Johnson's Mills Man celebrates 100 years

He may have recently celebrated a century of life, but for Arthur McCready it just doesn't seem like that many years have passed.

"I still can't believe that I'm 100 years old; the years do pass quickly," he said recently at his home in Johnson's Mills.

He made his entrance into this world in the city of New York, USA, on October 24, 1909, the second child of Charles and Marie McCready; just 18 months after Ruth, his only sibling.

"When I was just a child my teacher always told us that there was no such place as New York City, it was the city of New York. After all, you don't call it Moncton City or Montreal City do you?" he asked.

Charles McCready owned and operated a successful brass and copper company, which provided a comfortable living for his family until the end of World War I, when the production of war-related materials ceased.

Ruth and Arthur both attended private schools in New Jersey and both also had horses.

"Ruth especially loved horses. But my father told us we couldn't afford to have both the private school and the horses so he asked us both to choose.

"Ruth wouldn't give up her horses, so she went to public school but I chose to stay at the Wardlaw School in Plainfield, New Jersey," he said.

Charles McCready had obtained the 105-acre farm at Johnson's Mills through his business dealings and upon her request, had given it to Ruth and her new husband.

"Ruth thought she would be riding her horses around the place and going shopping, so it was a big surprise to her that it was a working farm that had to be tended and there wasn't the kind of shops she was used to, so after a year they went back home," McCready remembered, with a smile. "My father asked what would he do with the place now and I said, 'give it to me'.

"We had taken summer vacations on farms and I had always liked it and thought I would come here and be a farmer."

So at the tender age of 16, McCready left home and journeyed to far-off Johnson's Mills - and he's been there ever since.

"I was just a kid really, but my father said that if I worked the land until I was 21, he would sign the deed over to me; and he did," he added.

Not long after arriving in the area, McCready met Bertha McFadden, the daughter of one of his neighbours. The couple married in 1928 and went on to raise a family of five - Arthur Jr., Betty, Richard, Wallace and Patricia, who have since presented him with 12 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Bertha passed away in 2002 and McCready has continued to live in a cozy bungalow he had built beside the original farmhouse, where daughter Patricia Jones now lives.

McCready attributes his longevity to eating good food all of his life.

"We grew all of our own vegetables and raised our own pigs, chickens and dairy and beef cattle. We ate good food and we worked the farm; there wasn't a lot of time left to do other things," he says.

However, being mechanically-minded since he was a child, he did manage to find the time to build all sorts of toys for his children as well numerous pieces of furniture, and he always kept the mechanical equipment on his farm running smoothly.

"I always liked to read books; if I couldn't figure something out I would look it up in a book," he recalled.

This love of reading continues today, although he does admit that he should have a stronger pair of prescription glasses.

Although McCready spent much of his life on his farm in Johnson's Mills, one time many years ago he traveled to Labrador for one winter to work on the US Army air force base there.

During World War II, he obtained employment at the Canada Car Company in Amherst, which had been converted to an airplane parts plant and where he was soon promoted to acting engineer, carrying out duties in the engineering department.

"The pay wasn't that good back then; we got about 59 cents an hour," he recalled with a grin.

Back at home, McCready was active in his community and even worked behind the scenes for several provincial elections.

He admits he's had a good life and through the years only suffered a couple bouts of ill health.

"I've lived a good life. I know that I'm slower moving, and slower thinking now; but in my mind I don't feel any older than I did 50 years ago.

"Right now I'm content and happy to just be looking after my cat, Puddy Cat."

His mechanical mind marvels at all of the many changes in technology that have taken place in his lifetime, and unlike some others, realizes that there is still so much more to come that most of us cannot even begin to imagine right now.

"When I was a kid I was enthralled with the telegraph and telephone and I told one of my teachers that one day we would be able to see moving pictures transmitted through the air. He said that would be 'absolutely impossible'. But I never believed that anything was impossible; I guess that's why I always tried to make things work, and I have no regrets," he said.

McCready was recently honoured at a well-attended open house at St. Ed's Hall in Dorchester, where he also received congratulatory certificates from many levels of government, up to and including HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

"I'm honoured that they would take the time to send me these cards," he admitted.