(submitted by Helen Ross)
Donald Ross (1800–1886) married Catherine McGregor (1811–1874) in 1829 in Ross Shire, Scotland. They came to Ontario in 1831 with their son David and settled first in Glengarry County, then Toronto, before they came to Warwick Twp.
Donald and his friend John Tanner walked much of the way from Toronto to Warwick Twp., when the Egremont Rd. was still full of stumps and fallen trees. Donald planted his first crop on the homestead of William Luckham.
The only neighbours then were Captain Burwell and John McLeay to the west and George Watson to the east at Wisbeach. There was a little log church in Adelaide and the Rosses walked there, some six miles away. Later the minister, Rev. W. Dees, rode his white horse Kate into Warwick every two weeks, which was closer for the Ross family. By 1870 Knox Presbyterian Church was open just a mile west of the Ross homestead and son John was the first elder.
By 1850 Donald moved to the west half of Lot 19, Con. 1 NER, where he and Catherine raised their eight children: David (1830–1923), John (1833–1905), Catherine (1835–1901), Margaret (1837–1909), Janet (1839–1926), Anne (1842–1895), Georgena (1844–), and Elizabeth (1848–).
Donald and Catherine’s first son, David Ross, married Mary Burwell in 1866 and moved to Watford. Mary was born in Warwick Village to pioneers William and Sarah Burwell, who ran a tavern and stage coach stop there. David and Mary Ross had no children. David operated a grain and dry goods business in Watford until 1873 and served on the town council. In 1876 he became the Watford postmaster and served for 35 years. He built a large brick house across from the Watford Presbyterian Church.
Two of Donald and Catherine Ross’s children, Anne and Janet, stayed to live in the original 1½ storey frame house on the east half of Lot 19. When Anne died at age 53, Janet moved to Leamington to be near family. Ben Williamson bought the property from the Donald Ross estate.
In 1882, Catherine and Donald’s second son John built a new large two storey brick house on the west ½ of Lot 19 (corner of Nauvoo Rd. and Egremont Rd.). The cost was $2,500. In total the house had 16 large windows, all with stone sills. A verandah ran across the front and side of the house and included two balconies from the second floor. The upstairs sitting room opened out onto one of the balconies.
John (1833–1905) married Anne Cameron (1846–1930). They had six children: John Milton (1869–1879), Leila (Lil) Anne (1872–1954), David Alexander (1875–1942), George William (1877–1955) who pioneered a greenhouse business in Leamington, Flora Jean (1879–1962), and Mary Margaret (Madge/Mame, 1883–1963).
In 1899 the family took in a two week old neighbour child, Alice McGregor, whose mother had died during childbirth. Although her father Archie always kept in touch, Alice remained in the Ross home and grew up there.
Four of John and Anne’s children, George (tenor), Lil (soprano), Flora Jean (alto), and David (bass), formed a quartet and sang at many local functions. Flora Jean married Robert Laws and lived on the 2nd Line SER. She taught piano and played the church organ.
John Ross kept bees and extracted honey. His family also made maple syrup on his property across the road and to the west on Egremont Rd.
When John Ross passed away in 1905, his son David, a school teacher in Adelaide Twp., took over the farm. He married Mary Elizabeth (Min) Aitken and they moved into a large frame house built for them on the same property. They had two children: Helen Cameron Ross (1910–) and Donald McGregor Ross (1911–1995). Helen taught in area schools and for 17 years at Watford Public School. She and her parents moved into the brick house in 1940 when her brother Donald was married. She still lives in the house at age 97. Donald married Myrta Watson and they had one child, Donald Bruce Ross, who now lives in Warwick Village. Donald and Myrta’s granddaughter Rosemary now lives in her grandfather’s house.
Helen Ross. Courtesy M Miner.
Chapter 24 of 25 - Ross, Donald
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