MARGARET MARY POWER
C1840/50-C1884

Margaret was born C1850. She married Mr. Green, given name unknown, C1867. He may have been the son of Robert Green of Point Verde. So far, no proof has been found. Margaret gave birth to a son C1868. As yet, we do not know his given name. A girl was born C1869 and was named Mary. She married C1889 Michael J. Nugent. It is believed Michael was a teacher/schoolmaster.

When Mr. Green passed away about 1870, Margaret married Philip Summers of North East Arm (Dunville) C1871. Five children were born of this marriage. Three baptisms have been found in the Sacred Heart Parish records at Placentia. Thomas Joseph, baptized by Parish Priest Fr. Charles Irvine, 20 September 1872, sponsors John Power and Juliana Barron. This child must have died young, as a second child was named Thomas Joseph when born in 1883. Maurice Valentine, baptized 25 December 1874, sponsors Michael Barron and Norah Power. Maurice died in 1920 of TB at Sydney, Nova Scotia. Philip, Jr. baptized 3 January 1877 by Fr. Charles Irvine, sponsors Maurice Power and Sarah Barron, married 8 Jan 1899 Julia Nugent of Placentia, and died in Seattle, King Co., Washington on an unknown date. Mary Emma born 1880, married Thomas Fleming, Sr.,(son of James Fleming of Bay Roberts) and died in 1911. The second Thomas Joseph was born 16 April 1883, married 18 Aug 1906 Elizabeth Agnes Foran (daughter of William Foran and Mary Sennott/Sinnott of Placentia) and died 4 September 1944 at Cranbrook, British Columbia. Isabel, the daughter of Thomas, holds a baptismal certificate dated 19 April 1883, by Parish Priest Fr. Michael Clancy. To date, the baptism information for Mary Emma has not been found.

More research is needed to establish the parents of Margaret, the details
regarding her first marriage to Mr. Green, and exact date of death.
Family lore states that she may have died in childbirth.

Note:
All baptism data verified by Fr. Jim Mason

See also Ellen Mary Houlihan, Philip Summers and Anastasia Summers' biography pages

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Read about the dory accident in 1902, below.
Dories are flat bottomed boats usually 12-19 feet in length
Click on photo to enlarge


Placentia, Newfoundland 1902

Evening Telegram November 27, 1902 (Thursday)
Three Men Drowned Last Night in Placentia Gut By the Accidental Upsetting of a Dory - Names of the Victims - Bodies Not Yet Recovered

Placentia Today

A terrible and sad fatality occurred last night. Seven persons - one woman and six men - from the Northeast Arm, were returning to their homes, after visiting the bazaar here, when they upset their dory by striking an anchor which was in Placentia Gut. All were precipitated into the water. Four were saved by parties who heard their cries for help. The others lost their lives. The drowned are Charles Roberts, Patrick Power (of Michael) and Maurice Hartigan. The two former were married; the latter was single. Search is being made today for the bodies, but up to the sending of this despatch no trace of them has been found. The awful accident throws a gloom over the whole place.

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Evening Telegram November 28, 1902 (Friday)

That Placentia Accident

The sad drowning accident at the Gut, Placentia, happened in this way: A bazaar was being held at Placentia, and the people of the Northeast went over on Wednesday evening in dories. They returned at 10.30, and in one dory there were seven [sic] persons, namely: Mrs. Julia Nugent, (nee Summers), who is here on a visit from the States, Mr. Maurice Power and his wife Mrs. Power, formerly Miss L. Grant, Philip Summers, railway section man, and J. Bird. Three were drowned, viz.: Charles Roberts, Patrick Power (of Michael) and Maurice Hartigan. The party left Mr. Murphy's wharf a little after 10.30 p.m., when the tide was running out very strong. The dory struck against the anchor that Murphy has at his wharf to moor the schooner, and her off side was instantly crushed in. All seven were thrown into the water. Mrs. Nugent caught an oar and was picked up going out the main gut. Mr. Summers got hold of a 'thwart', and was carried over to the Jersey side into shoal water, where he was rescued. Maurice Power and Bird held on to the dory and were picked up drifting out the gut. A deep gloom is cast over the town of Placentia. All the boats were jigging for the bodies up to a late hour last evening, but not one body was recovered.

Corrections/Notes/Facts:

1. I believe that all who were in the dory were related.
   
   
2. There were eight people, two women & six men, in the dory, not seven, as the 27 Nov. story states
   Julia Summers (formerly Miss Nugent)
   Maurice Power
   Mrs. Maurice Power (formerly Miss L. Grant)
   Philip Summers, Sr
   Charles Roberts
   Patrick Power
   Maurice Hartigan
   J. Bird
   
   
3. Mrs. Julia Nugent (nee Summers)
   should be..
   Mrs. Julia Summers (nee Nugent)
   
   
4. Maurice Power and wife, the former Miss L. Grant must have been related to Mary Margaret Power, since her 2nd son was named Maurice Valentine Summers
   
   
5. Julia's husband, Philip Summers, Jr. was my father-in-law Jim Summers' half brother.
   The Philip Summers noted has to be Philip, Sr., as he worked on the Whitbourne RR Spur line, Philip, Jr. did not.
   
   
6. Philip, Jr. must have stayed in the US while Julia visited the family in Newfoundland
   When Philip, Jr. & wife Julia passed away they were buried in the State of Washington
   
   
7. Charles Roberts' wife was Jane Ann Smith, daughter of Ellen Mary Houlihan and Peter Smith. After Peter Smith died C1885, Ellen Houlihan Smith married Philip Summers, Sr. (the widower of Margaret Mary Power Green) on 12 Jan 1889 in Argentia RC Church,
   
   
8. After Charles Roberts drowned, Jane Anne Smith Roberts, married James O'Flaherty, moved to Sydney, Nova Scotia, and had 6 children. She died in 1934.
   
   

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Evening Telegram December 4, 1902 (Thursday)

All the Bodies Found

All the bodies of the victims of the Placentia drowning accident have now been recovered. The body of Patrick Power was recovered by Sergeant Kent, and the body of Charles Roberts was recovered by Mr. J. Wyse, and yesterday the body of Maurice Hartigan was found by Capt. P. Dunphy. Power and Roberts were buried Tuesday. While the Requiem Service for Power was going on at the chapel in the morning, the body of poor Roberts was found and brought to the Court House. The people made a coffin for him and buried him right away. Hartigan was buried yesterday from the Court House. The sad affair has cast a deep gloom over the place, and the people are glad that it is all over, and the bodies recovered.

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In the early 1940s the Americans built a Navy base at Argentia. About 477 residents were forced to leave. Starting in the spring of 1942, all those interred in the RC three cemeteries, the two oldest, and the newest Mount Rosary were removed to a mass grave in Freshwater.
To enlarge, click on photo



Read about this upheaval in "UPROOTED!" by Eileen Hunt Houlihan, published by Creative Publishing, St. John's Newfoundland 1992, IBSN 1-895387-19-1