Dedicated to the Tennants and Grawbargers who settled the Ottawa Valley in the 1850's.

The Grawbargers sailed to New Amsterdam (New York) in 1710 or so on the "Elizabeth". Some of their family members (Andrew Grawbarger) migrated northward as loyalists to the British Crown in the late 1700s or early 1800s.

The Tennants sailed to Canada in June 1820 on the "Commerce" out of Greenock Scotland and Dublin Ireland . They originally settled in Lanark Township in Lanark County Ontario and subsequently spread throughout Canada and the USA.

Meeting up in the Wilberforce Township area (near Killaloe) in the 1850s the Tennants and Grawbargers became fast friends and intermarried quite extensively.

Moving northwest into the Petawawa area together in the 1870s they founded the "Tennant Settlement" on what is now part of the Petawawa Military Base. Being bought out by the Military in 1906 some moved into nearby Chalk River while others made the trek to the Restoule/Golden Valley area and others rode the rails to Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

Their story of hard toil and heavy burdens marked them as they set down roots and pioneered the Lanark area in the early 1800s. Finding strength in each other and through their fantastic familial relationships as their descendants married other pioneers, the Tennants and their extensive families spread out from Lanark to explore whole new homesteads and occupations.

Thomas Tennant and Ann Hill would be proud of the varied and broad legacy of their descendants. Their heart-wrenching decision to sail to a new world would in a few short decades after their death, ultimately be rewarded with their progeny weaving themselves into and becoming a part of the very essence of Canada.

Their never ending spirit lead their descendants to become explorers, clergy and pastors, shanty-men, hunters, trappers, doctors, farmers, scientists, administrators, lawyers, railroaders, soldiers, writers, educators, paramedics, morticians, elected officials, police officers, firefighters, sports enthusiasts and entrepreneurs of the day.


Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Cuthbert Connection & Rosehall Farm






The Cuthberts and Rosehall Farm

This next part of the blog focuses on the Cuthbert side of the Tennant/Grawbarger journey. While no Cuthberts ever married a Grawbarger (that I know of), Tennants and MacDonalds did as described elsewhere in this blog. Indeed there is also the case where two MacDonald Sisters (Laura and Margaret) married two Cuthbert brothers (Ira and Ken) from Rosehall Farm. Margaret or Maggie is my maternal grandmother and she married Ken Cuthbert while her sister Laura married Ira Cuthbert. Ken was known as the gardener at Rosehall while Ira was the true farmer.





The Grawbarger connection comes about where it is made clear that Maggie and Laura MacDonald's mother was Mary Grawbarger (married to Alfred MacDonald). Interestingly with regard to the Tennant/Grawbarger linkage, Mary Grawbarger's mother was Sarah Jane Tennant (1867-1941).



The photo on the right, taken at Rosehall Farm, shows Glenn Cuthbert (son of Maggie MacDonald), Winston Cuthbert, someone I don't know, Maria McLeod (Winston's grandmother), my mom's brother Tom Cuthbert and my aunt Ida MacDonald (married to Bill Shultz). I think the wee gaffer in front is Alec Agnew. If you can correct and/or identify any of these individuals please contact me or leave a comment.


Rosehall was owned and cared for by the Cuthberts from about 1877 up through to 2005 when Winston Cuthbert and his wife Cory Vermeer-Cuthbert sold Rosehall. Winston and Cory (a minister in the United Church of Canada) along with their children Rory and Thomasina had to part with Rosehall as they moved up to Espanola where Cory had received a call for her services as a minister. Not wanting to be far from a steward of the land, Winston bought a farm just outside Massey ON so that he could carry on with his labour of love as a farmer.






This photo to the left taken behind the milk house at Rosehall Farm shows the three Cuthbert brothers (sons of William and Maria) Ira, Ken and Lorne (married to Helen McDavid).






My wife Jeannie and I were very fortunate and blessed to be able to buy Rosehall (all 199 acres of it) and bring it back into the extended Cuthbert/MacDonald/Grawbarger/Tennant family in December of 2010. So sit down, sit back and relax as you go on a journey to Rosehall Farm.




The Cuthberts of Rosehall



Thomas Cuthbert & Margaret Downey 1877-1893
William Cuthbert & Maria McLeod 1893-1943
Ira Cuthbert & Laura MacDonald 1943-1973
Winston Cuthbert & Cory Vermeer 1973-2005



The Scottish beginnings of Rosehall Farm



Thomas Cuthbert (1819-1893) was born in Bathgate, Linlithgowshire Scotland and he married Margaret Ogilvie Downey on 16 August 1844 in Scotland. Their daughter was Isabella Arthur Cuthbert in honour of Tom's mother Isabella Arthur who died at the age of 26 (1800-1826). Tom's father was David Cuthbert who may have been a weaver from Bathgate Scotland (according to the 1841 Scottish census).


Tom and Margaret moved to the Glasgow area and in the 1851 census they are listed with their children Margaret (age 9) and Isabella (age 3) as living at 10 Duke Street Glasgow College.


In 1861 Tom and Margaret are listed in the English census and are living in the Cripplegate Ward of the City of London and they have Isabella, Thomas, George and another son (Arthur? age 6 months) living with them.




In the 1871 English census Tom (listed as a harness maker) and Margaret are living at 10 Adam Street in Portman Ward of the City of London. Their children that are living with them at this time are Isabella (age 23 a machinist, sewing machine?), Thomas (age 16), William (age 8) and a daughter Marion (age 5).



In 1872 the Cuthberts emigrated to Canada and initially moved to the Beachburg area for six years in Renfrew County. They subsequently ventured a wee bit northwest and homesteaded at Rosehall Farm Lot 4 and part Lot 3 Concession 9 of Wylie Township in Renfrew County. Today their farm has a municipal address of 244 Law Road Chalk River (in the Town of Laurentian Hills). The map below is from 1877 and shows William Cuthbert as the owner of 200 acres in Wylie Township.






The first home that Tom and Margaret built for which we have records was a log house constructed in 1879. William, their son, would have been 13 years old. As he became of age and married Annie Maria McLeod, William assumed the responsibility for the farm after his father Tom died in 1893. William's mother Margaret died on 28 July 1901 in Pembroke hospital of heart disease. Here is the clearest and best photo of William and Maria with their children and some neighbours and Margaret Downey in front of Rosehall in 1900.






This photo of the Cuthbert homestead is from 1907. That's William standing on the right and I think Maria in the centre. The road should have been way over to the left of this photo and that may be a summer kitchen or woodshed to the right and behind the house. I don't know who is who for the children around them.






In this 1934 photo William and Maria are posing at the back of the house. Notice the corner of the milk house just behind them to the right. The original log house has been covered over and an addition has been put on the front of it facing towards the road. A small porch is visible to the left of the rear of the house.





This 1908 photo shows the Cuthbert family posing out in front of their log home once again with 6 of their children. Bill is looking very distinguished with his fancy hat on with the children surrounding him and Maria. There is still lots of the "ivy" growing around and over the milk house at Rosehall today.



This 1910-1915 photo depicts Maria and William working on the farm. Never too far from his formal attire, Maria is holding Bill’s hat for him as he smokes the bees.







This photo of Maria and others behind the milk house was taken in the 1940s or 50s. You can see the bank barn off to the right and a couple of other drive shed type buildings on either side of the milk house.





This photo (to the left) of the ubiquitous ivy covered milk house has Marion Cuthbert and her husband Herb Gunning posing with some cousins (siblings?). The bank barn and another wee building are visible on the right hand side.






Here is the milk house (above) as photographed on July 31, 2011. The farm house with light blue siding can be seen off to the left.
This is the rear of the farm house in a photo (above) taken on July 31, 2011.
This photo (above) from October 2010 shows the east and south side of the bank barn with the modern hay barn off to the left.

Here is a photo (above) of the front of the farm house at Rosehall Farm taken in October 2010. The deck has been replaced with new flooring and lattice work is now up all around the deck. That's me and Kevin Hickey talking on the deck.


This is a photo of my wife Jeannie Tilson who is out standing in her field at Rosehall Farm.






Looking westward towards the buildings of Rosehall Farm on July 30, 2011.















Various images of Rosehall Farm taken July 30, 2011.





















This is a photo of me (Douglas Tennant) east of the bank barn at Rosehall in October 2010.

The photo below captures Dean Cuthbert and me when Dean came for a visit in June 2019.





Posted by at 1 comment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)