My Family Tree

Mary Mann was born around 1822 or 1823 in Prince Edward Island, the fourth child of William and Sarah Mann. No birth record or gravestone have been found for Mary, and this information comes from the history of Irishtown and census records. Mary was possibly named after Sarah's much-married mother, Mary Hellier Hammond Efford Wilson, and was their third or fourth daughter, depending on when she and her sister Elizabeth were actually born.

No record of a marriage could be found for Mary, and the history of Irishtown noted that she was a spinster.

In 1881 she was living with her brother John and his wife (last name transcribed as Mason), and in 1891 with her nephew, John A. Mann (name transcribed as Mary Main), although she was called a lodger, not an aunt. Since her brother John inherited the original Mann farm, and her nephew John Andrew was the last person to live in the homestead, it would seem that Mary stayed in the house in which she was born.

In the 1891 census, Mary gave her mother's birthplace as Newfoundland, which supports the view that Mary had lived with her mother and father in their final years and was perhaps more familiar with their history than other members of the family. However, her father did not mention her or her unmarried sister Sarah in his agreement with John Mann.

Mary could not read or write.

Her date of death is unknown, but it was possibly before 1901 because she is missing from the census of that year and is not in the households of any other family members. Her nephew John Andrew married late in life, in 1902, possibly after the death of his aunt Mary. No death notice or obituary has been found for Mary in the Charlottetown Guardian.

According to church records, there are two unmarked graves beside her parents' graves; it is possible that Mary and her sister Sarah were also buried in Geddie Memorial Cemetery, but with no stone.

1881 census:
Name: May Mason [Mary Mann]
Gender: Female, Age: 58
Birth Year: 1823, Birthplace: Prince Edward Island
Religion: Presbyterian, Nationality: Scotch (Scotish)
Province: Prince Edward Island
District: Queens, Subdistrict: Lot 20
Household Members:
John Mason 46
Elizabeth Mason 33
William Johnston Mason 21 [nephew]
May Mason 58 [sister]
Mary Ticking 5

1891 census:
Name: Mary Main [Mary Mann]
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Age: 69, Birth Year: abt 1822
Birthplace: Prince Edward Island
Relation to Head of House: Lodger
Religion: Free Church
Father's Birth Place: Scotland, Mother's Birth Place: Newfoundland
Province: Prince Edward Island
District: Queens, Subdistrict: Lot 20
Household Members:
Name Age
John A Main 30
Mary Main 69