I visited the Singer (Catholic) cemetery in Guyandotte, Cabell County, West
Virginia this afternoon and found the following tombstones lined up in a
single row, from left to right in the following order:
(1) Robert L. Bean
1873 -1941
(2) John O'Brien
1839 - 1916
(3) Margaret O'Brien
1809 - 1895
(4) John Canty Jno. Canty*
1835 - 1906 Co. M
3 U.S. ART.
(5) Mary Canty
1842 - 1914
*The second marker for John Canty is located near the foot of the same
grave, and is of a different style than the headstone.
By way of background, the 1880 Cabell County, WV census shows John Canty
(36), his spouse Mary (33), children Michael (7), Margaret (5), Mary (3),
and Ellen (6/12).
Mary's baptismal record in 1877 identifies her parents as John Canty and
Margaret O'Brien.
John Canty served in the Union army. I believe he was also associated at
some point with the 1st D.C. Cavalry, in addition to the Company M/3rd US
Art. shown on footstone.
An obituary for John Canty in the Huntington Dispatch dated July 30, 1907
(note different year) reported that he died the night before.
My guess is that Margaret O'Brien was the mother of John O'Brien and Mary
(O'Brien) Canty, and that John was Mary's husband. I don't have any theory
on Robert Beab at this point. The cemetery is in some disrepair, but the
placement of the stone clearly suggested that it was associated with the
other four.
If that connects up anything for anyone else, I would be glad to hear!
Thanks-
Carol