St. Ninian's Cemetery Stone #13 Annie Cashen Dimensions: 54”x21”x3” Orientation: East/west. Carver: Name present but illegible. Inscription: IN/ Loving memory/ OF/ ANNIE/ Wife of/ Michael Cashen who died/ June 19, 1891/ Aged 29/ May she rest in peace ------/ ---- infant daughter/ Mary H. age 3 weeks./ Material: marble, set in concrete Condition: Stone presumably has fallen over in the past due to its concrete base. The stone is stained in places and there is considerable moss growth on the stone. The inscription is shallow and difficult to read. There are chips in the marble, but no large breaks or large cracks threatening the integrity of the stone. There is little information available on Annie Cashen. The family appeared only in the 1881 census, but unfortunately this census lacks a complete return. According to this source, there was only one family of Cashens living in the Antigonish area. The household contained Michael, a farmer of Irish origin, Annie, of English descent, and two other women. The first was Johanna, an 82-year-old widow of Irish descent, and the second a 24-year-old woman named Hannah. We can assume that the former was Michael’s mother and the latter his sister. There is little if any available information other than this on Annie Cashen. The family may have moved from Ireland due to the economic situation after the Great Famine (Annie was born after the worst years of the famine, but Johanna would certainly have lived through it). They settled in Antigonish with aspirations of a better existence, but neither their land nor luck was especially favourable. It seems that the family may very well have relocated again before the next census. It is likely that both Annie and her infant daughter Mary died because of complications surrounding childbirth. Krista Farrell (edited by Christopher Greencorn) [ Back ]