Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Harvey Glen Whetham

Male 1917 - 1988  (70 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Harvey Glen Whetham 
    Born 14 Oct 1917  Beverly Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Business RR2, Galt, Waterloo Region, Ontario Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Harvey Whetham & Son - Dickieholme Farm 
    NorthDumfries-Business-HarveyWhethamandSon-001-MapleSugarLabel.jpg
    NorthDumfries-Business-HarveyWhethamandSon-001-MapleSugarLabel.jpg
    FindAGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182455982 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-416292 
    Died 20 Jul 1988  Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Buried Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Person ID I416292  Generations
    Last Modified 25 Apr 2024 

    Father Harvey Mulholland Whetham,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Mabel Jane Clement,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F242624  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Agnes Edith Trussler,   b. 11 Jun 1919, Biggar, , Saskatchewan, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 8 May 2010, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 90 years) 
    Children 
     1. Marlene Whetham
     2. Jerry Whetham
     3. Glen Whetham
     4. Dennis Whetham
     5. Doreen Whetham
     6. Brian Whetham
     7. Neil Whetham
     8. Brenda Whetham
     9. H. John "John" Whetham,   b. 1939,   d. 2004  (Age 65 years)
    Last Modified 26 Apr 2024 
    Family ID F269830  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • MAPLE SYRUP time on any farm is always one of the "sweetest" times of the year, especially for young farm folk who regard the job of collecting sap more as a lark than a chore. The four photographs shown here were taken on the farm of Harvey Whetham of Roseville where the syrup collection this year amounted to some 150 gallons. When one considers that it takes nearly 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup, one can visualize the amount of sap which was collected by Mr. Whetham and his two sons. John Whetham, 11. is shown driving the tractor and the little trailer used in the collection of the sap. Mr. Whetham and Jerry are shown pouring sap into the 30-gallon milk cans used as sap containers. Youngest member of the Whetham family, four-year-old Jerry, does his share in the sap collection also; dreaming probably of the hour when the sap finally becomes syrup. And in the other picture Mr. Whetham is seen adding fuel to the evaporator in which the sap is boiled and made into syrup. This years crop of syrup was slightly less than average, due mainly to the weather which was unfavorable.

      1957

      ___________

      By EARL WERSTINE 1967

      Like every other process that of making maple syrup has been modernized. The old cast iron kettles, for boiling down the sap, have been replaced by evaporators and the old sugar bush boiling house, a make-shift roof supported on four posts, with open sides, piles of firewood nearby to burn under the kettles, and the old custom of pouring the hot maple syrup on the snow to make delicious taffy, are today only memories.

      On Monday I visited the biggest maple syrup operation in the immediate Galt area on the farm of Harvey Whetham and Son on the Roseville Road opposite the Dickie Settlement school where the final boil was being made. The maple tree bush is along the highway with the sugar boiling building on the south side of the bush a short distance from the farm house. The Whethams this year had 1,000 buckets out to gather the sap of which it takes between 35 to 45 gallons to make a gallon of syrup. A gallon of the sweet liquid is taken off every hour.

      Asked as to this season's yield Mr. Wetham described it as "fair, even good." considering the alternating weather condi-tions and short season. With a day's boil the total production may reach 100 gallons He has taken off as much as 2001 gallons.


      The reduced yield can be attributed directly to the changeable weather. We generally start lapping the trees early in March but it was the 21st before we started this year and in three weeks we are through," Mr Whetham stated When questioned as to the price this year the Roseville Road farmer replied "we are getting $9 a gallon, the purchaser to provide his own container."

      That price is probably a record high and cannot only be due to the reduced harvest but to rising costs, including that for the extra labor required in gathering the sap and boiling it down, and the long hours that have to be put in when the sap is running While many of the old trees in the big maple bush had seen their day" and had to be cut down, they have been replaced by younger growth that seeded itself and these trees, so the maple syrup man said not only produce more sap but of a better grade.

      The old "Sap Shanty" is a "far cry" from the modern boiling house that the Whethams have, an entirely closed-in building, the covering of which is of corrugated steel which has been painted green to harmonize with the leaves of the trees.

      I was particularly interested in that evaporator over the long wood-fed fire box. The sap is syphoned into one section comprised of long corrugated pans where the first process in making maple syrup takes place and then as the juice is gradually reduced, water removed the liquid is pumped into four big pans running cross-wise where the liquid is brought down in that delicious syrup, which then is taken off and put in cans.

      _____________

      WHETHAM Harvey G.-At the Toronto General Hospital on Wednesday July 20th, 1988 in his 71st year. A member of the Waterloo Lodge #107 100F. Beloved husband of Agnes. Dear father of John and his wife Pat of Ridgetown, Marlene and her husband John Krebsz of Cambridge, Jerry and his wife Judy, of Hepburn, Saskatchewan, Glen and his wife Linda, Doreen Breen, Dennis and his wife April, Brenda and her husband Martin O'Toole, Brian and his wife Debbie and Neil and his wife Lynn all of Cambridge. Brother of Greta Nor- man and Clarence (Clayte) both of Cambridge. Predeceased by one brother and one sister. Loving grandfather of 27 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Friends will be received at the Coutts and Son Funeral Home, 96 St. Andrews Street Cambridge, Friday 2- 4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral and committal services in the funeral home chapel Saturday at 1:30 p.m., with Rev. Bill Bickford officiating. Interment Mount View Cemetery. Memorial donations to the charity of your choice would be gratefully appreciated by the family. A memorial service under the Auspices of the Waterloo Lodge #107 100F will be held at 7 p.m. Friday.

  • Sources 
    1. [S2697] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge, Mount View Cemetery Internet Link.
      WHETHAM/ Kevin Glen/ 1975-1994/ Father/ Harvey/ 1917-1988/ Mother/ Agnes/ 1919-2010/ H. John/ 1939-2004/ Angela/ 1973/ Amanda/ O'TOOLE/ 1979/ Gloria L./ 1959-1960/

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 14 Oct 1917 - Beverly Twp., Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBusiness - Harvey Whetham & Son - Dickieholme Farm - - RR2, Galt, Waterloo Region, Ontario Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 20 Jul 1988 - Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth