McRorie

(submitted by Florence Main and Bill McRorie)

Daniel (–1879) and Janet (–1877) McRorie bought the west ½ of Lot 6, Con. 1 SER from Janet’s nephew, Peter Stobie, in 1873. Daniel and Janet had originally settled in Lanark County. Daniel had been a stonemason and is reported to have worked on the building of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.

They moved into the log cabin that was on the property. Nine children were born to them, three in Scotland and the rest in Canada. Lot 6 had been granted to the Earl of Mountcashel from the crown in 1842 and consisted of 200 acres of land.

In 1879 Daniel sold the 100 acre farm to his son William. William McRorie (1843–1921) had married Helen J. McDiarmid (1848–1926) in Lanark. They had eight daughters and one son. In 1895 the original log house was replaced with a brick house, built by Robert McKenzie of Warwick Village, at a cost of $1,400. It stands in 2008 much as it was originally.

William always liked to be the first in the community to get new gadgets. He was one of the first owners of a car, a brass fronted Ford bought in 1916 for $495. He vowed “no machine would beat him”, but finally had to concede that it didn’t respond to his repeated “Whoas” and left the driving to others.

The McRorie house became the place of many neighbourhood gatherings. William bought the first piano in the area, and neighbours were invited in for recitals.

Wilbur McRorie (1873–1933), only son of William, bought the farm in 1921. Wilbur married Agnes Campbell (1989–1963). Wilbur and his family, daughters Florence Margaret and Helen Grace and son William C., were one of the first along Egremont Rd. to have a bathroom, acetylene lights, and even an acetylene iron. Wilbur was remembered for his great singing voice and often sang with the children on Sunday evenings.

William (Bill) McRorie, son of Wilbur, discontinued his education upon the death of his father and stayed home to operate the farm. He married Alma Kernohan (1916–2005) and they had six children. Bill established a herd of purebred Holstein cattle and developed a large milk producing business.

Bill continued to farm until 1964, when the farm was sold to Basil Steven. He was very involved with municipal politics and was elected to the Warwick Township Council and the Lambton County Council. In 1964 Bill started a long career in Lambton County offices.

Florence McRorie married John Main. She taught music in rural schools in Warwick and Plympton before she was married. They had two children, Beth and Philip. For this project Florence explained the lighting system in the McRorie house when she was growing up.

Our lighting system was operated by acetylene gas. There was a large tank in the ground near the barn into which a can of white carbide crystals was dumped, water added and the resulting gas went through small pipes into the house and barn. When the gas was turned on, a spark from a flint ignited it to produce a very good light. All went well till one evening when we had company and the lights got dim and dimmer and finally went out and the old reliable coal oil lamps were brought on. They were always kept ready and filled with oil and the glass shades polished. I remember newspaper, crumpled, was the best shiner for the glass.

Helen McRorie married Donald McRae. She was a public health nurse in Haliburton and Hastings Counties.

Chapter 24 of 25 - McRorie Family

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