Coulson Cairn
Location:
Hornby Road east of Trafalgar Road, Halton Hills.
Concession 8, Lot 8, Esquesing Township.
History:
The one hundred acres of the west half of Lot 2 Concession 8 in Esquesing Township was purchased in February 1878 by John Coulson for his son James. The large family lived in Scarborough Ontario and most of them remained there when James Coulson (1845-1900), his wife Joan Tingle (1846-1907) and their family of three children; John, Maggie and Lizzie moved to this farm.
Maggie (1873-1964) married James M Preston (1863-1920) and moved to Milton in 1918.
Lizzie married Thomas P Cunningham who died at the age of 33 on December 23 1901. He left his wife and one son. Lizzie became a school teacher and went West to teach, leaving her son James C (Jim) Cunningham with her sister Maggie.
John Coulson, a bachelor, inherited the farm from his father James in 1900. In 1918 James C Cunningham went to live and work on the farm with his uncle John Coulson. Jim married Myrtle B Featherstone and the family lived on the Coulson farm until the death of John Coulson in 1956 at the age of 85.
The will of John Coulson left 90 acres of the farm to Halton County on the condition that it be reforested and maintained. The remaining 10 acres with the house and barns were to be sold. Jim Cunningham challenged his uncle’s will, but the courts upheld it and the 10 acres were sold on November 30, 1959 for $25000 to James Snow.
The County has reforested the 90 acres and maintained it A manicured grassy area has been located on the Hornby Road upon which has been erected a cairn bearing a plaque to the memory of John Coulson.
Lois Knight
References:
Mr Jim by James Snow
Hornby Presbyterian Church Records
Land Title Records
Transcription purchase:
The transcription for this cemetery is not currently available for digital download from the OGS website.