374 Morganston Road, Morganston
(1875)
Roll No. 1411-011-040-05300-0000 – Cramahe Township Ontario
Gothic Revival Cottage
The Gothic Revival Cottage situated at 374 Highway 30 in the hamlet of Morganston, is a classic example of this architectural style. It is three bay, clad in the ubiquitous red brick of the era and the area. It has prominent hood molds (or dripstone) on all the windows, and the molds, the front door, and the corner quoins have been painted white making them even more of a feature. There is a Palladian window over the front door and the door itself has both sidelights and a transom window. The tall slim windows might have been multi paned in earlier times but they have been replaced. That style and shape of window is reminiscent of Italianate design.
The trappings of modern times can be seen in the metal roof and high efficiency furnace pipe.
There is an old barn board outbuilding on the property which speaks to its age.
This property stands out in its rural Ontario setting.
History or Associative Value
After a series of non resident owners, Foster Erastus Vanblaricom was deeded this property in 1868 when his father David died. Foster was a farmer and he and wife Rosanna had 10 children. It is worth a look at the genealogy section of this profile to see the unique names given these children. For example Anselom and Alciberis. Rosanna was a distant relative of Canada’s famous Laura Secord (great- granddaughter of Laura’s husband’s first cousin) The house was probably built between 1868 and 1884
Additional Historical and Genealogical Information
374 Highway 27, Morganston, Ontario Cramahe Township, Concession 9, Lot 13
The entire 200 acres of Concession 9, Lot 13 was granted to Guisbert Sharp (1741-1819) of Ernesttown in Lennox County on 25 January 1806. Five years later Sharp sold the property to Henry Lasher (1788-1843), also of Ernesttown. On Henry’s death on 31 March 1843, the property passed to his eldest daughter Cynthia Eliza (1812-1871), who since 1837 had been married to Thomas Briggs (1812-?) of Kingston. Thomas and Cynthia sold it on 3 January 1856 to David Vanblaricom (1802-1868) of Sophiasburg in Prince Edward County. As far as can be determined none of these people was ever resident in Cramahe Township.
When David Vanblaricom died in Prince Edward County on 1 March 1868, the southern 100 acres of Concession 9, Lot 13 passed to his son Foster Erastus Vanblaricom (1833-1882). The younger Vanblaricom was the first owner of the property to have resided in Cramahe Township, where he first appeared in the 1861 census. Since this was the only property he ever owned in the Township, he probably lived there.
Foster Vanblaricom was a farmer. He married Rosannah Secord (1832-1876) in 1855. They had 10 rather interestingly named children: Anselom (1856-?), Almon Benjamin (1857-1935), Rowena (1858-1935), Abigail (1959-1861), Alciberis (1860-1945), Amay Mabel (1865-?), Ford Sheridan (1867-?), Arthur (1869-?), Cora (1871-?), and Obe (1874-?). Rosannah’s maiden name is famous in Canadian history, but she was only distantly connected to Laura Secord. She was the great-granddaughter of Laura’s husband’s first cousin.
The Foster Vanblaricom family owned and probably lived on the property for 17 years, selling it on 1 January 1884 to Thomas O’Grady (1850-1927). O’Grady was another Cramahe Township farmer, though until at least 1881 he had resided in Asphodel, Peterborough County. He was married to Mary Winifred Clune (1858-?). There were at least five children: Mary Anne (1887-?) John Leo (1888-1928), Joseph Francis (1890-1942), Ellen Irene (1892-1919), and Philip Bernard (1897-1950).
On 19 October 1921 ownership passed to the youngest son, Philip, also a farmer. Philip was the only one of Thomas’s children who had neither died nor moved away by that time. He would eventually marry Mary Irene Pollack (1906-?), but he was unmarried when he acquired the property under discussion.
The house at 374 Highway 27 was probably built by Foster Vanblaricom between 1868 and 1884, or perhaps a bit earlier because he is known to have been resident in the Township by 1861, possibly farming the property owned by his father.
Castleton, ON K0K 1M0, Canada