First Generation

1. Edward "Ed" CASSITY Sr. was born about 1828 in Canada.^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7} His given name was listed as "Ed" in the obituary of his son Tom. According to family lore, his ancestral surname was originally "Cassada."

According to the 1900 and 1920 Census' of his daughter Callie and the 1920 and 1930 Census' for his sons Robert and Tom, he was born in Ireland. According to the 1880 Census of his son James and daughter Elizabeth, the 1900 of his son Eddie, the 1900 and 1910 Census' of his son James, the 1920 Census of his son James, and the 1930 Census of his daughter Elizabeth, he was born in Canada. Eileen Arndt's research indicates that he was been born "near Montreal to Catholic parents of Irish descent."

From the research of Eileen Arndt: "Family lore says he was married and had a family in Canada before he came here. What happened to that family is unclear but they had 2-3 children, and two were females with the same names as his daughters by Luceba (family lore-unproven); their son's name was John. James Cassity (his oldest son by his wife Luceba) remembered being visited by a John Cassity who was his son by the first marriage in about 1887 (he was about 10 yrs old, he thought). It may have been that the visit took place closer to Edward's death in 1888, as James remembered his father giving his gold watch to his son John when he was there. The records about his death indicate that he lingered after the injury (probably gangrene) and died some time afterward. It would seem likely that, if he was dying, he would give his watch away."

Note from Eileen Arndt: "Please credit cousin Marlyce Jones-Culver with finding the info on Edward Cassity. She is descended from Ruth Cassity Jones. Marlyce searched for a long time through newspaper films to find this (his obituary) and then pursued cemetery records. It turned out he was buried in a Tomah cemetery in a part that required moving the graves to make room for a highway or street.

We also knew he owned land in Byron twn and found a court case he had against a railroad and also surrogate records regarding his under-age children when he died. Those records showed a death date of June 19, 1888, which is the one that we use."

Meaning of the surname Cassidy: Irish (Fermanagh): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Caiside ‘descendant of Caiside’, a byname from cas ‘curly(-headed)’. Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 (Above is a picture of the Cassidy family crest.)

(He could not be located anywhere in the U.S. in the 1850, 1860, 1870 or 1880 Census. He may have been living in Canada during the first three, and in a logging camp in Wisconsin for the last.)

. Before 1888 he was a logger at the Goodyear Lumber Company in Monroe County, WI.⁵ Eileen Arndt's research of family lore indicates that he worked in lumber mills and may have been injured or killed in a mill accident in 1888.
He died on 19 June 1888 at the age of 60 in Byron Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,7,8

Obituary Notes: "Edward Cassidy, a resident of the town of Byron, died at his home Wednesday, the 20th inst.,aged 60 years. The funeral was held from the Catholic Church in this city, yesterday." (It is assumed that the Catholic Church was located in Tomah, because there were none in Byron Township at the time. Also, the obituary was printed in the Tomah Journal, so "this city" most likely referred to Tomah.)
Ed was buried in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,7 (His gravestone has not been located and the identity of the cemetery is not known. He is not listed in the gravestone list for St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery in Tomah.)

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Edward "Ed" CASSITY Sr. and Luceba R. "Sebie" MILLER were married about 1875.^9,10,11,12 (He was not listed in the 1880 Census with his wife and two oldest children, who were living with her parents. He may have been living at a logging mill.)

According to the 1900 Census, she had 10 children, of whom 7 were still living. It is assumed that they were all from Luceba's marriage to Ed Cassity, because no new children were listed in the 1900 Census after her second marriage in 1892. The only child in question was her youngest daughter, Edith, who was born about four years after Ed died, but 10 months before Luceba married her second husband.

. Luceba R. "Sebie" MILLER, daughter of Heman MILLER and Elizabeth DARROW, was born on 11 October 1854 in Missouri.^{1,10,12,13,14} Her death record listed her date of birth as 11 October 1854; but her birth date was listed as Oct 1858 and her age as 41 in the 1900 Census. Her birth place was listed in the 1900 Census as Wisconsin, but the 1900 Census for her daughter Callie, the 1910 Census for her son James, and the 1930 Census for her son Edward listed it as Missouri. (She was named after her maternal grandmother.)

. She appeared in the census in 1860 in Adair Township, Camden County, MO.¹⁵ She appeared in the census in 1870 in Lincoln Township, Monroe County, WI.^6,16 Her age was listed as 14 and her occupation was listed as "Domestic Servant." The 1920 Census for her daughter Callie listed his birth place as New York. Sebie appeared in the census in 1880 in La Grange Township, Monroe County, WI.^12,17,18 She and her children James and Elizabeth were living with her parents. Her husband was not listed in the household.
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She appeared in the census in 1900 in Grand Rapids Township, Wood County, WI.¹⁰ She was living with her second husband and her children, Thomas and Edith. Her children Elizabeth, Robert, and Callie were living in various households in Winfield Township, Sauk County, WI. Her son Edward was living with her brother William in Reedsburg Township, Sauk County. Her oldest son, James, was living with her parents in LaGrange Township, Monroe County, WI. Her other three children had died before the time of the census.

. She died on 11 October 1900 at the age of 46 in Grand Rapids Township, Wood County, WI.^3,13,19 Marlyce Jones-Culver found Luceba's death record in Wood County Deaths #202 and it also gave her birthdate. Her husband, Wm. Tennant, was listed as the undertaker. It shows her born 10-11-1854 and died 10-11-1900 at Grand Rapids (later Wis. Rapids) Wis. (on her 45th birthday). The cause is given as "urema heart failure".

. Sebie was buried in Black River Falls, Jackson County, WI.³ She was originally buried in the Wood Cemetery in Wyeville. But, later, her second husband moved her casket to a cemetery in Black River Falls. Its identity is not known and her gravestone has not been located by Gary Griggs.

Edward "Ed" CASSITY Sr. and Luceba R. "Sebie" MILLER had the following children: