The Ohio-Wisconsin Connection

Two Graveyards Tell a Story of Sorrow and Regret

Summitville, Ohio

With large gaps between the ages of James Cannon’s children, one wonders if they might have lost some of their family during the Irish Potato Famine years.  At Summitville, Ohio, they buried their two youngest children and two of their Gildea grandchildren.  They moved on to Wisconsin, hoping for a better life.  Disillusionment came there too, after losing another five grandchildren to an epidemic of cholera in 1863 and 1864.  James’ wife, Mary (Lyons) Cannon, also died in late 1864.  His two sons, Patrick and John, decided to return to Ohio and try it there again.  John moved back first, his wife was from Ohio and she still had family there.  Patrick moved later, leaving his wife and small daughter, Bridget, in Wisconsin until he could find a job and get established.  He got work on the railroad, but he was killed in a train wreck in 1865 in Beaver County, Pennsylvania before they could move to Ohio.  Mary decided to stay in Wisconsin near her family.

St. John Catholic Cemetery in Summitville, Ohio

Five of James Cannon’s descendants are buried in the St John Catholic Cemetery in Summitville, Ohio.  Patrick Cannon, son of James and Mary (Lyons) cannon, is on the left.  The flowers were put on his grave that day to  make the plot a little less lonely.  He is next to his younger brother Denis Cannon.  Next is their sister, Mary Cannon.  The two smaller stones on the right are those of their nephew and niece, Patrick and Mary Gildea.  These are children of their oldest sister,  Anna (Cannon) Gildea (or Killday, as it is spelled in Wisconsin).  An epidemic of diphtheria swept through Summitville during that period of time.  Perhaps they were among the victims of that disaster. 

St Edward Catholic Cemetery of Mackville, Wisconsin

The five small, white stones among the monuments in the Bley family plot are those of John and Patrick Cannon’s children.  The three in the back are for John’s family and the two in the foreground belong to Patrick’s family.  The cholera epidemic in Outagamie County, Wisconsin turned out to be more deadly for the family than the diphtheria epidemic in Ohio.  Their grandmother’s headstone is just to the right of the dark gray Bley marker.  The large, light gray one on the left is the stone of John and Ellen (Cannon) Bley.  Ellen was a daughter of James an Mary (Lyons) Cannon.  The large dark gray monument toward the right belongs to their daughter, Ellen Bley.  James and Mary Cannon’s oldest daughter, Anna (Cannon) Killday. is buried in front of her mother but not seen in this picture.

The Headstones of Denis an Mary Cannon

Children of James and Mary (Lyons) Cannon,  in St. John Cemetery, Summitville, Ohio.  Note the different spellings of the surname in these two cemeteries: Cannan at St. John’s and Cannen at St. Edward’s.

Patrick Cannon and his sons, Dennis and James

LEFT:  The headstone of Patrick Cannon, son of James and Mary (Lyons) Cannon is in Summitville, Ohio with his brother and sister shown above.  He died May 26, 1865, age 44 years.  Many miles separate him from the graves of his family in Wisconsin.  RIGHT:  His sons, Dennis and James, are in St. Edward Cemetery, Mackville, Wisconsin.  The stones read: Dennis, son of P & M Cannen, died Mar. 26, 1864, 3 yrs 8 mo; James, son of P & M Cannen, died Sep. 29, 1863, 5 yrs 6 mo 13 days.  His widow, Mary (Murphy) Cannon and daughter, Bridget, are buried  in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Maple Grove, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

Anna was the oldest child of James and Mary (Lyons) Cannon.  She was born in Ireland about 1814 and married there about 1843.  Their first two children, Ann and Patrick, were probably born in Ireland (ca. 1844 & 1846).  The Gildeas were not in the 1850 census in this country but the headstones of two of their children show that they were in Ohio by 1853.  Mary, the third child, might have been born in Ohio as was John, their youngest.  The Gildeas also have family members buried in Ohio and Wisconsin.

TOP:  The Killday (Gildea) memorial in St. Edward Cemetery, Mackville, Wisconsin for Charles Kilday, died 7 Dec. 1898, aged 97 years and Anna, wife of C. Killday, died February 15, 1882, age 68. (Spelling variations on the stones).

BELOW:  The headstones of two of their children in St. John Cemetery, Summitville, Ohio read as follows: Patrick, son of C & A Gildea, died Dec. 1853, aged 7 y, 6 m; Mary, daughter of C & A Gildea, died Sept. 1853, aged 1 y (months unreadable because of a cracked stone).

Anna and Charles Gildea