I presented the question on an Ireland genealogy mailing
list – and the responses I received indicated that it was not unusual for a 10-year
old to be a godparent, as long as the child had experienced his first Communion. I don’t know the basis for these responses,
but I will try to find it in some book or document provided by the Catholic
Church in the early to mid nineteenth-century.
Still, it remains plausible that Cornelius Scanlon of Mt.
Pleasant, Lawrence County, Missouri – born in Ireland circa 1832-1837 – could have
been a godparent at the baptism of the “Lismore John Higgins” in 1842 – in Co. Waterford.
THE
BEST NEWS, however, came when I found a digital image yesterday of what is most
likely Cornelius’ headstone. Of all the
counties in Ireland this Cornelius could have been born in, the county I most
wanted to see was indeed very plainly seen on his headstone: Co. Waterford. [1].
Notes:
[1] Memorial 51121205, digital image of headstone photographed by Tammi, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 September 2013), Missouri, Lawrence County,
Pierce City, St. Patrick’s Cemetery,
entry for Cornelius Scanlon, b. 1832-d. 1915.
