On July 21, 1818 John CRAM, his wife Isabella, and his three-year old daughter Mary
embarked on the Brig 'Curlew' at Greenock, Scotland, having left Comrie,
Perthshire in search of a better life in Lanark County, Upper Canada. After an
arduous journey, they arrived in the newly surveyed forest frontier of Beckwith
Township and eventually were granted land on Concession 10, lot 20W where
they realized that with hard work they could own land and be farmers with a
future. This was something they could never have hoped to achieve in the Scotland
of that time.
John soon got word back to his parents and siblings in the Comrie area. They
lost no time in sailing on the Brig 'Ben Lomond' in 1820 to follow John and
his family. The family patriarch Peter CRAM and his wife Janet were
accompanied by sons James, Duncan, and Peter who were each old enough
to qualify for land grants. Sons David and Daniel had not yet reached the
age to qualify for land. Daughters Janet and Margaret were soon married and living in
Beckwith. By 1840 Cram families owned seven different lots on Beckwith concessions 10, 11 and 12.
The lot you are standing on, Beckwith Lot 20 Concession 11, was originally deeded to James Cram on May 31, 1828 and later to his brother David Cram on February 21, 1840. The stone house you can see nearby was probably built for David Cram sometime around 1850. It was one of many in the area built by the Scottish stone masons who came to Ontario to work on the Rideau Canal.