Reycraft

(submitted by Barbara Kernohan)

John Reycraft (1834–) was born in County Cork, Ireland. He came to Canada at the age of 16. After marrying Mary Ann Swanton, they moved to the east half of Lot 25, Con. 3 SER, Warwick Twp. in 1864.

A squatter, one D. Edwards, was found on this farm. In order to remove the family from his farm, John built them a new shanty further down the road.

The children of John and Mary Ann were: Eliza (1860–), Mary Jane (1861–1918), Thomas (1862–1920), Richard (1863–), William (1865–1932), John (1866–1895), George (1867–1932), James (1868–1881), Sarah Ann (1869–) and Robert (1874–1919). Mary Ann died shortly after the birth of Robert. John Sr. then married Margaret (Chambers) Kerr and they had Rebecca Elizabeth (1875–1953), Swanton Charles (1881–1962) and Esther Susan (1884–1939)

The house on Lot 25 was built sometime in the 1870s, and is built of cement. Several teenage boys in the family plus the connection Margaret had with the owners of a gravel pit meant a deal on gravel and free labour, which equalled a cement house.

The farm was taken over by Swanton C. Reycraft who married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Moffatt. Their children were Gordon (1910–1979) and Muriel (1912–1969)

The house was divided to accommodate the generations. John and Margaret occupied the parlour and one downstairs bedroom. There was a separate entrance on the west side. It was plastered over after their deaths.

Swanton was involved in municipal politics most of his life, serving for many years on Warwick council and as Reeve before taking on the position of clerk from 1936 to 1958.

Swanton’s step-brother Robert farmed in the block west of the home farm and lived in a log house. His step-brother William lived in the block east in another cement house. Rebecca, Swanton’s sister, married Fred Westgate and resided in the Warwick and Watford area. His sister Susie moved to Windsor and worked there as a lady’s maid but returned home to keep house for her widowed brother William until she married Herman McNaughton.

Swanton’s son Gordon married Evelyn Gault in 1952. They had one daughter, Barbara Elizabeth, who married Paul Kernohan and lives in Plympton Twp. The farm was taken over by Gordon after his father’s death. He sold it to Brad and Patricia Thompson in 1977.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Reycraft Family

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