I'm trying to track down one of my maternal 2nd great-grandfathers, Edward McDermott, and the line seems like it hits a (sturdy) brick wall in Ottawa.
He was likely born on 18 May, 1849 and according to his naturilization record, he came to the US via Ogdenburg, NY in Feb of 1865.
He moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and stayed there for the next dozen years; meeting his future wife Elizabeth Doyle, getting married, getting naturalized, and having at least two children, Nellie and Mattie.
In 1877 he moved Escanaba, Michigan, had 2 more children, George Elmer and Ermy, and worked for several decades to come on the Chicago and North Western Railway before eventually passing on 15 July, 1934.
His death certificate lists him as being from Ottawa, Canada and says his parents are unknown. The census records I have for him say his parents were either Irish by birth, or that his mother was Irish and his father was Canadian of Irish descent. His crossing at Ogdenburg, NY suggests he came from or via Ottawa. DNA suggests I do match McDermotts from Ottawa, but also Quebec and NB. And there is absolutely no trace I can find of him in Ottawa records.
The only other clue is that his obituary says he had a brother who survived him (so still living in 1934), named Hugh McDermott, who was living in San Francisco.
I've gone pretty deep on Ottawa records, have been in touch with the local library there for genealogy help, combed through church records, etc and the problem I'm running into is the local records are actually pretty thorough and I just haven't found him. Does anyone have any insight on how to proceed? Is it possible him and his brother Hugh are from elsewhere in Canada? Or were actually born in Ireland? Would love any insight or advice, and I've uploaded a number of documents to the attached profile for anyone who wants to take a look.
