4 : Sat Mar 09 01:36:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Pearl Elizabeth Eleanor Cavanaugh and Emmet David Cavanaugh, 05 Apr 1912.
• Rosalyn (or Rose) "Dotty" Frances (Cavanaugh) Ellard, 1914-1981.
• Rudolph "Homer" Cavaugh (who sometimes went by Homer Joseph Cavanaugh or Homer R. Cavanaugh), 1917-1954.

Emmett's WWI draft card, filled out in 1917, says that he was still employed as a "gas meter fixer" and responsible for supporting his mother, wife, and three young children. It also that he was partially deaf in one ear, "short" (5'4"), and slender, with brown eyes and black hair.

Emmett passed away on September 27, 1918, aged 28, a victim of the "Spanish influenza" pandemic of that year. He was listed as having been a "sheet plate worker" at the time of his death.^[18][19]

Sources

1. ↑ Patrick E Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Records, 1840-1915, Ancestry.com.
2. ↑ Mary Butler in the 1871 Census of Canada, Ancestry.com.
3. ↑ William T Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.com.
4. ↑ David A Cavanagh in the Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950, Ancestry.com.
5. ↑ William T Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.com.
6. ↑ David Arthur Kavanagh in the Nova Scotia, Canada, Marriages, 1763-1945, Ancestry.com.
7. ↑ William T Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.com.
8. ↑ David [A.] Cavanaugh in the U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current, Ancestry.com.
9. ↑ Mary Butler in the 1871 Census of Canada, Ancestry.com.
10. ↑ William T Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.com.
11. ↑ David A Cavanagh in the Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950, Ancestry.com.
12. ↑ Emmet D. Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Boston Archdiocese Roman Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1920, Ancestry.com.
13. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QK-YYQ4 : Sat Mar 09 01:36:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Pearl Elizabeth Eleanor Cavanaugh and Emmet David Cavanaugh, 05 Apr 1912.
14. ↑ David A Cavanagh in the Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950, Ancestry.com.
15. ↑ Emmet Cavanaugh in the 1910 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
16. ↑ Emmet D. Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Boston Archdiocese Roman Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1920, Ancestry.com.
17. ↑ Emmet D. Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Boston Archdiocese Roman Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1920, Ancestry.com.
18. ↑ Emmett Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Index, 1901-1980, Ancestry.com.
19. ↑ "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23RK-3S7 : 1 September 2021), Emmett Cavanaugh, 1918.

• Private family tree maintained by Kerry Ellard and associated Ancestry.com research.
• William T Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.com.
• David A Cavanagh in the Massachusetts, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950, Ancestry.com.
• David Arthur Kavanagh in the Nova Scotia, Canada, Marriages, 1763-1945, Ancestry.com.
• Patrick E Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Records, 1840-1915, Ancestry.com.
• David [A] Cavanaugh in the U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current, Ancestry.com.
• Emmet Cavanaugh in the 1910 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com.
• Emmet D. Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Boston Archdiocese Roman Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1920, Ancestry.com.
• Emmett Cavanaugh in the Massachusetts, U.S., Death Index, 1901-1980, Ancestry.com.
• Mary Butler in the 1871 Census of Canada, Ancestry.com.
• Patrick Emmett Cavanaugh in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com.
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QK-YYQ4 : Sat Mar 09 01:36:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Pearl Elizabeth Eleanor Cavanaugh and Emmet David Cavanaugh, 05 Apr 1912.
• "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23RD-YQ7 : 1 September 2021), P Emmett in entry for Rudolph Homer Cavanaugh, 1917.
• "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23RK-3S7 : 1 September 2021), Emmett Cavanaugh, 1918.