The sign on the lawn of the home in Springville is dedicated to Harold and Bertha Cathcart, early residents of this area known as Springville on County Road 28. It is a memorial acknowledging these ancestors, whose discipline, foresight and hard work has resulted in four generations and 150 years of farming in this location on five farms dominating the hills of Springville. The sign sits tucked behind an elegant and substantial example of Ontario architecture that was built in 1878 which became part of the Cathcart stable of properties during the 1920’s. How was this farming legacy established?
Harold’s father, John Cathcart, arrived in Cavan township in 1862, when he purchased the first family farm on the 11th Concession of Cavan with wife Susan (Dundas). Together, John and Susan had a family of four girls, a son who died as a child and a son Harold, who married Bertha Armstrong and took possession of the original family farm in 1919. During the depression years, Harold and Bertha mustered the courage and the resources to purchase three more farms, including the farm pictured, purchased in 1928, where they raised their family of five – twins Donald and Dorothy, Mayme, Manson and Harley. Besides the original farm, they had acquired one on the 10th concession and 3 more on what is now County Road 28. At the time of his death in 1951, Harold left each of three sons a farm free of debt.
During the 1930’s, Harold began to raise and milk purebred Holsteins. Things were not always smooth – in 1931, the family replaced a barn destroyed by lighting with a modern dairy barn, which was subsequently destroyed by the 1985 tornado. Eventually the dairy business was embraced by son Donald, who together with son Neal developed a solid reputation raising purebred Holsteins on the original farm property west of Springville. One of the cows Donald raised earned the title of Grand Champion at the Royal Winter Fair in 1979 and 1983, while Neal topped his father’s achievement by raising a cow that earned top spot at the World Dairy Show in Madison, Wisconsin and was subsequently shipped to Japan!
While maintaining less intensive farm operations on their respective lands, growing crops with hired help, brothers Manson and Harley were also in the transport business for over 60 years. Manson founded Cathcart Freight Lines, which he operated with son Paul until its sale in 1989, and Harley founded Harley Transport which he effectively wound up in 2002.
Many of the Cathcart clan have been active in the community, serving in municipal government in addition to their business endeavours. Father Harold, son Donald and grandson Neal have served extensively as Councillors and Reeve in Cavan Township and more recently Cavan Monaghan. The family was also very active in the SpringvilleUnitedChurch, where Harley rang the church bell each Sunday for more than 50 years until it closed in 2012.
Harold and Bertha would likely be pleased to see that the risks they took during those difficult depression years are appreciated by their progeny, and have provided them with a comfortable and traditional lifestyle. It will be a challenge to continue this farming heritage in the modern economic climate, but thanks in part to the courage and discipline of their grandparents, the Cathcart family has the farm resources that keep this a possibility.
