The Six Sons of Myron Manford Culbert and Effie Pearl Taylor

A new family photo has surfaced! Jane (Gras) Heigis found this gem while sorting through the photo collection of her late father, Alfred Edward Gras.

The six sons of Myron and Effie Culbert. Back row, left to right: Cliff and Ken; Centre row, left to right: Ivan and Mel; Front row, left to right: Mert and Earl. Photo taken at Poplar Farm near Lucan, Ontario, Canada c1932. Click photo to enlarge it.

This photo is a treasure because there are few photos of the six boys all together. Earl, the youngest, wasn't born until 1929 so photos of the boys from the 1920s are usually missing Earl. Photos from 1939-1945 often are missing the sons who served in World War Two, especially Ivan who served overseas during the entirety of the war. Photos taken after 1958 are missing Mel who died in July of that year. So to find a photo of the six boys all together is special, indeed. Thank you for sending this photo to us, Jane!

You've seen the following photo before but I'm including it because it shows the six boys as adults, together with their parents, Myron and Effie...

Myron & Effie Culbert with their six sons, c1950. Back row, left to right: Ken, Mel, Mert, and Earl. Front row, left to right: Cliff, Myron, Effie, Ivan.

The six sons of Myron Manford Culbert and Effie Pearl Taylor were raised on Poplar Farm, the Culbert homestead, at Lot 19, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line) near Lucan, Ontario.

The six Culbert brothers are the great-grandsons of John Culbert and Mary Ward who settled on the property in 1840 from Ireland.

To read biographies about four of the six boys, click on their names, as  follows:

Clifford Burton Culbert (1912-1991).

Kenneth Arthur Culbert (1916-2000).

Ivan Hector Culbert (1918-1979).

Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert (1920-1958).

Merton Manford Culbert (1926-1998). No biography yet but a story about him is here.

William Earl Culbert (1929-1994). No biography yet.

FAMILY TREE FOR THE SIX SONS OF MYRON AND EFFIE CULBERT:

Ancestors:

John Culbert & Mary Ward (great-grandparents)

Richard Culbert & Jane Eleanor Fairhall (grandparents)

Myron Manford Culbert & Effie Pearl Taylor (parents).

Molasses Mischief

Today's Poplar Farm story comes to us from Terrence Patrick "Terry" Culbert who grew up in Lucan, Ontario, Canada. Terry, son of Mel Culbert and Mary Patrick, is the great-great-grandson of John Culbert and Mary Ward.

Terry with his father, Mel Culbert at Poplar Farm, 1944.

This story concerns the six sons of Myron Manford Culbert and Effie Pearl Taylor at Poplar Farm on the Coursey Road near Lucan.

Five of the six sons of Myron Manford Culbert and Effie Pearl Taylor, circa 1927. Left to right: Mel, Ken, Cliff, Ivan, and baby Mert. Missing is their brother, Earl who wasn't born until 1929.

Take it away, Terry!...

It was told to me many years ago that our wee father [Mel] and his five brothers [Cliff, Ken, Ivan, Mert and Earl] would raid Effie Pearl's pantry just off the kitchen and steal soda biscuits whenever they were made aware that a new barrel of molasses had been delivered to Myron and Effie's barn.

The barn at Poplar Farm. Photo from the collection of Hulda May (Culbert) Carscallen, courtesy of her granddaughter, Wendy (Gowland) Boole.

 

Now Myron and Effie, parents of those six naughty boys, had a herd of dairy cattle and a few pigs. The molasses was used primarily for the iron within, to be mixed with the cattle feed. The six brothers knew that the rich, fantastic taste from the new barrel was to be had as soon as the lid was removed. As days passed and scoops were inserted into the barrel, cow dung would get into that glorious liquid, and by all accounts would probably taste like shite and give them all the "green apple scoots."

My father introduced me to molasses as a very young child and as I
approach the ripe young age of 80, I still absolutely love it. In our
Prince Edward County pantry this very day, Barb and I have a 675g
container of Crosby's Fancy Molasses, no preservatives, gluten-free from St. John, New Brunswick.

Happy New Year from Poplar Farm

Let's travel back to New Year 1928 on Poplar Farm. Join the family of Myron and Effie Culbert at Poplar Farm, the Culbert homestead near Lucan, Ontario, Canada....

Left to right: Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert; Ivan Hector Culbert; mother Effie Pearl (Taylor) Culbert holding Merton Manford Culbert; Kenneth Arthur Culbert; and Clifford Burton Culbert. Father Myron Manford Culbert is missing from the photo and is probably behind the camera. Their sixth and youngest son, William Earl Culbert was born the next year.

Same photo as above from a distance. Poplar Farm was located on Lot 19, Concession 2 (the Coursey Line) in Biddulph Township between McGillivray Drive & Mooresville Drive (closer to McGillivray Drive). Although the house is no longer in the Culbert family, it still stands today (minus the front veranda) and now uses the address 34851 Coursey Line, Lucan. This house was built by Richard Culbert, son of John Culbert and Mary Ward. The first house on the property was a log cabin built by John Culbert when he settled on the land in 1840 after leaving Ireland with his wife, Mary Ward and their children.

Happy New Year!