Morphy Family Burial Site

On Emily Street, Carleton Place, Ont.

Burials - 1819 to 1960

This is the Cairn placed on the property now owned by The Bell Telephone Company, which was the original burying site for the Morphy Family, first settlers of this area.

Edmond Morphy and His Family

In 1819 Edmond Morphy, his wife Barbara Miller and their eight children, the first residents on the site of Carleton Place, emigrated to Upper Canada from Ireland and settled here.  Their land grant, Lots 14 and 15, Concession 12, Beckwith Township, was divided east and west of present-day Bridge Street. Comprising 400 acres was officially deeded to Morphy and his three eldest sons, John, William and James in 1824.  By then a village, one of the earliest in the vicinity of the National Capital Region, had begun to develop at "Morphy's Falls".  Although the first Morphy house, a small log shanty stood on Allan Street, an acre of land was reserved for a family burying ground at this site.  Edmond, his wife and several descendants rested here until the 1960's, when their remains were re-interred.

Erected in 1982 by the Corporation of Carleton Place in appreciation of the efforts of Inez McCoy to have the historic site marked and in co-operation with Bell Canada.

Cairn honoring Morphy, will be a reality soon

By Dave Pascal, Canadian Reporter

     The Morphy's, who are considered the first settlers in Carleton Place, will soon have a monument erected in their honor.

     For several years now an organizing ADHOC Committee, which consisted of Mayor Melba Barker, Ormond Giles, the late Inez McCoy, Howard McNeely and Ted LeMaistre have been working on the project.

     Preparations are now being made to erect a Morphy Family Cairn on a portion of the property which now contains the Bell Canada Exchange building on Emily Street.

     The property on which the building now stands was once the Morphy's family burial ground.

     Curiosity about the burial site peaked about two years ago when Jean Morphy visited Carleton Place in hopes of gathering information concerning her family's old burial ground.

     Jean, who now resides in the State of Mississippi in the United States, was in Carleton Place recently and took part in a sod‑turning ceremony on the spot where the town plans to erect the cairn honoring her ancestors,

     Others who took part in the brief ceremony were Mayor Melba Barker and Deputy Reeve Brian Costello, himself a local history buff and the author of a book concerning the history of aviators from this com­munity.

     Records show the Morphy family were of Irish origin and arrived in Canada about 1819, settling in a military holding north of the Rideau River.

     The family then acquired land, which eventually surrounded a water power site on the Mississippi River.

     The land on which they first settled grew and became a village of tradesmen serving the farmers of the surrounding area. The settlement, during its early existence became known as Morphy’s Falls.

     In 1830 the settlement grew into a small community called Carlton Place with the spelling later corrected to the present Carleton Place with the “e” added.