Who Was Mary Alice Mae Geddry?

A Mystery Solved

by Eileen Avery & Martin Guidry

It all began with two obituaries five years apart.

"Sampson, Gerald Joseph - 71, passed away Monday, February 15, 2010, in Yarmouth Regional Hospital. He was predeceased by his wife, Flo; father, Clarence and sister, Patricia. He is survived by his mother, Mary Alice "Mae" Robicheau of Meteghan; sister, Brenda Blinn of Saulnierville and his companion, Hilda Saulnier of Meteghan Centre, who looked aTer him so well for many days and nights during his baUle with cancer. He lived and worked in Toronto for over 50 years. He retired in 2003 and moved back to Nova Scotia living in Meteghan River (Bangor). Funeral service will be held Friday, February 19, at 11 a.m. in Stella Maris Church, Meteghan, Rev. Father Albeni d'Entremont will be officiating. Interment in the parish cemetery. Donations in Gerald's memory may be made to Canadian Cancer Society or a charity of choice." ¹

"ROBICHEAU, Mary-Alice Mae - Age 98, of La Villa Acadienne, Meteghan, passed away peacefully with her daughter by her side on Monday, August 3rd, 2015, in Yarmouth Regional Hospital. Born in Newfoundland, she was a daughter of the late Edmond and Minnie (LeBlanc) Geddry. Mae resided in Toronto during most of her working life after which she moved back to Clare. She is survived by her daughter, Brenda (Ivan) Blinn; granddaughter, Anna (Pierre) LeBlanc; great grandsons, Martin and Olivier, all of Saulnierville. She was predeceased by her husband, Bernard; son, Gerald; daughter, Patricia in infancy; several siblings. Funeral mass under the direction of Meteghan Funeral Home will be held Tuesday, August 11th, at 11 a.m. in Sacred Heart Church, Saulnierville, Rev. Albeni d'Entremont officiating. Burial is to follow in Stella Maris Cemetery, Meteghan Centre. Donations may be made to a charity of your choice." ^2a-d

Who was this Mary-Alice Mae Robicheau that appears to have been married twice - first to a Clarence Sampson and then to a Robicheau? Her parents are given as Edmond Geddry and his wife Minnie LeBlanc. An exhaustive search of Nova Scotia records can locate no birth or baptism of a Mary-Alice Mae Geddry around the time of 1917. In the 1921 Canadian Census Edmond and Minnie Jeddry (Geddry) were listed in Meteghan, but no children were with the young couple. Mary-Alice Mae would have been about four years old at this time. Edmund was a lumberman and they were Catholics.

Identifying Mary-Alice Mae Geddry has been challenging - a difficult, time-consuming search through the records of four Canadian provinces. Here is her story presented not in chronological order, but in the sequence of the hunt.

Gerald Joseph Sampson's obituary provided several tantalizing facts. He was born about 1939 and died on 15 February 2010. His father was Clarence Sampson and his mother was Mary-Alice Mae Robicheau of Meteghan, Nova Scotia. Clarence and Mary-Alice seemingly married and had at least three children Gerald Joseph, Patricia and Brenda (married to a Blinn). Gerald Joseph Sampson had married Flo and lived in Toronto, Canada for many years, but was originally from Nova Scotia where he died at Meteghan River (Bangor).

Mary-Alice Mae Robicheau's obituary added additional information. She was born about 1917 in Newfoundland and died on 3 August 2015 in Yarmouth Regional Hospital although she lived in Meteghan. Her parents were the late Edmond Geddry and his wife Minnie LeBlanc. Mary-Alice also spent much of her life in Toronto, Canada and then moved back to the Clare area. Mary-Alice was married to Bernard Robicheau who died prior to August 2015. She had three children Gerald (deceased), Patricia (deceased in infancy) and Brenda (married to Ivan Blinn). She had several siblings who predeceased her.

Information from the two obituaries strongly indicate that Mary-Alice married first Clarence Sampson by whom she had three children: Gerald Joseph, Patricia and Brenda. She later married Bernard Robicheau, who predeceased her, and by whom she had no children. She was born about 1917 in Newfoundland and lived later in Toronto and Meteghan where she was living when she died. Her parents were Edmond Geddry and his wife Minnie LeBlanc.

Unable to locate any birth or baptismal records for Mary-Alice Mae Geddry anywhere in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, the investigation turned to searching her marriages.

In "The Ottawa Citizen" of 13 September 1992 the obituary of Clarence Sampson3 stated that he was born about 1918 and died 11 September 1992. Clarence was married at the time of his death to Frankie Wellington and was the father of Jerry Joseph Sampson (husband of BeUy Ann), Jeanne Sampson (wife of Christopher Walton), Gerald Joseph Sampson (husband of Florence) and Brenda Sampson (wife of Ivan Blinn). There is no mention of Mary-Alice Mae Geddry or Mary-Alice Mae Robicheau; however, Gerald Joseph Sampson married to Flo (Florence) and Brenda Blinn are in the 2010 obituary above as children of Mary-Alice Mae Robicheau. Clarence Edward Sampson was buried at Hope Cemetery in Gloucester, Ontario, Canada.

On 7 April 1918 Clarence Samson was born to Walter L. Samson and Lillian LeBlanc at Petit-de-Grat, Isle Madame, Cape Breton. ^4a-b Walter Samson was a fisherman.

Clarence Everett Sampson, son of Walter Sampson and Lillian LeBlanc, married May Elizabeth Bennett, daughter of James J. Bennett and Margaret Mark, on 30 October 1937 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Halifax, Nova Scotia. ⁵ The bride signed her name Mae Bennett, was 20 years old and was born at St. George's, Newfoundland. Her father also was born at St. George's, Newfoundland. Clarence was a packer for the National Fish Company, was 19 years old and was born at West Arichat, Isle Madame, Cape Breton. His father Walter was born at Petit-de-Grat, Isle Madame, Cape Breton. The witnesses to the marriage were Arthur Twohig and Myrcus Bennett.

On 19 March 1892 James Joseph Bennett was born to Edward Bennett and Mary Benoit at Seal Rocks, Newfoundland and was baptized on 2 April 1892. ⁶ Seal Rocks was a small community on St. George's Bay on the southwest coast of Newfoundland. It was about one mile north of St. George's, Newfoundland where St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church was located. Edward Bennett was a fisherman.

At St. George's, Newfoundland on 14 January 1914 James Bennett and Margaret Mark married. ⁷ Both were from Seal Rocks, Newfoundland. Neither had been married and he was a fisherman.

In late 1917 or 1918 James Bennett and Margaret Mark moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia with their young family. Tragedy struck them on 29 October 1918 when Margaret died of influenza which she contracted four days earlier. ⁸ Only 23 years old at the time of her death, Margaret was buried at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Halifax. James was left to care for their three young children - Myrcus Bennett (born 1914), Charles Bennett (born 1915) and Mary-Alice Mae Bennett (born 1917).

James Bennett apparently could not care properly for his three young children and had to place them in orphanages in Halifax about 1920 or 1921. ⁹ In 1921 Myrcus Bennett (age 7) and Charles Bennett (age 6) were at St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage on Quinpool Road in Halifax. LiUle Mae Bennett (age 4) was at the Home of the Golden Angel Catholic Orphanage on Brunswick Street in Halifax. The Home of the Golden Angel Catholic Orphanage was for younger children under age 6. Once the children reached five years of age, they were transferred to St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage. In 1921 James Bennett (age 27) was living at a boarding house on Barrington Street in Halifax as a lodger. He was a widower and a house painter by trade ^10a-d

At noon on 23 April 1924 young Charles Bennett, son of James Bennett and Margaret Mark, died at St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage from endocarditis - an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart caused by a bacteria or fungal infection. Charles had been ill for about a month. He was only nine years old (born 12 March 1915) and had been at St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage for 4 years. On 25 April 1924 he was buried at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Halifax. ⁹

Shortly before his son Charles Bennett died, James Joseph Bennett, son of Edward Bennett and Mary Madore, remarried. He and Jennie May Tabor (Taylor), daughter of Percy Taylor and Myrtle Johnson, wed on 8 February 1923 at St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Halifax, Nova Scotia. James was a widower. He was a painter and Jennie was a waitress. James was 28 years old; Jennie was 23 years old. ¹¹

After remarrying in 1923, James Bennett apparently did not remove his children from St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage. His son Charles Bennett died at the orphanage in 1924 and, as will be discussed shortly, Mae Bennett was adopted between 1921 and 1931. It is uncertain how long Myrcus Bennett remained at the orphanage. After 1921, she next appeared in 1940 when she was a hairdresser in Halifax.

In 1940 Myrcus Bennett, a spinster, was a hairdresser on Cornwallis Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia. ¹² The next year on 29 March 1941 Myrcus Kathleen Bennett, daughter of James Bennett and Margaret Mark, married Arthur Patrick Twohig, son of Walter Twohig and Mary Whelan, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Arthur was 28 years old; Myrcus was 27 years old. He was a Victuallers Assistant with the Royal Canadian Navy; she was a beautician. ¹³

The obituary of Myrcus Bennett Twohig ties her immediate family together nicely confirming all the relationships. The widow of Arthur Twohig, Myrcus Bennett Twohig was born in 1914 and died on 22 June 2013 at the Moncton Hospital in Moncton, New Brunswick. She was born in Seal Rocks, St. George's, Newfoundland - the daughter of the late James Bennett and the late Margaret Mark. Besides her own children and grandchildren, she was survived by her sister Mary Alice Mae Robicheau of Saulnierville, Nova Scotia. She was predeceased by her brother Charles Bennett. ¹⁴

The question remains - what was the fate of little 4-year-old Mae Bennett who was living at the Home of the Golden Angel Catholic Orphanage in Halifax in 1921 and who listed Edmond and Minnie Geddry as her parents in her obituary.

At St. Bernard Catholic Church in St. Bernard, Digby County, Nova Scotia on 28 November 1916, Edmond Geddry, 24 years old, married Marie Minnie Leblanc, 26 years old. Edmond, a soldier, was the son of Moses Geddry and Julia Geddry. Marie Minnie was the daughter of Housey LeBlanc and Philomene Dugas. ¹⁵ In the Canadian Census of 1921 Edmond Jeddry, age 29, and Minnie Jeddry, age 31, were living at Meteghan, Nova Scotia, in a wooden home they owned. He was a lumberman. They had no children living with them. ¹⁶

Ten years later in 1931 the Canadian Census recorded Edmond Geddry, age 38, and Minnie Geddry, age 41, living at Maxwellton in the Clare Municipality in a wooden home that they owned. He was a farmer and Minnie was a homemaker. Living with them was their daughter May Geddry, age 14. She would have been born about 1917. ¹⁷

Apparently, May Geddry in the 1931 Canadian Census is not the birth child of Edmond Geddry and Minnie LeBlanc since she did not appear as their child in the 1921 Canadian Census when she would have been about 4 years old. They either have adopted her or fostered her sometime between 1921 and 1931. Evidence in documents below strongly indicate that the May Geddry in the 1931 Canadian Census is the Mae Bennett that was at the Home of the Golden Angel Catholic Orphanage in 1921. This orphanage had an active adoption program in the 1920s.

Edmond Geddry, husband of Minnie Geddry, died on 21 January 1954 at 61 years of age. He had been born on 8 August 1892 and lived at Maxwellton in Clare Municipality of Digby County, Nova Scotia at the time of his death. He was a farmer and was the son of Mozaire Geddry and Judite Geddry. Edmond Geddry died of a myocardial infarction and was buried in Meteghan, Nova Scotia. ¹⁸ The obituary of Edmond Geddry of Maxwellton, Nova Scotia stated that he died on 21 January 1954 at the age of 61 years and had been suffering from a heart condition, but his sudden death was unexpected. He left a wife and three adopted children: May, Gerald and Branda Sampson as well as a brother and two sisters. ¹⁹ Almost certainly May Geddry is Mae Bennett from the Home of the Golden Angel Catholic Orphanage. Very likely Gerald and Branda Sampson are the children of Clarence Sampson and May Bennett - Gerald Joseph Sampson and Brenda Sampson (Blinn). ^1,2a-d

Mae Bennett Geddry lived with Edmond Geddry and Minnie LeBlanc a few years after 1931 - until she moved to Halifax and married Clarence Everett Sampson, son of Walter Sampson and Lillian LeBlanc. On 30 October 1937 Mae Elizabeth Bennett, daughter of James Bennett and Margaret Mark, married Clarence at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Halifax. Did she go to Halifax to be with her sister Myrcus Bennett? The witnesses at her marriage were Myrcus Bennett and her soon-to-be husband Arthur Twohig. ⁵ Clarence and Mae had three children together - Gerald Joseph Sampson (who married Florence), Brenda Sampson (who married Ivan Blinn) and Patricia Sampson (who died in infancy). ³ In November 1969 Mae Elizabeth Sampson filed a Petition for the Decree of Divorce from Clarence Everett Sampson due to a permanent breakdown in the marriage. The Petition was filed in the Toronto, Ontario court.

Between 1970 and 1974 Mary Alice Mae Bennett Geddry Sampson married Joseph Bernard Robicheau, son of Philip Robicheau and Charlotte LeBlanc, who was born on 26 March 1924. Shortly after their marriage, Joseph Bernard died when the tractor he was driving overturned on him in the woods near Maxwellton, Nova Scotia on 1 October 1974. He was pinned between a log and the tractor and died of asphyxiation. Joseph Bernard Robicheau was buried at Stella Maris Catholic Cemetery in Meteghan, Nova Scotia. ^21a-c

And the mystery is a mystery no longer. Born in 1917 at Seal Rocks, Newfoundland to James Bennett and Margaret Mark, Mary Alice Mae Bennett and her family moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia shortly aTer her birth. Then tragedy struck as her mother suddenly died from influenza and Mae Bennett and her brother and sister were placed in orphanages in Halifax. At some point between 1921 and 1931 Mae Bennett was adopted by Edmond Geddry and Minnie LeBlanc of Meteghan, Nova Scotia where Mae lived with her adoptive parents. In 1937 at age 20 Mae married Clarence Sampson and shortly aTerwards the young couple moved to the Toronto area. ATer 32 years of marriage and three children, Mae Bennet divorced Clarence Sampson and moved back to the Meteghan area. Between 1970 and 1974 she married Joseph Bernard Robicheau, but again tragedy struck Mae's life. Bernard died suddenly when his tractor overturned and killed him. Mae then lived the rest of her life in the Meteghan area until she died in 2015 at the age of 98 at the hospital in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.