The McCay’s of Nelson and Mount Nemo
Moses McCay was born on February 11, 1778 near New York City making him the first born North American McCay to his parents William and Phoebe. They immigrated from what legend has told us was Scotland though we do not have any immigration papers to prove so.
In 1801, Moses came to Canada at the age of 23. He purchased 200 acres of land at the intersection of Dundas Street and Guelph Line. The Northwest portion of land was later purchased by Mr. Ireland. This is the land where the Springer House currently sits (which was built in 1835). Moses then invested into another 200 acres situated between Kilbride and Carlisle – which he sold at a later date.
In 1806 Moses went to Ohio and returned with his wife Catherine Burdge who was 19 years of age at the time. Moses served in the war of 1812 and the Battle of Queenston Heights. He was a tanner by trade. He built and ran a tannery for several years in the Nelson area. His son followed onto the homestead and the tannery was closed as the farm work took up all their time. In old age, Moses went blind but was well versed in several Scottish poems and scripture from the bible and would recite them. He died on October 17, 1863 at the age of 85.
Fast forward several generations, and the McCays came back to the Burlington area after primarily taking up residence in Hamilton. James McCay married Emma Johnson (born in Portsmouth, England). James and Emma lived near the Queen Elizabeth Way and Appleby line. They had 4 sons: Louis, Lanson, Harold and Nelson. Here is a photo of James and Emma with their 4 sons (L-R: Lanson, Harold, Nelson and Louis).
Of those sons, only 1 had children. Harold McCay born July 17, 1897, purchased 50 acres of land at the corner of No. 2 Sideroad and Cedar Springs Road in 1923. Although it is blurry, here is a photo of the barn raising in 1924 on the McCay farm. Family stories have been passed down stating that the original farmhouse was half of a larger home housed on the Northern part of the property prior to Harold purchasing the land. If the stories are true, the other half of the home was moved across the road to the farm on the West side of Cedar Springs Road that stood there until the mid 1990’s. Harold married Gladys Vivian who grew up in the Springer House above mentioned on Dundas Street. The featured photo here is of Harold and Gladys on their wedding day in 1924. They made a home for themselves on the farm that was lived in by their decedents until 2008. A total of 4 generations of the McCay family lived in that home. They had 1 son named Gordon and 3 daughters: Myrtle, Joan and Sharon. The overhead photo shows the farm in the late 1930’s-early 1940’s with the original farmhouse, barn, and other outbuildings. Harold died in 1966 at the age of 68.
Later, their son Gordon would marry Shirley Coulson of Highville (her parents were Leonard Coulson and Audrey Richardson). The featured photo here shows Gordon and Shirley on their wedding day with their families (L-R: James McCay, Emma McCay (nee Johnson), Harold McCay, Gladys McCay (nee Vivian), Gordon McCay, Shirley McCay (nee Coulson), Leonard Coulon, Audrey Coulson (nee Richardson), Eleanor Coulson (nee Gunby) and Edwin Coulson. Gordon and Shirley built their family home on Harold McCay’s farm in 1954. The home’s foundation was in place when Hurricane Hazel came through and Shirley always told the story of how it filled up with water. They raised their 4 children there (2 sons and 2 daughters). Gordon was a cement mixer driver for J. Cooke Concrete as well as a farmer. He was well famed for his large heard of white Marchigiana cows. They also raised, chickens, pigs, ducks and a pony on the farm. Gordon passed away in 2002 at the age of 71. Shirley lived in the family home until she passed in 2014 at the age of 87. Several of Gordon and Shirley’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren still live in the Halton and Hamilton area.
Written by Samantha Twiss (samanthactwiss@hotmail.com)
Kilbride History Group 