MC3075: Meahan family collection
Dates of creation: 1860, 1877
Physical description: 4 p. of textual records
Biographical Sketch / Administrative History
James and John Meahan (1806-1897), the sons of
Sarah McTaggart and James Meahan, emigrated from Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland
to New Brunswick with their parents and brothers, Charles and Hugh, in the early
1830s. The family initially settled at Saint John, but soon moved to Bathurst,
Gloucester County, New Brunswick where John Meahan established himself as a
major shipbuilder and exporter of lumber, and brother James was a merchant in
the family business.
John Meahan married Mary Donnelly in 1841, and
they had no fewer than 12 children: Helen, Francis, Edward, James, Joan, Sarah
Jane, Henry Arthur, Hugh, Charles, Mary Ann, Sophia, and Josephine May. Well-known
in the community, John Meahan served in the House of Assembly of New Brunswick
from 1861-1870. He died on 6 December 1897.
John's brother James Meahan married Bridget Donnelly,
and they had several children including a son, John Chrysostous Meahan, who
studied at St. Joseph's College, Memramcook and at McGill University before
setting up a medical practice in Bathurst. John C. Meahan married Delia M.
Dixon on 21 November 1879. He died 11 March 1938 at Bathurst.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of two letters written
to members of the Meahan family of Bathurst, N.B. The letter dated 27 September
1860 from M. O'Kane of County Omagh to John Meahan, the shipbuilder, thanks
him and his friends for contributions made towards the establishment of schools
in Omagh, Ireland under the care of the Christian Brothers. It also discusses
the progress made in the construction of the schoolhouse, the residence for
the Brothers, and the convent for the Loretto Nuns.
The second letter dated 21 December 1877 from
John C. Meahan to his parents, James and Bridget Meahan, thanks them for their
many "kindness and sacrifices," but particularly for their gift to him of an
"excellent education". The letter was written from Memramcook, N.B. while John
C. Meahan was studying at St. Joseph's College.
INVENTORY
MS1
Letter from M. O’Kane to John Meahan, Omagh, 27 September
1860.
MS2
Letter
from John C. Meahan, Memramcook to James and Bridget Meahan, 21 December 1877.