PATRICK McKENNA.
The history of Cote des Neiges would be incomplete and unsatisfactory were there failure to make reference to Patrick McKenna, who reached the venerable age of ninety-three years—a respected citizen, whose life, though quietly and uneventfully passed, was ever a useful and upright one. A native of Ireland, ambition stirred him to activity with the dawning of young manhood, and feeling that better opportunities might be secured in the new world, he left County Cavan and made his way to Canada where he arrived in 1847. The voyage was made in one of the old-time sailing vessels which dropped anchor in the river and there the immigrants, according to the law of the land, passed into quarantine. Mr. McKenna, anxious to get to work, chafed under this restraint but when he and his fellow travelers were liberated he hastened to make his way into the city where he immediately sought employment. He scorned no labor that would give him an honest living and so showed that he was possessed of the spirit of undaunted industry and determination. In May, 1850, he came to Cote des Neiges, which at that time was a village somewhat remote from Montreal but now included within the corporation limits of the city. He accepted the position of gardener with the late Mr. Donald Ross, but after a year had passed, became a tenant of that part of the property that borders the present Westmount Avenue, although it was years afterward before that thoroughfare was laid out. In 1866 he purchased from the Greenshields estate a tract of fifty acres to which he removed in about 1870 and upon it began the erection of a greenhouse and with the growth of the business in subsequent years additional hothouse space was added. The original firm name, P. McKenna & Son, remains unchanged to the present day.
MR. AND MRS. PATRICK McKENNA On the Sixtieth Anniversary of their Marriage
On the 1st of October, 1849, Mr. McKenna had married Miss Mary Kearney, who in the previous year had left her home at Fanningstown, County Limerick, Ireland, and sailed for the new world. In the succeeding May Mr. McKenna brought his young wife to the home which they occupied for twenty years and on the expiration of that period they took up their abode in the residence where they lived until death called them. Mr. McKenna at first gave his attention to market gardening, conducting a successful business for eighteen years, but gradually withdrew from that branch of business to give his entire attention to the florist business, making the raising of fruit and vegetables merely a side issue.
The McKenna greenhouses became well known and the business prospered from the beginning, bringing Mr. McKenna a substantial financial return which enabled him eventually to retire from active business life.
Mr. and Mrs. McKenna became the parents of thirteen children but six of the number died in infancy, and Elizabeth died a member of the Nuns of Jesus and Mary, under the name of Sister St. Pancratius. Patrick died in 1880 and Mary in 1872. Four children survive the parents: James, a sketch of whom follows; Miss Sarah McKenna; Frances N., the wife of F. Allan Beauchamp; and Sister McKenna, who for seven years was bursar of a nunnery at Lawrence, Massachusetts, and for the past fifteen years has been bursar of the noted Grey Nunnery of Montreal.
Mr. and Mrs. McKenna lived to celebrate their diamond wedding on the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage. The occasion was made a memorable one to all who participated therein. Both Mr. and Mrs. McKenna were enjoying good health, although both were octogenarians, and the celebration was participated in by Mrs. McKenna’s sister, Miss Sarah Kearney, who witnessed the original marriage sixty years before. On the occasion of the diamond wedding the ceremony was marked by the celebration of pontifical mass by His Lordship Bishop Racicot, assisted by others. From 1851 Mr. McKenna was a continuous holder of a pew in St. Patrick’s church.
His long residence at Cote des Neiges enabled him to tell much concerning the history of that section and to relate many interesting incidents connected with its development and growth. He had occupied the position of councillor in the village before its incorporation into a town and about 1889 was succeeded by his son. He was a justice of the peace for the district of Montreal for twenty-five years until his death. He possessed a retiring disposition but nevertheless manifested keen interest in all that pertained to the city’s welfare and never failed to perform a public duty that devolved upon him. He was ever loyal to the land of his adoption and maintained a deep love for the land of his birth. As a boy he received a temperance medal from Father Matthew, the Irish apostle of temperance, which is now treasured by his son.