Six Generations of Ancestors in Southern Ontario — Cemetery Tour

Seppala-Danby-Bailey-Culley-Hamilton-Evans-Brack-Wanless-Ricaby-Moscrip-Tribe-Bennett Families

On Canadian Thanksgiving weekend 2025, my husband and I went from Sarnia to North York/Toronto over two days, to ten cemeteries to find his ancestors’ headstones. The weather was beautiful for October, so we were lucky, because some of the headstones we were looking for were difficult to find. One we never found, and will have to contact the city for more information. One of the cemeteries was on his maternal side, so I did not include that here. This article is for his paternal family to visit their ancestors at these cemeteries, and any reader who is also related to these ancestors across Southern Ontario. Or you can enjoy the attached photos if you cannot go in person. Amazingly, my husband’s family can see some of their 5^th great-grandparents’ headstones and burial places. Branches of their family have been in Ontario for generations. We started in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, where his Finnish grandparents are buried, and ended in Maple, Ontario (part of North York), where his 4^th great-grandparents are buried.

Heikki “Henry” Nikolai Seppala & Aino Lydia Korpela

Henry was born on August 4, 1897 to Heikki “Henry” Juhonpoika Seppälä e Korpi and Maria Hedvig Konstantiinintytär e Riitala, in Alavus, Länsi-Suomi, Finland, and died on December 5, 1976, in Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada. He immigrated to Canada on the SS Regina and arrived to Quebec on May 10, 1923.[1]

Henry married Aino Lydia Korpela on October 30, 1928 in Ford City, Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada.[2]

Aino was born on February 3, 1907 to Matti Korpela and Pida “Ida” Aleksintytär Kräkila in Toholampi, Lansi-Suomi, Finland and died on February 23, 1991 in Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada. Aino immigrated to Canada on the John Good & Sons Steamship and arrived in Quebec on September 3, 1927.[3]

Section K Plot 187 Lot M pt W1/2
Lakeview Cemetery
Sarnia, ON

Margaret Isabella “Maggie” Bailey Landon

Maggie was born on March 26, 1852 to Elijah Bailey and Elizabeth Kennedy in Georgetown, Halton, Ontario, Canada and died on February 17, 1918 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. She married James Landon on March 29, 1872, in Fort Gratiot Township, St. Clair, Michigan, USA.

At 58 years old, with her expertise as a nurse, she acted as Laura Edith Pearl Culley Bailey’s midwife in the birth of Laura Marguerite ‘Mar’ Bailey. When Mar was very ill at 2 years old, Maggie moved in with her great-grand nephew’s family and nursed Mar back to health.[4] We visited her gravesite to honour her memory and thank her for ensuring Mar was born and survived for her descendants to exist.

Section I Plot 211 Lot NE 1/4
Lakeview Cemetery
Sarnia, ON

Hugh Arthur Danby & Laura Marguerite ‘Mar’ Bailey

Hughwas born onSeptember 1, 1906 in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada to Albert Arthur Danby and Clara Elizabeth Hillier. Mar was born on January 6, 1910 in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada to William John “Bill” Bailey and Laura Edith Pearl Culley. As previously mentioned, her great-aunt Maggie helped at her birth.

Hugh and Mar were married on August 31, 1929 at St. Paul’s Church in Sarnia. Thelma Landon was Mar’s maid of honour, and Fred Bailey was the best man. After the wedding, Mar and Hugh rented an apartment above the old Phippen Furniture Store at the corner of Victoria and Lochiel Streets in Sarnia. Hugh would clean and maintain the building.[5]

Hugh was a first-class stationary engineer for Imperial Oil Ltd. During the summers, Hugh and Mar rented a cottage from the Wellingtons near Blackwell Rd. and Telfer Sideroad.

Mar’s best friend, who got her through the loss of two children and was always around, was her sister Doris “Jo”, and Jo’s husband Stewie Phillips.

Unfortunately, Hugh suffered from arteriosclerosis or Alzheimer’s from 1970 until he died on June 25, 1986 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.[8] Mar died on December 4, 2004 in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

Section K Plot 258 Lot 12
Lakeview Cemetery
Sarnia

William John “Bill” Bailey & Laura “Edith Pearl” Culley

Bill was born on March 6, 1881 to Elijah Bailey and Amelia Evelyn Moscript in Bosanquet Township, Lambton East, Ontario, Canada. Laura was born to Edward Stephen Culley & Mary Ann “Polly” Hamilton on April 15, 1890 in Jericho, Lambton, Ontario, Canada.

Bill and Laura got married on June 12, 1907 in Point Edward, Lambton, Ontario, Canada. They had 12 kids together.

Bill’s hobby was singing. Bill and his father were part of a singing quartet that would perform at the Orange Hall in Jericho. John Henderson would duet with Bill. They would sing at church and lodge functions. Bill was a building contractor, and for the last two years before retirement, he operated an auto repair shop in a garage at his son’s house on Russell St. As part of his love of building, Bill also built farm silos, Mar Danby (Bailey) said he “built nearly every silo between Sarnia and Strathroy”.[10]

He built a house on Lot 2, Concession 7 of Jura. (Present day (1999) 7780 Jericho Rd. East side, just south of Petticoat Line, Bosanquet. If you look at Google Earth, a farmhouse still stands there.

Bill died at St. Joseph’s Hospital on December 9, 1964, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.[11] Laura died on October 5, 1962 in Sarnia, Lambton, Ontario, Canada.

Blackwell Cemetery
1830 Blackwell Road
Blackwell, Lambton County, Ontario Canada

Edward Stephen Culley & Mary Ann “Polly” Hamilton

Edward was born to Robert Stephen Culley & Harriet Sarah Bennett on September 22, 1860, on his parents’ farm in Jura, Bosanquet Township, Lambton County, Ontario.

He worked as a Section Foreman on the Grand Trunk Railroad (just like his dad) for 33 years.

Edward married Mary Ann Hamilton on December 6, 1880 at the Thedford Baptist Church in Thedford, Ontario. Mary Ann was born to Parley John Hamilton and Charlotte “Sharlotta” Evans on September 1, 1864 in either Ontario or the U.S. (Documents throughout her lifetime say both).

Edward died from a stomach ulcer and “chronic myocarditis” on June 16, 1937 in Forest, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada.[12] Upon Edward’s death, Mary Ann moved in with her daughter Mary Maud Yeates at 141 Proctor St., Sarnia, Ontario for the last year of her life. Her death was caused by hypertension, cerebral hemorrhage, and overall senility on November 11, 1945 in Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada.[13]

Beechwood Cemetery
43 Beechwood Avenue
Forest, ON

Robert Stephen Culley & Harriet Sarah Bennett

Robert was born to William Culley and Ann Ariss on January 27, 1832 in Twyford, Aylesbury Vale District, Buckinghamshire, England. Harriet was born to Henry Bennett and Mary Tombs on August 27, 1831 in Charndon, Aylesbury Vale District, Buckinghamshire, England.

Robert and Harriet were married on September 3, 1849 in Twyford, Buckinghamshire, England. They had at least five children.

“Robert moved from Twyford, Buckinghamshire, England to Canada with his wife Harriet in 1851 and lived in Toronto for five and a half years.  After that, he moved with his wife to Jura, Bosanquet Township in Lambton County. There they raised their family and remained in Bosanquet township until they moved to Forest on Clyde Street in 1895. Robert and Harriet were married for 66 years.

Robert was appointed County Constable soon after arriving in Lambton County. He was also the section foreman, in charge of the work of the first railroad to pass through the area in the 1870s. In Forest, he delivered mail from the station to the Post Office.  The Grand Trunk Railway arrived in 1859.[14] The railway station was what initiated the creation of the town of Forest in the first place. It was vital to the town and the surrounding area. In his later years, he spent his leisure hours in reading scriptural literature.

A family story says that Harriet was from an upper-class family and her parents did not approve of her marrying a butcher’s son.”[15] If Harriet’s father was Henry Bennett, he was an agricultural labourer. Was their class difference a family rumour?

In 1911, 79-year-old Robert and Harriet lived with their 16-year-old grandson Clarence (whose son is he?). His son Robert ran a hotel/livery at the time, so the senior couple, and an 84-year-old woman named Sarah King may have lived in Robert’s hotel.

Robert died on February 14, 1917 in Forest, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. Robert’s funeral took place at the family residence on Clyde Street in Forest. The pallbearers were six of his grandsons.  At the time of his death, he had 51 grandchildren and 52 great-grandchildren.

Harriet died on December 7, 1917 in Forest, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada.

Beechwood Cemetery
43 Beechwood Avenue
Forest, ON

Elijah Bailey and Amelia Evelyn Moscript

Elijah was born on January 21, 1859 to Elijah Bailey and Elizabeth Kennedy in Bosanquet, Ontario, Canada and died on April 2, 1937 in Jericho, Bosanquet, Ontario, Canada. Amelia was born on September 14, 1862 to John Andrew Moscript and Lucinda Miller Shaw in Bosanquet, Ontario, Canada and died on September 13, 1948 in Weston, York, Ontario, Canada.

Elijah and Amelia were married on March 10, 1880 in Bosanquet Township, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. They had 10 children together.

Between 1881 and 1904, Elijah went back and forth to Chapleau, Ontario, Canada, until he left his job as a brakeman/conductor for the Canadian Pacific Railway due to his asthma and moved back to Bosanquet.

Elijah was a member of the Cassia Masonic Lodge in Thedford, ON. He loved curling and was part of the Chapleau Curling Club. A neighbourhood boy, Jack McDonald, remembered Elijah as being a very stern man who would stomp his cane on the floor.[16]

Amelia ran the farm while Elijah was travelling back and forth to Chapleau. She grew fruit trees on the farm. After Elijah died, she sold the farm to the Murray family in 1943 who ran C. G. Murray & Sons on the property.[17]

Thedford Baptist Cemetery
8975 Arkona Rd
Thedford, ON N0M 2N0

This cemetery had headstones within the trees, some of which had been half-grown over, making them unreadable. We were unable to find their headstone on our Thanksgiving weekend journey.

Alexander Hamilton (not the famous one) & Aurelia (née unknown)

Alexander was born around 1800 in Tyrone, Ireland and died on August 30, 1876 in Lambton, Ontario, Canada. Alexander immigrated from Tyrone, Ireland to Canada before 1851 (he’s in the 1851 Canada Census).

Aurelia was born around 1808 in Vermont, U.S. and died on February 15, 1887 in Bosanquet Township, Lambton East, Ontario, Canada.[18] They had five children together.

Their son Parley and daughter-in-law didn’t stay in Canada, but the next generation after them came back. So, their son and daughter-in-law are buried in Michigan.

Alexander and Aurelia couldn’t write, but Aurelia could read, according to the 1871 Canada Census.

Arkona Cemetery
8628 Townsend Line
Arkona, Lambton County, Ontario N0M 1B0

Joseph Vereker Evans & Charlotte Tribe

Joseph was born around 1798 to William Jones Evans and Jane Vereker in Ireland. Joseph emigrated from Ireland to Canada in 1832 and was granted land on the eastern half of Lot 8 Concession 6 in Medonte Township, Ontario.

Charlotte was born sometime before her baptism on January 9, 1803 to Henry Tribe and Charlotte Tickner/Tichnor in Lurgashall, Sussex, England.

Joseph and Charlotte married upon her arrival in Waterloo with her parents and some siblings. The Tribe family immigrated to Ontario from England as part of the Petworth Emigration scheme.[19] Although Joseph had a land parcel, he and Charlotte couldn’t move there until what was likely a cholera outbreak in the area had dispersed. Her father, Henry Tribe, died in the winter of 1832-33 in Dumfries, Ontario. They had 7 children together.

Although Joseph and Charlotte’s daughter Charlotte and her husband Parley (that you are related to) did not stay in Canada, their daughter’s in-laws were also buried in Ontario (see Alexander Hamilton & Aurelia (née unknown). The family immigrated to the U.S. for a generation and then came back.

Joseph died on April 2, 1867 in Blenheim Twp., Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada. Charlotte died on April 2, 1867 in Blenheim Twp., Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada.

Washington Cemetery (inactive cemetery)
927196 Oxford Road 8, Blandford-Blenheim Township

When you drive to this cemetery, park on the side of the road when Google Maps says you’ve reached your destination. Find the mowed grass embankment up the hill on the right-hand side when looking at the tombstones on the hill from the road. That is the only safe way to get into the cemetery. This mowed hill section saves you from a steep ditch and high grass.

Unfortunately, the part of the tombstone that mentioned Charlotte has been broken and is likely underground.

Thomas Hall Moscrip & Agnes Moscropt Moscrip

Thomas was born on December 11, 1786 in Oxnam, Roxburgh, Scotland and died on January 1, 1840 in Cambridge/Galt, Ontario, Canada. Agnes was born on May 8, 1785 to John Moscropt and Christine Common in Morebattle, Scottish Borders, Scotland and died on August 13, 1867 in Galt, Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada. They had 8 children together.

Mount View Cemetery
80 Blenheim Rd.
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

This headstone was incredibly difficult to find. The information on Find a Grave (it said Section A)  was incorrect, and we searched for an hour throughout this large cemetery. There were three possible Section A’s, but Mike found details on someone’s photo that said 30-34, which was at the southern end of the cemetery map. We’ve attempted to put a marker on the photo below so that future visitors can find it. Find this white house with the grey roof to the right. It will be a helpful marker too. We searched this cemetery for over an hour. It was a beautiful day, so it wasn’t horrible. It’s also a hilly cemetery, so we got our exercise!

Thomas Bailey & Margaret Ann Ricaby

Thomas was born on October 1, 1782 to Thomas Bailey and Elizabeth “Betty” Brough in Lastingham, Yorkshire, England. He was a tailor in England. Margaret Ann, usually documented as Ann, was born on May 30, 1787 to William Ricaby and Dinah Foord in Lastingham, Yorkshire, England.

Thomas and Margaret Ann were married on February 9, 1807 in Lastingham, York, England. They had five sons. All five sons were born in England. They immigrated to Canada sometime after 1827 (when Thomas Jr was born in England).

Thomas died on October 20, 1874 in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. Margaret Ann died on September 27, 1859 likely in Georgetown, Halton, Ontario, Canada.

Section A, Plot A9/10
Greenwood Cemetery
100 King St, Georgetown, ON L7G 2G8
(905) 873-2601
Open 8am-dusk

John Brack & Jane Wanless

John was born around 1786 in Scotland.

Jane (sometimes Jean on documents) was born on February 12, 1792 to George Wanless and Janet Douglas in Mertoun, Berwickshire, Scotland.

They married on September 13, 1818 in Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland. John was a servant or “hind”, also described as a farmhand or skilled farm worker.[20]  They had nine children together.

They immigrated to Canada before 1851 (they are in the 1851 Canada Census).

John died in 1861 in York, Ontario, Canada. Jane died on April 21, 1875 in York, Ontario, Canada.

Maple United Cemetery
2000 Major MacKenzie Dr W, Maple, ON L6A 0A9
(905) 832-8577 ext. 6315

This photo will help you get your bearings in Maple United Cemetery to find the headstone if you compare the townhouses in the background to the photo.

Maple United Cemetery is north of Highway 407 in North York, Ontario. It was near a Walmart and Winners, so we went shopping before our final journey home from Toronto. It was a long weekend of cemetery tours, but the photos we took are beautiful. We hope that our photos and map pointers in this article can help future visitors find the headstones quickly. At least faster than we were able to find some of these stones. What took us hours will hopefully only take you minutes. Descendants of these Ontario pioneers, farmers, railway workers, and hard-working people can take this tour for themselves and reflect on just how long their family has been in Ontario.

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[1] Library and Archives Canada; Form 30A Ocean Arrivals (Individual Manifests), 1919-1924; Rolls: T-14939 – T-15248.

[2] Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928; Reel: 862.

[3] Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, ON, Canada; Passenger Lists, 1865-1935; Series: RG 76-C; Roll: T-14737.

[4] Ellwood S. Phillips, Bailey Family Genealogy (self-published , 1995?), pg. 9.

[5] Ibid, pg. 26.

[6] Ibid, pg. 27.

[7] Ibid, unnumbered front pages.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Photo from Ellwood Phillips. 

[10] Ibid, pgs. 20-21.

[11] The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario, Canada), Thursday, December 10, 1964, pg. 8.

[12] Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1952 for Edward Stephen Culley, Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Deaths, 1937; Series: 589.

[13] Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Deaths, 1945, #006456

[14] Lewis McGregor, “Forest Roots in Warwick (A Personal Tour)”, Lambton County Museums, accessed online August 10, 2025, https://www.lambtonmuseums.ca/en/lambton-county-archives/forest-roots-in-warwick-a-personal-tour.aspx

[15] Daniel W. Hancock. “Robert Culley, Individual Record 1081”,Hancock and Olson Family History, accessed online August 10, 2025, http://www.hancockonline.net/Han/H-I-1081.html

[16] Bailey Family Genealogy, pg. 12.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Deaths, 1887; Series: 47

[19] Emigration: letters from Sussex emigrants who sailed from Portsmouth in April 1832 on board the ships Lord Melville and Eveline for Upper Canada: extracts from various writers on emigration to Canada, and from Canadian newspapers, with references to the letters: Capt. Hale’s instructions to emigrants: and a gazetteer of the places named in the letters (Petworth: John Phillips, 1833), pgs. 17, Supplement 1-2.

[20] Family Tree Researcher, Dictionary of Old Occupations, Accessed on August 17, 2025, online at https://www.familyresearcher.co.uk/glossary/Dictionary-of-Old-Occupations-jobs-beginning-H3.html

[21] John Brack and Jane Wanless 1818 marriage register, Old Parish Registers Marriages Parish #793, Kelso, pg. 422 of 444. Purchased via Scotland’s People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ on October 17, 2025.