Gone Fishin'

Gone fishin', just like my Dad...

Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert (centre) on a fishing trip with his pals, the Lackie Brothers: George Elson Lackie (left) and Neil Wallace Lackie (right).

Actually, I've gone fishing for information.

I'm concentrating on DNA research for the next couple of weeks so blogging will have to take a back seat until mid-May. 

Thanks to everyone who took the Ancestry DNA test, and to those who are considering taking the test in future. Your test results are keeping me busy!

See you soon.

From Lucan, County Dublin to Lucan, Ontario

When our ancestors, John Culbert and Mary Ward arrived in Biddulph Township from Ireland, they settled at Lot 19, Concession 2, on a road which came to be known as the Coursey Line.

The village of Lucan, Ontario is about three miles southeast of the Culbert homestead.

Lucan's Main Street, 1800s. Credit: UWO Archives.

 

When John and Mary arrived in 1840, the village had not yet acquired the name Lucan. It was originally named Wilberforce around 1829 when a group of black settlers arrived. (More about the Wilberforce Settlement in a future post.) When the Irish settlers started arriving in the 1830s, they changed the name to Marystown. To avoid confusion with another post office named Marystown, it was necessary to change the name again. And so in 1860, the name Lucan was chosen.

So how did the village come to be known as Lucan?

Enter Thomas Hodgins also known as “Dublin Tom” Hodgins. He was twice elected Reeve of Biddulph in the 1850s (a position our own Myron Manford Culbert would hold a century later.)

Thomas Hodgins aka Dublin Tom

Dublin Tom Hodgins was born in Lucan, County Dublin, Ireland. It’s said that he'd been a coachman on Lord Lucan’s estate.[1]

 

Lucan, County Dublin, Ireland. Photo by Jeff Culbert.

Here in Canada, Dublin Tom homesteaded in Biddulph Township at Lot 13, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line) just up the road from the Culbert homestead.

At the first ever meeting of the Lucan Business Men’s Association, the issue of renaming Marystown was raised. Dublin Tom stood up and suggested the name “Lucan.”

“Sure, this place reminds me of me home in Ireland, with the beautiful trees and the river running close by. Call the town “Lucan” and ye’ll never be sorry.”[2]

The Little Ausable River in Biddulph Township runs through Lucan. The trees and the river reminded Dublin Tom of his home in Ireland. Photo courtesy of Wendy Boole from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen.

And so from that time on, this small village north of London, Ontario has been known as Lucan. There’s another theory as to the naming of the village but as there’s no Culbert connection to that story, let’s move along!

Of course you knew I couldn’t let this story go without a Culbert connection. So here’s a photo of Terry Culbert (right) visiting Lucan, County Dublin, Ireland in May 1993 with his friend, the late Bob McAdorey (left)…

But the Culbert connection doesn’t stop there. (Of course it doesn’t.)

Let’s return to Dublin Tom Hodgins, the man who is said to have named the village of Lucan.

Dublin Tom Hodgins was married to a woman named Ann Colbert Shoebottom. (Does anyone see where this is going? Clue: look at Ann’s middle name.)

Dublin Tom Hodgins and his wife, Ann Colbert Shoebottom

Ann Colbert Shoebottom (1819-1881) was the daughter of John “Stoney” Shoebottom (c1787-1867) and Rebecca Colbert (c1794-1868) of London Township (originally from Tipperary, Ireland.) That’s right - the Colberts of London Township. You know from a previous post that we’re related to the Colberts of London Township although we haven't yet established how we're related. 

Dublin Tom Hodgins and his wife, Ann Colbert Shoebottom had 13 children, all of whom are somehow related to us along with their many descendants.

DNA proves that the Culberts and the Colberts are all from the same pot of Irish stew.

Footnotes: [1] Pioneers to the Present: Biddulph Township Sesquicentennial History Book 1850-2000, Lucan, Ont. : Corp. of the Township of Biddulph, 1998, p.476.

[2] Jennie Raycraft Lewis, The Luck of Lucan, Lucan Heritage Committee, 1967, reprinted 1995, p.17.

Culbert Gathering on Alice Street

This photo was taken on Alice Street in Lucan, Ontario, Canada in the late 1920s.

Photo courtesy of Wes Hodgson

The house was owned by Richard Culbert and his wife, Jane Fairhall years after they left Poplar Farm. Richard was the youngest son of John Culbert & Mary Ward. Later, this became the home of Richard and Jane's daughter, Mary Elsie Culbert and her husband, Eldon Hodgson. 

Here's 117 Alice Street as it looked many years later, in 2012...

The group photo looks like it was taken at the same time as this photo from a previous post...

There are no names on the back of this photo but here's who I recognize ...

Front row, left to right: Ivan Culbert, Mel Culbert and Mert Culbert (sons of Myron Culbert).
Back row, left-right: Myron Culbert (son of Richard & Jane), unknown man, Effie Culbert (Myron's wife), Cliff Culbert (Myron's son), Richard Culbert and his wife Jane Fairhall, unknown woman, Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen, Lela (Culbert) Beadle, unknown man, and Ken Culbert (Myron's son).

I'm assuming the baby is Mert Culbert (born December, 1926) not his younger brother, Earl who was born in May, 1929.

If you can identify the two unknown men and the unknown woman in the back row, please leave a comment or email me at this address...

If your family is having a gathering this Easter weekend, why not take a photo and send it to the Culbert Family History blog?

Six Women and a Baby

Can you help identify the people in this photo?

Photo courtesy of Wes Hodgson (great-great-grandson of John Culbert & Mary Ward)

There's an image further down of the handwriting on the back of this photo but it's not particularly helpful. However, I can identify three of these women, for certain...

The elderly lady holding the child is Jane (Fairhall) Culbert, wife of Richard Culbert (son of John Culbert & Mary Ward.)

Standing on the far left is Effie Culbert, the wife of Jane's son, Myron Manford Culbert. 

And the lady with ink around her head in the centre is Lela (Culbert) Beadle, Jane's youngest daughter.

So far, so good. I'm 100% sure of Jane, Effie, and Lela.

Now, let's taker a closer look...

This is where it gets confusing.

The lady on the far right looks very much like Jane's daughter, Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen. However, the handwriting on the back of the photo says it's Mary (Culbert) Hodgson, another one of Jane's daughters. UPDATE: The lady on the far right is definitely Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen. Thanks to Hulda's granddaughter, Wendy Boole for the update. We think that the person who wrote on the photo may not have been familiar with everyone in the family and was just guessing some of the names. He (or she) also incorrectly spelled Hulda as Hullda.

What about the child? Is this Effie & Myron Culbert's son Mert Culbert who was born in December, 1926? Or is it their youngest son, Earl Culbert, born May, 1929? There's no date on the photo to help me out. 

Am I the only one confused by the handwritten identification on this photo?

I don't recognize the woman standing second from the left in the back row. I don't recognize the woman seated on the far left in the front row.

The handwriting suggests that one of these women could be another of Jane's daughters, Ethel (Culbert) Gras. 

"Gramma Culbert" is Jane (Fairhall) Culbert. 

Whoever wrote on the photo correctly identified Effie as "Left - Myron's wife" because she is Myron's wife. But then they go on to say "Effie" in another part of the photo. What the? 

Please let me know if you have any thoughts on who's who. Leave a comment or email me at:

Helen (Needham) Culbert’s Poplar Farm Memories

Poplar Farm, the Culbert homestead on Lot 19, Concession 2 (The Coursey Line) in Biddulph Township near Lucan, Ontario

A few years before she died, I asked Helen (Needham) Culbert to share her memories of meeting the Myron Culbert family for the first time at Poplar Farm, near Lucan, Ontario. 

Myron and Effie Culbert, Helen's future in-laws

Helen lived over 3,000 kilometres away from me in Calgary so I asked her daughter, Mary-Lynn Culbert to record Helen’s memories. Thank you, Mary-Lynn.

Helen Needham met the Culbert family when she was 18 years old. She was dating Myron and Effie’s son, Kenneth Arthur Culbert.

Helen Needham and Ken Culbert at Poplar Farm in the late 1930s.

How did you meet the Culberts?

Helen: I think it was on Myron and Effie’s 25th wedding anniversary in 1936. That’s the silver anniversary. 

Invitation to Myron & Effie's silver wedding anniversary party on 15 June 1936 at Poplar Farm

I’d only been going out with Ken for maybe a couple of months. They had all the relatives there and had set up big picnic tables from saw horses with plywood across, then covered them with table clothes under the big maples. The anniversary party was in June - there was a beautiful row of maples trees lining the lane leading up to the farm house, with the house at the end.  All the flowers were out in Effie’s garden.  They had a beautiful German Shepherd dog named Tony that Ken had brought home some time before. Tony was there greeting everyone.  He would come over and press himself against you. 

Ken had borrowed somebody’s car and brought out a gallon of ice cream from London. Ken’s older brother, Cliff brought a girlfriend.  

Cliff Culbert, Myron & Effie's first-born son

We didn’t know one another yet, but Cliff and his girlfriend and Ken and I had bought Myron and Effie the exact same silver candy dish as an anniversary present!

I met all five of Ken’s brothers that day. There must have been 50 guests or more there. They had a lot of lovely food.  

Newspaper account of Myron and Effie's silver wedding anniversary party

Myron Culbert (Ken’s father) was tall and slim with golden hair.  Mel Culbert (Ken’s brother) had curly, golden hair. Mel was too young to have a girlfriend yet. I never saw him cross or mad.  He was always full of fun.  He worked very hard. I think, if he’d lived longer, he would have been very successful. Mel was about two years younger than I was (he was about 16 years old at the time I met him - I was just 18).  

Mel Culbert (1920-1958)

Mert Culbert (Ken’s brother) was just a little kid. Earl Culbert (Ken’s youngest brother) was in the rocking chair.

Earl Culbert (left) and Mert Culbert (right). This photo would have been taken later than 1936.

Mrs. Culbert (Effie) thought her son Ivan Culbert looked like her, and I think Ivan was her favourite. Ken was quite fair too but Ivan was dark and had curly hair, like Effie.  

 

Ivan Culbert (Effie's favourite son)

Ken had told me stories about how strict his mother Effie was, so I was expecting something quite different than what I found.  Here was this little 100 pound woman, meek as a mouse, kissing and hugging her boys.

 

This photo of Effie Taylor before she married Myron Culbert shows how tiny she was.

Mr. Culbert (Myron) was very quiet. He was probably in pain from falling off the barn roof [note - he had surgery on his hips some time later when the pain became too great to bear any longer but never recovered fully]. 

The anniversary party was a lovely affair - white table clothes on the tables, silverware put out. There was potato salad, cabbage salad, devilled eggs, turkey, chicken, five or six different kinds of pies, cakes, cookies, tarts - the place was loaded with food. And tea was served. Everyone was socializing and talking. Some were playing croquet. It was lovely! 

This was my first time out to the farm. The Culberts had two farms at the time - I was impressed! I thought they were a very lovely family. Cliff and Ken were showing off their girlfriends to the family.  The place was spotless. Effie was a wonderful housekeeper, and a wonderful cook. She saw that the boys went to church and Sunday school every week. She was a friend of the minister’s wife. Every morning before breakfast they all knelt beside their chairs and Myron would pray out loud, then he would read a verse out of the Bible.

Helen (Needham) Culbert (1918-2018)

Thank you for your memories, Helen. We miss you.

The Richard Culbert - Jane Fairhall Family

Richard Culbert (1853-1932) was the youngest son of John Culbert and Mary Ward. Richard took over the family farm near Lucan, Ontario from his father. He replaced the log cabin with a brick house, and named the property Poplar Farm. It was here that Richard and his wife, Jane Eleanor Fairhall (1858-1949) raised their six children.

The Richard Culbert - Jane Fairhall family. Front, left to right: Jane and Richard, Ethel. Back, left to right: Hulda, Myron, Lela, Arthur, and Mary. Photo c1927.

The following are brief biographical sketches of each of Richard and Jane's children, in order of birth.

Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen (1881-1972): Some family members called her "Hulda" and others called her "May." She started her career as a teacher at age 16. Hulda May married Reverend Charles Rupert Carscallen in 1905 at Poplar Farm. Soon after the wedding, they moved to China as educational missionaries. Many years later, they moved to Whitby, Ontario where Charles was Governor and Principal of Ontario Ladies College, and Hulda May was involved in many activities at the college such as librarian, and as officer of the Women's Missionary Society. They had four children. A biography was published about Hulda entitled, China Was My University by Eula C. Lapp. More about Hulda May here. 

George ARTHUR Culbert. (1882-1978): He was known as "George" by some relatives, and as "Arthur" by others. Arthur's photo looks like it may have been added in after the photo was actually taken (early Photoshopping!) If so, this is probably because Arthur moved away to Manitoba in his early twenties and became a hardware merchant. He married Jean McLeod Campbell in 1907 and they had six children.

Myron Manford Culbert (1884-1961): Myron married Effie Pearl Taylor in 1911. Myron took over the family farm when his aging parents moved to a small house in Lucan. Myron was active in municipal politics and served on the Biddulph Township Council for nine years, three of those years as Reeve of Biddulph. They had six children. More about Myron Culbert here. 

Ethel Gertrude (Culbert) Gras (1886-1986):  Ethel, an author, painter and poet, wrote a memoir, "Stories from Life" and a book of poetry, “Poems and Rhymes.” Ethel trained as a bookkeeper at Westervelt College in London, Ontario. Later, she attended Albert College in Belleville. She graduated with honours from Victoria University, University of Toronto in 1915.  That same year, she married Norman Scott Brien Gras, a Harvard graduate and professor of economics at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts who later went on to teach at Harvard. They lived in Massachusetts, in London, England, and at their summer home in South Hero, Vermont. They had four children. 

Mary Elsie (Culbert) Hodgson (1888-1988): Mary, a dressmaker who loved to sew, married Eldon Hodgson in 1913 at Poplar Farm. They farmed for many years on the 4th Concession of McGillivray Township. In 1946, they moved to Lucan to take care of Mary's elderly mother, Jane. Mary is remembered with great affection as a wonderful, warm person with a kind, generous spirit. They had five children, three whom lived to adulthood.

Susan LELA (Culbert) Beadle (1890-1992):  Lela lived in Stratford, worked as a nurse, and married Albert Beadle. After Albert’s death, Lela opened her house as a tourist home catering to people attending the Shakespearian Festival in Stratford. Of Richard and Jane's children, Lela lived the longest to the age of 102.

Richard Culbert & Jane (Fairhall) Culbert also had a 7^th child, Richard Edwin Culbert, born in 1896, who died when he was just one month old.