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JIM
MCARTER WAS BORN IN 1863 on a farm in the Blythe-Seaforth district of
Ontario. He received his education at Seaforth high school where he was
very active in sports. The trade he followed was that of a mason, and
after his apprenticeship in Ontario he decided to follow the building
trade in Western Canada.
In 1890 he arrived in Portage la Prairie but two years later in 1892 he
came to the Hartney district. His trade as a bricklayer leaves many
monuments to his memory, in the various buildings he constructed. The
Town Hall and Hill Store are two of his outstanding contracts. Along
with several of the pioneers he laid out streets and planted many of
the trees that are much in evidence today.
Jim participated in many sports and was particularly active in the
first organized football leagues in the district. Following the
introduction of curling into this district and the formation of a club,
he became an expert and was always a member of Hartney’s “Big Four”
which won numerous trophies at bonspiels in Manitoba and other
provinces. He headed the local club for many years and later served as
one of its honorary presidents.
During the Great War her served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps
overseas, at Otterpool and Risboro camps, and later transferred to the
Canadian convalescent hospital at Epsom. It was here at Epsom he met
Winifred Mills, a member of the British Army Medical Corps and on May
22, 1919 they were married at St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, England. Jim
and Winifred returned to Canada and to Hartney in January of 1920,
taking up residence on River Avenue.
In the following years Jim pursued his trade and community activities.
Winifred was an active member of the Presbyterian Church and other
community organizations in Hartney.
Adapted from A Century of
Living, page 471.
A
Master Mason
James McArter’s work on various Hartney buildings, especially those in
brick, is a testament to his skill, and a reminder of the craftsmanship
that attended so many building projects of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Look closely at nearly any of Hartney’s brick buildings and
be reminded of the kinds of skills and attention to detail that defined
the work or so many of our builders.
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Details of the Hill Block, one of Jim McArter’s
projects.
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