Annie McKay (1889)

Born 14 Dec 1889 in Stornoway, Eilean Siar, UK

Ancestors

Wife of Edward Raymond Etchoe — married 6 Jul 1905 in Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: G. MacKay [send private message]

Biography

Mary and her sister Murdina were two of Angus' 4 children who were born in North America. The older siblings, Donald Stuart and Anna were born in Scotland.

We can't find a birth certificate for her despite the fact that her birthdate/place is indicated on the 1901 Port Arthur Census, and her marriage registration to Edward Etchoe. It appears as though she married an American named Edward Etchoe but she vanished shortly after they were wedded.

Directories indicate an Edward Etchoe lived in the Duluth, Minnesota area and then in Superior, Wisconsin. He shows up in the 1920 in Wisconsin living with a woman named Margueritte, born in Pennsylvania in 1881. There is no record for Anna anywhere.

It helps that Annie's husband, Edward Etchoe, had a unique surname. Although, one wonders if he knew how to spell it properly as “Etchue” brings up more residency hints. Perhaps it was sloppy handwriting? Maybe he was illiterate and couldn’t spell… even his own name.

He seems to have drifted around Duluth, Minnesota in the 1910s. Duluth is the nearest U.S. city to where Annie lived, in Port Arthur, Ontario.

There is no 1911 Canadian Census record for Annie, nor a 1910 U.S. record. The marriage registration is the last record we have of her.

It turns out her sister, Murdina, had had a short lived marriage to a Swiss guy named John Tuor in North Dakota in the early 1910s. When he remarried in 1922, he had to annul his marriage to Murdina who apparently abandoned him shortly after the marriage. She died in 1930.

Meanwhile, the youngest sister, Mollie, had wed into her own abusive marriage to an Austrian from Toronto that she didn’t escape from until 1926. She remarried and lived a happy long life after in Detroit.

Whether the McKay sisters were just unlucky with their first husbands, or rebelled against ingrained structural misogyny of the era, there is a common thread: they had all become young adult orphans.

Their mother had died from Typhoid in 1904. Their father packed his Port Arthur, Ontario house up, moved back to Scotland in 1907, and very quickly found a new wife, his third. Then in 1912, at age 59, he fell off his horse drawn cart and one of the wagon wheels crushed his skull rendering him instantly dead.

While the sisters would’ve have had a much older half brother in my grandfather, who lived his whole life in Port Arthur, it’s obvious they weren't very close. I think the sisters were desperate for companionship and they found it in quick weddings. - G. MacKay

Birth

Birth:

Date: 14 DEC 1889

Place: Stornoway, Eilean Siar, UK

Census Data

1901 Census - Algoma, District 44, Port Arthur, Subdistrict L(2)-2, Page 5

Angus McKay, Head, 45, April 15 1856, b.Scotland, immigration 1890, Carpenter, employed 9 months, earnings - $500

Mary A. McKay, Wife, 45, Sept 14, 1856, b.Scotland, immigration 1890. Cannot read or write.

Stewart D. McKay, Son, 22, Apr 5, 1879, b.Scotland, immigration 1890, Marine Fireman, employed 8 months, earnings - $400

Anna McKay, Daughter, 12, Dec 14, 1889, b.Scotland, immigration 1890

Murdina McKay, Daughter, 10, Feb 3, 1892, b.N.W.Terr

Mary A. McKay, Daughter, 5, Jan 10, 1896, b.Ont

Norman McKay, Brother, 50, Aug 15, 1850, b.Scotland, immigration 1890, Labourer, employed 8 months, - earnings $300

Travel

Immigration Passenger list into Canada^[1]

Vessel Name: Scandinavian (1)

Departure Port: Glasgow Scotland

Date of Departure: April 3, 1889

Arrival Port: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada , and Moville (Londonderry), Ireland

Date of Arrival: April 14, 1889

MacKay, Angus - Scotch; Single male 24y

MacKay, Mrgt - Scotch; Family; Married female, 38 or 58y

MacKay, A - Scotch; Farmer, Married male, 34y

MacKay, Mary - Scotch; wife, Married female, 33 or 38y

MacKay, Dan - Scotch; Child between 1 and 18, 12y?

MacKay, Angus - Scotch; Child between 1 and 18, 12y?

MacKay, Anne - Scotch; Family; Infant, female

It's highly doubtful the following transcription is the Profile's Annie. A 1891 Census record matches Annie to father Alexander.

U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960

Passenger: McKay, Annie^[2]

Age 21

Sex: Female

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: Forelady

Can read and write

Nationality: Canada

Race: Scotch

Last Permanent address: Toronto

Name & complete address of nearest relative: father Alexander McKay, 517 Gladstone Ave., Toronto

Final Destination: Chicago, Illinois

Previous Citizenship: Canada

Whether having a ticket to such final destination: Yes

By whom was passage paid? CRIMINAL

Whether in possession of $50 and if less, how much? $35

Whether ever before in the USA, if so where? No

Whether going to join a relative or friend, if so, who? Address? Uncle John McKay, address unknown

Whether ever in prison, a polygamist, or an anarchist? No, No, No

Condition of health, mental, and physical: Pregnant.

Deformed or crippled – nature, length of time, and cause: No

Height: 5' 6"; Complexion: Fair; Color of hair: Red; Eyes: Blue

Identifiable marks? No

Place of birth: Toronto

Arrival Place: Detroit Michigan

Arrival Date: Dec. 1, 1910

Transport: CPRail

Marriage

Marriage between Edward Etchoe and Annie McKay^[3]

Date: 6 JUL 1905

Place: Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

Husband: Edward Etchoe

Age 26 (1879)

Birth Place: Lanci, Michigan

Residence: Port Arthur, Ontario

Occupation: Shingle Weaver

Father: Amos Etchoe

Mother: Leda Goodrow

Wife: Annie McKay

Age 17 (1888)

Birth Place: Stornaway, Scotland

Father: Angus McKay

Mother: Mary Ann McPhail

Witnesses: Angus McKay, Port Arthur; D.S. McKay, Port Arthur

Sources

• WikiTree profile McKay-440 created through the import of Danford MacKay Family(2).ged on Feb 3, 2012 by Graeme MacKay. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Graeme and others.

1. ↑ Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010; 865–1935 Digital image 45 of 70. Microfilm Publications T-479 to T-520, T-4689 to T-4874, T-14700 to T-14939, C-4511 to C-4542. Library and Archives Canada
2. ↑ Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
3. ↑ "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZ1Q-JWM : accessed 30 Nov 2012), Amos Etchoe in entry for Edward Etchoe and Annie Mckay