- Mary was born in Oso Township, Frontenac County, Ontario, on Aug.6,1863, the adopted daughter of Henry Sergeant & Jane McDougall. Some believe Mary's last name should be spelled 'Sergison', rather than 'Sergeant'.
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Plot E-58 :
- Robert McDonell 1862-1944
- his wife, Mary Sergeant 1863-1925
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(Note by Gary Darby) - Mary was my great-grandmother. She was born August 6, 1863. She was adopted by Henry Sergeant and his wife Jane McDougall. Family stories passed down over the years say that she was born Mary Fisher. It is said her mother was not married when she was born, and that the family was leaving the area (Oso Township, Frontenac County, Ontario). The family decided to leave Mary behind and she was adopted by the Sergeants as a baby. Stories also say that Mary's mother returned several years later and wanted Mary back, but the Sergeants would not give her up and Mary did not want to leave either. On March 27, 1889 Mary was married to Robert McDonell. In August 2008 my mother received a letter from her 1st cousin, Jessie (McDonell) Donnelly, who lives in Sharbot Lake, Frontenac County, Ontario. Jessie's father was John Travers McDonell, a son of Robert and Mary McDonell. Jessie said in her letter that her father always said that his mother was Mary McCoy, not Mary Fisher. This was the first I had heard this. I did an 1871 census search in Oso Township and there was a McCoy family living there at the same time as the Sergeants and McDonells. The head of household was Arthur McCoy age 33 and his wife Catherine age 23. They had 3 young children ; Ellen 5, Margaret 3, and Alexander 1. At this time Mary was the adopted daughter of the Sergeants and was 7 years old. I did a search on Lanark County GenWeb and found a McCoy Family Tree (Descendants of Alexander McCoy born 1791 Ireland). Alexander McCoy was married to Mary Robinson and they had 11 children, one being Arthur McCoy, born 1836 in Toronto, who lived in Oso Township. This is where everything starts falling together. Arthur McCoy was married on July 7, 1864 to Catherine Fisher/Tait, daughter of Nathan and Mary Fisher. Catherine was born in Darling Township, Ontario in September 1849. The McCoy family tree calls her Catherine Tait. It would appear Catherine was presumably married to a Tait before Arthur McCoy. We have the names (McCoy & Fisher) together in this family who lived near the Sergeants. My great-grandmother, Mary (Fisher) Sergeant, as mentioned above was born August 6, 1863, 11 months before Catherine Fisher married Arthur McCoy. I believe Catherine Fisher was the mother of Mary and gave her up to the Sergeants for adoption when she was a baby. I am not sure who the Tait was in Catherine's 1st marriage and whether they separated or he died. I know this is not proof, but there are too many coincidences for it not to be true. She was always said to have been born a Fisher. Her son, John Travers McDonell, said she was a McCoy. Arthur McCoy and Catherine Fisher/Tait were married 11 months after Mary was born. The McCoys lived very close to the Sergeants in Oso Township. Catherine Fisher apparently was somehow connected to a Tait before she married Arthur McCoy and he was probably Mary's father. Plus she would have been about 14 years old when Mary was born, much too young to look after a baby. Catherine was 17 when she had her 1st child with Arthur McCoy.
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1863 - 1925 (62 years)
