Notes:

NOTE 1./ Cyrus and his wife Rebecca were buried in Woodland Cemetery in London, Ontario. Cyrus was a farmer and came to Westminister Township in 1819. He purchased 200 acres of Lot 19 in Con. 2 in 1835 which was originally patented to Ira Wooden from the Crown in 1825. His wife Rebecca was a cousin. Lot 19 was standing bush and Cyrus used the lumber to frame a 7-bedroom house, facing on Commissioners Road and a barn. In the clearing he grew grain and pastured his cattle. Commissioners Road had been built to facilitate east and west traffic through Westminister Township. The large house Cyrus built was frequently an over-night stop for travellers who received supper, sleeping accommodations, breafkast, and feed and water for their horses.

By 1854, the London and Port Stanley Railway was buying land for the right-of-way and two and a half acres of the west half of Lot 19 were sold to the railway company. Having done this, a problem arose, because Cyrus could no longer get to that part of his property beyond the right of way, so in 1879 he sold to his neighbor on Con. 2, Elliot Grieve, eleven acres from the part south of the tracks. He later recovered some of this acreage with purchases in 1880 of ten acres and an additional five acres in 1885, from William E. Grieve on the east side of the tracks. Cyrus was an innovative farmer. The windmill which was mounted on top of his barn drew water from the dug well a hundred feet away to the barn using a jerk-line. He also installed a geared shaft that operated the root-pulper, for animal feed. Cement that was needed for building or for repairs was mixed by windmill power, but the men had to haul the gravel from the Themes River at the Meadow Lily Bridge with a team and wagon. (Century Farms of Westminister Township by Marguerite E. Murray).
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NOTE 3./ 1851 CENSUS WESTMINSTER TOWNSHIP MIDDLESEX COUNTY, ONTARIO, CANADA
AS OF 11 JANUARY 1852; AGE IS NEXT BIRTHDAY

NAMES BORN RELIGION AGE Lived Con & Lot REMARKS

Cyrus W. Sumner Upper Canada Protestant 49 Con 1 Lot 19 Farmer
Rebecca Sumner USA Protestant 52
Ralph B. Sumner Upper Canada Protestant 15
Sarah M. Sumner Upper Canada Protestant 13
William C. Sumner Upper Canada Protestant 10


Birth:
Blenheim, (Oxford

Cyrus married Rebecca SUMNER on 16 Feb 1835 in Middlesex, Ontario. Rebecca (daughter of William Augustus SUMNER and Elizabeth BEARDSLEE) was born on 11 May 1799 in Bristol, Addison, Vermont; died on 28 Sep 1873 in Westminster Township, Middlesex County, Ontario; was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ralph married Mary Elizabeth ROOT on 26 Feb 1862 in Westminster, Of Middlesex, Ontario. Mary was born on 27 Oct 1843 in Middlesex, Ontario, Canada; died on 19 Oct 1893 in Middlesex, Ontario; was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ralph married Catharine COPELAND on 29 Aug 1894 in 307 Wolfe St., London, Ontario, Canada. Catharine (daughter of James COPELAND and Eliza MIHELL) was born on 28 Sep 1849 in Middlesex, Ontario, Canada; died in in Middlesex, Ontario; was buried in Woodland cemetery, London, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sarah married John W. LEE on 27 Sep 1859. John was born in 1837; died in 1907 in Middlesex, Ontario; was buried in Bostwick Cemetery in Middlesex Co., Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./ William Cyrus settled on the south half of Lot 16 on Con. 1 of Westminister. He and his first wife, Helen Scott made their first home in a log house at the south end of the property which faced on the 2nd Con. In 1880 a large brick house was built just to the east of the log house and by coincidence, the bricklayer for their new home, William Scott, was a relative of William's wife. In the late eighties numerous brick houses were being built, replacing the log houses. There had been an earlier dwelling at the north end of Lot 16, no longer in use, but the lane is still plainly visible as are the tall pine trees that sheltered it. The old house became an implement shed when it was moved adjacent to the barn at the south half of lot 16. Farming for William must have been difficult. As a schoolboy his right arm was severely injured and had to be amputated. In spite of his handicap, he milked cows and managed the mixed farming operation. He was a trustee of the Pond Mills Cheese factory where the milk from his herd and most of his neighbours was sent. He was also a member of St. Paul's Masonic Lodge, #107 in Lambeth. William died in 1895 leaving lot 16 to his son.
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William married Helen SCOTT on 02 Feb 1865. Helen was born in 1846 in Westminster, Middlesex, Ontario; died on 24 Dec 1896 in Westminster, Middlesex, Ontario; was buried in Pond Mills cemetery, London, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./ Cyrus Henry married Beatrice Scott Thomson in 1880. She was born in Scotland and came with her parents as an infant. The Thomson family lived on the south-east corner of Egerton Street and Commissioners Road, but when their daughter married, the parents moved to Sarnia, and Cyrus and Beatrice moved into the house built by Cyrus' father where their daughter and son were born. Transfers of parcels of land on both sides of Commissioners Road were implemented between Cyrus and his father, Ralph, who in 1895 moved to Egerton Street where he lived until his death in 1920. More land were change hands now when in 1902, Cyrus bought the east half of Lot 19 from Letitia Curtis for $2,295.00 the same lot that had been sold to Silas Curtis in 1835 for $1,100.00. A red brick house was built in 1914 on the homestead lot. The Delco system used at first was replaced when Hydro was installed in 1920 and a telephone service was also installed. The householder was required to purchase three shares of telephone company stock and not only supply the poles but haul them to the installation site before the service could be hooked up. For a number of years, into the 1920's four or five families of gypsies with their children and dogs would camp on the Sumner property. Following the Fall Fairs circuit, they would arrive in the late summer and their stay at Pleasant Hill Farm coincided with London's Western Fair where they told fortunes and predicted the life-expectancy of the person who paid to see them. From the time Cyrus's son Ralph Alexander was old enough to work on the farm, Cyrus or "Cicey" as he was known took to the road. With his steam engine he was up and down the Con. Roads threshing, silo-filling, grinding grain, woodcutting, and at times grading the roads. In 1922 the steam engine was exchanged for a Rumley oil-pull tractor and Cyrus continued doing the work he loved. The day finally came when Cyrus decided to retire. He sold his engine and the custom work to Joe Wilkins who was eager to carry on the business. Joe had barely begun his custom work when one day a belt slipped from the machine, and without turning off the engine, Joe attempted to replace the belt. The powerful maching wrenched Joe's arm from his body and he died as a result of the accident. Cyrus took back the machine, finished the waiting jobs and sold the machine to Joe's brother, Earl.
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NOTE 2./ 1911 Westminster, Middlesex East, Ontario census,

Sumner Cyrus H M Head M Dec 1862 48
Sumner Beatrice S F Wife M May 1866 45
Sumner Hellen T F Daughter S Oct 1891 19
Sumner Ralph A M Son S Oct 1894 16
Thompson Andrew M Father-in-law M Jul 1833 78
Thompson Hellen F Mother-in-law M Apr 1836 75
Walters Alexander M Servant S Aug 1897 13.

Cyrus married Beatrice Scott THOMPSON on 25 Jun 1890 in Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario. Beatrice (daughter of Andrew THOMPSON and Helen UNKNOWN) was born on 04 May 1865 in Hawick, , Borders, Scotland; died in 1958 in Westminster, Middlesex East, Ontario; was buried in Pond Mills cemetery, London, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Amelia married Henry Mihell Odell COPELAND on 18 Apr 1888. Henry was born in 1858 in Belmont, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sarah married Charles Robert SUMNER on 05 Nov 1900 in Westminster Township, Middlesex County, Ontario. Charles (son of George Johnson SUMNER and Mary NELSON) was born on 16 Jun 1865 in Oakville, Halton County, Ontario; died after 1911 in London City, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

NOTE 1./ 1911 Westminster, Middlesex, Ontario census,

Sumner Charles W. M Head M Jul 1870 40
Sumner Christena I. F Wife M Sep 1871 39
Sumner Edward G. M Son S Dec 1900 10
Sumner William M Son S Oct 1904 6
Sumner Hellen C. F Daughter S Apr 1907 4
Sumner Marietta F Daughter S Dec 1908 2

Charles married Christina Isabella NICHOL on 17 Jan 1900 in 374 Ridout St., London, Ontario. Christina (daughter of Thomas NICHOL and Christena CAMPBELL) was born in Sep 1871 in Westminster, Middlesex, Ontario; died in 1967 in London, Ontario, Canada; was buried in Pond Mills cemetery, London, Middlesex, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living WHITE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: ThomasJr Robert LIZMORE. ThomasJr (son of Thomas R LIZMORE and Jenny Ann WOOD) was born on 15 Sep 1911 in Middlesex County, Ontario; died on 22 Feb 1993 in London, Ontario; was buried on 25 Feb 1993 in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens, London, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living DOBBIE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]