Seeking Photos of Thomas Culbert (son of John Culbert and Mary Ward)

UPDATE: Scroll to near the end of this post for an update!

 If you read this previous post about Thomas Culbert (the son of John Culbert and Mary Ward) you’ll recognize this photo of him…

At least I thought this was a photo of Thomas Culbert. Something unexpected happened recently which caused me to ask, “Is this Thomas Culbert? Or is it someone else?”

The photo above was scanned and emailed to me several years ago by the late Captain Robert Milton “Bob” Culbert (1939-2019). Bob told me this was a photo of his great-grandfather, Thomas Culbert (1846-1930).

I’ve been corresponding with a woman who is the descendant of one of Lucan, Ontario’s leading businessmen. The woman's name and the names of her ancestors are withheld for privacy reasons. I’m interested in the history of the village so I asked her to email photos of her family to me, to which she kindly agreed.

This is a photo she sent to me of one of her relatives …

No, you’re not seeing double. Her relative looks exactly like our Thomas Culbert! In fact, it is the same photograph.

The man was a contemporary of Thomas Culbert. His name is withheld at the request of his living relative. He lived from c1856-1918 and was a businessman in Lucan, Ontario from a successful and wealthy, local family.

The photo is from the personal collection of this man’s living relative, and there is a name on the back, in her grandmother's handwriting. The name on the back is not that of Thomas Culbert.  

Can you help us solve this mystery? Is the man in the photograph Thomas Culbert, son of Biddulph Township pioneers, John Culbert and Mary Ward? Or is it a different man from the same area?

We have only one other image of Thomas Culbert. It was from a family group photo but it's a faded image, and it was taken during his youth. We need a clear photograph of Thomas in order to compare it to the image above.

If you have a photo of Thomas Culbert, please email it to me at this address:

UPDATE: Thank goodness for our eagle-eyed relatives! Jane (Gras) Heigis of Concord, New Hampshire read this Thomas Culbert blog post this morning, and sent me a photo of Thomas Culbert from the collection of her father, the late Alfred Edward Gras...

Thomas Culbert and wife, Letitia (Dempster) Culbert

Jane says, “There’s no date on this photo; nothing more than "Thomas and Letitia Culbert. I don't have any written info about Thomas except that he was a brother to Richard Culbert (son of John Culbert & Mary Ward). Anyway, I think this guy looks like your Thomas you sent out today - don't you??” 

Yes, Jane, I do think he looks like the Thomas Culbert in our “mystery photo,” albeit older. Thank you, Jane! What do the rest of you think?

Close-up of Thomas Culbert clipped from photo above, sent to us today by Jane (Gras) Heigis.

Effie Culbert's Buttermilk Jug

 In an earlier post, I asked readers of the Culbert Family History blog to submit photos of an item that has been passed down to them from a previous generation.

Phillip Myron “Phil” Culbert of Vernon, British Columbia sent these photos of his grandmother Culbert’s buttermilk jug.

Phil’s grandmother was Effie Pearl (Taylor) Culbert of Lucan, Ontario, Canada; the wife of Myron Manford Culbert, and mother of six boys including Phil’s father, Ivan Hector Culbert.

Phil's grandparents, Effie and Myron Culbert in their home on Alice Street (at the corner of the Saintsbury Line) in Lucan, Ontario. They moved there from Poplar Farm in their retirement years.

Here’s what Phil says about the jug:

Whenever we visited Grandpa and Grandma (Myron and Effie Culbert) in Lucan in the 1950’s, the first thing my Dad (Ivan) would do is open the refrigerator. Dad would pour a big glass of homemade buttermilk from Grandma’s special jug. 

When Grandpa Culbert passed away in 1961, this was the one item that my Dad wanted, as it was very special to him as a reminder of his mother. In later years, Dad gave the jug to me. I've had it for over 50 years now as I brought it with me when I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia from London, Ontario in 1971.

The jug looks like it was hand-painted as you can see the brush strokes. On the bottom, it has a stamp showing that it was made in Germany, and it shows the initials of the manufacturer.

There used to be a lid for it however it has since been lost to time.

Note from the blog author: If anyone else would like to submit a photo of an heirloom that's been passed down to them, please contact me at this email address:

Clara Smith and Morley Benson Dempsey

Clara (Smith) Dempsey. Photo courtesy of Ian Westell.

Clara Smith (1893-1979) the great-granddaughter of John Culbert and Mary Ward was born 128 years ago today. She was born 27 January 1893 in Bruce County, Ontario, Canada; in or around Kincardine.

Clara’s parents were Maria Matilda Dagg and Johnston Smith who had eight children. For details about the Maria Matilda Dagg-Johnston Smith family click here to read my previous post.

Clara Smith's parents, Johnston Smith & Maria Matilda Dagg. Courtesy of Melissa (Anderson) McGill.

My purpose in writing this blog post is:

1. To find the descendants of Clara Smith and her husband, Morley Benson Dempsey, with the hope that they can provide us with more details about Clara and her descendants.

2. To provide information to Clara & Morley’s descendants about their ancestors, if they’re not already aware of their descendancy from John Culbert & Mary Ward.

Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Clara and Morley but here’s what I can tell you:

Clara Smith was raised in Kincardine, Ontario. At some point, her parents, Johnston and Maria moved to Manitoba where they spent a few years before returning to Ontario.

Clara Smith married Morley Benson Dempsey in Winnipeg, Manitoba on 19 December 1917. Morley Dempsey, was a locomotive engineer with the Canadian National Railway (CNR). Morley Benson Dempsey was born June, 1878 in Biddulph Township, Middlesex County, Ontario to parents, Samuel Dempsey & Mary Jane Darrach.

In 1921, Clara and Morley were living in Saskatchewan, according to the Census for that year.

Clara Smith and Morley Benson Dempsey had the following three children:

1. Glen Dempsey. Glen was born 27 April 1919 in Manitoba. He married Bessie Empson (1923-2005). Glen Dempsey and Bessie Empson had four children. These children may still be living and therefore not named here for reasons of privacy. Glen Dempsey died 1 November 2004 in Ontario.

2. Alma Althea Dempsey. Alma was born in 1921. She married John Edward “Jack” Setchell in Regina, Saskatchewan on 2 June 1942. Alma and Jack had five children. Four of those children may still be living and therefore are not named here for reasons of privacy. However, one of Alma’s children, Sharon Rose (Setchell) Duern (born 1945) died in Hamilton, Ontario on 19 January 2018. Alma (Dempsey) Setchell died in 1984.

3. Edna Regina (Dempsey) McLaughlin. Edna was born 21 February 1923. I haven’t named Edna’s husband or child(ren) because they may still be living. Edna died 21 November 1994 and is buried with her mother, Clara (Smith) Dempsey in Woodland Cemetery, 700 Spring Road, Burlington, Ontario.

That’s about all I know about Clara Smith, her husband, Morley Benson Dempsey, and their three children: Glenn Dempsey, Alma (Dempsey) Setchell, and Edna (Dempsey) McLaughlin.

Clara’s husband, Morley Benson Dempsey died 20 November 1941 in London, Ontario and is buried in Preston Cemetery in Preston, Ontario. Clara (Smith) Dempsey died 31 December 1979, age 86. Clara is buried at Woodland Cemetery, 700 Spring Road, Burlington, Ontario in Section 10, Row 21 with her daughter, Edna Regina (Dempsey) McLaughlin.

Clara (Smith) Dempsey and her daughter, Edna Regina (Dempsey) McLaughlin are buried at the Burlington location of Woodland Cemetery, not the Hamilton location as it says on their Find a Grave record. (I verified this with the cemetery staff.) The cemetery is located behind the Royal Botanical Gardens. Photo by Nikole, Find a Grave ID#48366243, Find a Grave Memorial ID#199754013.

If you have more information about Clara (Smith) Dempsey and her family, please email me at the following address:

Note for Culbert family historians and genealogists: The grandchildren of Clara Smith & Morley Benson Dempsey are the 2xgreat-grandchildren of John Culbert & Mary Ward, and they’re also the 2xgreat-grandchildren of a couple named John Dempsey & Ellen Giffin. It just so happens that there’s another member of the Culbert-Ward family tree who shares these two sets of 2xgreat-grandparents; his name is Jerome Alexander “Jerry” Dempsey, the son of Harold Jacobs Dempsey and Elaine “Babe” Hodgins. Jerry Dempsey is descended from John Culbert’s daughter, Susan (Culbert) Crawley whereas Clara (Smith) Dempsey and her children and grandchildren are descended from John Culbert’s daughter, Eliza (Culbert) Dagg.  So, on Jerry's Culbert side of the family, Jerry is the 3rd cousin of Clara's children but on Jerry's Dempsey side of the family, Jerry is the 3rd cousin of Clara's grandchildren. And that is your brainteaser of the day. 

Jerry Dempsey and his mother, Elaine "Babe" Hodgins, c1956.

CLARA (SMITH) DEMPSEY’S FAMILY TREE:

Ancestors:

John Culbert & Mary Ward (great-grandparents)

Eliza Culbert & Richard Dagg (grandparents)

Maria Matilda Dagg & Johnston Smith (parents)

Descendants (Children):

Glen Dempsey

Alma Althea (Dempsey) Setchell

Edna Regina (Dempsey) McLaughlin