In my father's family, there has been some confusion and disagreement about the indentity of several of the women. My 3rd great grandmother is one of them. Here is what I know about her:
Her given name was Mary, and she was born in Ireland around 1826. On 10 Aug 1842, she was married to Dudley "Waid" of Southwold, by Rev. Brinton P. Brown of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Brock District (witnesses: Jacob Merah, Jacob Gilbert). Here, her last name is written as "McQue." Many people have presumed this to be an abbreviated form of the name "McQueen."
In 1861, Dudley & Mary Wade and their children George W. (18 - my gggrandfather), (Lydia) Emeline (14), Francis (9) and John (3) are found on the Canadian census in Bayham, Elgin County.
In 1870, the entire family is found on the US Federal Census in Saugatuck, Allegan County, Michigan.
In 1880, the entire family, including spouses and children for George, Emeline, and Francis, is found on the US Federal Census in Clam Lake, Wexford County, Michigan.
On 28 Dec 1891, Mary Wade died of influenza ("la grippe") in Cadillac, Wexford County, Michigan (found on FamilySearch). Her parents' names are listed as John and Sicily McDue of Ireland.
In 1913, son Francis died in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan; on his death record, his parents' names are given as Dudley Wade and Mary McGough.
In 1916, daughter Emeline died in Douglas, Allegan County, Michigan; on her death record, her parents' names are given as Dudley Wade and M. E. Gaugh.
Now I have four different surnames for Mary: McQue, McDue, McGough, and Gaugh.
I found the magoo.com website to be very helpful in exploring the possibilities for Mary's family. Apparently, McGough and Gaugh have been used interchangeably, as has "McGue" (which is a more phonetic-type spelling). Now it started to make more sense, as to why the earlier records I found were "McQue" and "McDue".
So I have been working like a dog to find Mary's family in Ontario, but haven't had anything I can really call success...
But then I noticed this: Dudley Wade was named as a witness, on 31 May 1842 (months before his own marriage to Mary), to the marriage of Waters Clark and Jane McGough. So I looked up as much as I could find about Jane - her parents were William and Letitia McGough of Ireland, but I could not find what part of Ireland, or when they immigrated to Canada. William and Letitia are also known to have had a son named William, and the whole family later moved to Burtchville, St. Clair County, Michigan.
Then I also found that there was a John McGough in the same area (Southwold) as Mary at the same time she was there, but he is just a few years older (born 1820 in county Mayo, Ireland). Could he be Mary's elder brother? It's certainly possible. But no one has recorded his parents' names. There is another tantalizing clue here again, though: John "Magough" of Southwold is listed as a witness to the marriage on 9 Nov 1837 of Mahon Boding (Bodine) and Rockseana (Roxanna) Wade of Southwold. Roxanna Wade is the daughter of Bryant Wade, and I haven't made a proven connection between him and Dudley's father Jonathan Wade, except this: both came to Elgin County from New Jersey (Jonathan from Morris County, Bryant from nearby Monmouth County).
I have not found Mary's parents or the record of her immigration to Upper Canada. I've checked on all of the Canadian and Irish resources I can find.
This brick wall may never come down, but there are those tantalizing clues that give me hope. If anyone happens to know of or come across anything that might help me complete Mary's story, I'd be thrilled and grateful, for sure.