Abram I Vansickle’s Farm

Sometimes, genealogy intersects with another favourite subject of mine: geography. For this post, I want to show the land where my fourth great grandfather Abram I Vansickle farmed.

First, some background. The Vansickles came to Canada from New Jersey in the years following the American Revolution. A good number of them settled in Ancaster Township in Wentworth County in what would eventually become the Province of Ontario. They called their new home “Jerseyville”, obviously named after their previous home.

In 1831, Abram I Vansickle purchased from the Crown Patentee Robert Hamilton the parcel Lot 15 Concession 3 in Ancaster Township.

In 1869, he sold one acre to the Baptist Church for a cemetery. This cemetery became the Vansickle Cemetery. His son Abram inherited the farm following Abram Sr’s death in 1878. Abram I Vansickle was buried in the Vansickle Cemetery.

Below is Google Maps modern day view of the location of Abram I Vansickle’s old farm just west of Jerseyville.

Source: Mrs. William K. Dunham, “Lot 15 Concession 3,” Ancaster’s Heritage: A History of Ancaster Township (n.p.: Ancaster Township Historical Society, 1973), page 260.