Person:Thomas Mccaslin (1)

     
Thomas McCaslin
b.Bet 1817 and 1827 Ireland
  1. Thomas McCaslinBet 1817 & 1827 - 1892
  2. Ellen McCaslinCal 1822 -
m. 17 Mar 1853
Facts and Events
Name Thomas McCaslin
Gender Male
Birth? Bet 1817 and 1827 IrelandWe have various dates from 1817 to 1827
Census? 1852 Etobicoke, York, Ontario, Canada
Marriage 17 Mar 1853 Etobicoke, York, Canada West, Canadato Sarah Anne Dixon
Census? 1861 Etobicoke, York, Ontario, Canada
Census? 1871 Etobicoke, York, Ontario, Canada
Other? From 9 Jan 1872 to 9 Sep 1872 London Asylum
Other? From 15 Jan 1875 to 2 Oct 1875 Toronto Asylum?
Other? From 7 Apr 1876 to 3 May 1876 Toronto Asylum
Other[2] From 3 May 1876 to 16 Oct 1876 Hamilton Asylum
Other? To 23 Oct 1876 Hamilton Asylum
Other? From 18 Nov 1876 to 26 Feb 1877 Toronto Asylum
Other? From 26 Feb 1877 Hamilton Asylum
Census[1] 1881 Etobicoke, York, Ontario, Canadaindexed as McCastin
Census[1] 1881 Barton, Wentworth South, Ontario, CanadaHamilton Assylum
Other? Abt 1881 Hamilton Asylum
Other? From 1 Oct 1890 Mimico Asylum
Other? From 1 Oct 1890 to 25 Feb 1891 unknown Asylum
Census? 1891 Toronto Asylum
Occupation? Laborer/Farm Laborer/Carpenter/Sawyer
Other? Abt 1891 Toronto Asylum
Other? From 25 Feb 1891 Mimico Asylum
Other? To 13 Jul 1892 Mimico Asylum
Death? 13 Jul 1892 Etobicoke, York, Ontario, Canada
Religion? Anglican/CoE/CoI

Thomas McCaslin was born somewhere in Ireland. It appears that his family immigrated to Canada, possibly about 1832 due to the Potato Famine (not the GREAT potato famine in 1846-1848). The family traditions is that 2 brothers, or 2 brothers and a sister came from Ireland. We assume this would be Thomas McCaslin, his sister Ellen McCaslin - and possibly an Oliver McCaslin who is also born in Ireland and lives in Ontario about the same time. We do know for a fact that Ellen McCaslin is Thomas' sister, but do not have any evidence that Oliver is their brother.

It appears that Thomas had a mental illness. He spent a lot of time in Mental Asylums, and was diagnosed with "Recurrant Mania". This was considered Hereditary, and Ellen had also spent time in Asylums. From the description of his behaviour, the condition may have been what is now called Bi-Polar disorder - although it could have been an other condition, like psychizophrenia. He escaped from an asylum at one point.

One of the Asylums that Thomas spent time in was the Mimico Asylum in Ontario. He would have been amoung its first inmates - which means that he would have been working on building the asylum. (The asylums used the inmates as unpaid labour as a part of their therapy.) He died in the asylum - apparently collapsing in the field on a hot day.

I have not yet found Thomas' burial, but it is likely that he was buried in the Mimico Asylum's graveyard. I have not yet checked their records. He would have been one of the first people buried there - and the graves were unmarked.

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References
  1. 1.0 1.1 It appears that Thomas was enumerated twice in the 1881 census - once in the Hamilton Asylum, and once with his family. It is possible that the enumeration happened on different dates, and he was released/committed right around then.... or more likely the family just gave his information rather than mention his committment.
  2. Escaped from the Hamilton Asylum on 16 Oct 1876