Michael Patrick Tole (abt. 1854 - 1874)

Died 20 Nov 1874 at about age 20 in Saint John, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

Biography

Michael was born circa 1854 in New Brunswick. He was a son of Patrick and Bridget (Doyle) Tole of Saint John. His father was an immigrant from Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland. His mother was also from Ireland.^[1]

In 1871, he lived in Saint John. He was working as a Boilermaker. It appears as though most of his siblings went to work young, with only the youngest (aged 12) in school at that time and everyone above 15 in the household listed as tradespeople.

Michael was murdered on Nov 18, 1874. He was struck in the head by "a heavy wooden bar in the hands of George Blair." He died two days later on November 20.^[2]

George Blair was convicted of murder 3 days later by a jury after an inquest into the death. In one of the inquest articles, a note is made of the fact that George Blair was a "colored man."^[3][4]

Little is known of the murderer George Blair after this point. He was recorded in neither the census preceding the murder (1871), nor the one which followed (1881). In 1881, a "white woman" named Annie Sheehan was found dead in a home occupied by a man of the same name.

Census Records

• 1871 Census, Saint John, New Brunswick

Sources

1. ↑ Death Certificate of Sister (Alice (Tole) Mahony, 1935, Public Archives of New Brunswick
2. ↑ Death Announcement, 'The Daily Telegraph'], Nov 21, 1874. Transcribed in Johnson, Daniel Vital Statistics From New Brunswick Newspapers, Vol 36 No 383
3. ↑ Inquest Article, 'The Daily Telegraph', Nov 23, 1874. Transcribed in Johnson, Daniel Vital Statistics From New Brunswick Newspapers, Vol 36 No 389
4. ↑ Inquest Article 2, Daily News, Nov 23, 1874. Transcribed in Johnson, Daniel Vital Statistics From New Brunswick Newspapers, Vol 36 No 721