Lucan Biddulph Whiskey Riot

It's been said that the sons of John Culbert and Mary Ward "used to go into town (Lucan) and "clean up" the taverns for fun; just get into a really good brawl for entertainment.  They were a wild bunch of boys."

Source: Exeter Times, 22 Jan 1874

Whether or not the Culbert boys cracked a few heads on the night of Saturday, 17 January 1874, we might never know.

The sons of John Culbert & Mary Ward. Left to right: Henry (born 1837), William (born 1842), Thomas (born 1847), Joseph (born 1848), and Richard (born 1853). Photo taken circa 1865.

Henry, the eldest son had moved away by the time of the "whiskey riot" but William, Thomas, Joseph and Richard still lived in Biddulph Township.

As an aside, the Culbert boys were contemporaries of the Donnelly boys. The Culbert homestead on the Coursey Line was about 2 1/2 miles almost straight across from the Donnelly homestead on the Roman Line. Thomas Culbert was once involved in a scuffle with Thomas Donnelly. But that's another story for another blog post.

As the song by Elton John and Bernie Taupin goes, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting."