Interview #3
Name: Bernadette Organ
Sex: Female
Age: 67
Place and date of birth: St. Alban's, September 30, 1931
Education: Grade 9
Religion: Roman Catholic
Occupation: Housewife
Number of children: 13
Names of children and where they live:
Lloyd Organ (St. Alban's) Calvin Organ (St. Alban's)
Albert Organ (Toronto) Mary King (Milltown)
Marg Strawbridge (Harbour Breton) Maple Dicks (St. John's)
Rolanda Dechants (Alberta) Jennifer Lahey (Alberta)
Ada O'Brien (Toronto) Monique Hutton (Toronto)
Philomena Clark (Trinity Bay) Leveson Organ (Edmonton)
Lisa Organ (Ottawa)
Phone: 538-3430
Place of interview: St. Alban's (Bay View Drive)
Date of interview: January 11, 1999
Interviewers: Sheri Peters and Pam Organ
Interview #3
Name: Johnny Organ
Sex: Male
Age: 73
Place and date of birth: St. Alban's, August 4, 1925
Education: N/A
Religion: Roman Catholic
Occupation: Sawmill Operator
Number of children: 13
Names of children and where they live:
Lloyd Organ (St. Alban's) Calvin Organ (St. Alban's)
Albert Organ (Toronto) Mary King (Milltown)
Marg Strawbridge (Harbour Breton) Maple Dicks (St. John's)
Rolanda Dechants (Alberta) Jennifer Lahey (Alberta)
Ada O'Brien (Toronto) Monique Hutton (Toronto)
Philomena Clark (Trinity Bay) Leveson Organ (Edmonton)
Lisa Organ (Ottawa)
Phone: 538-3430
Place of interview: St. Alban's (Bay View Drive)
Date of interview: January 11, 1999
Interviewers: Sheri Peters and Pam Organ
Bernie was born in St. Alban's on September 30, 1931. Bernie's parents were Ida Benoit and Abraham Collier. Her mother was born in Hermitage and her father was born in St. Alban's. Her husband Johnny was also born in St. Alban's. His family were originally from Ireland. His parents were Bert and Frances Organ. Johnny's great-grandfather, John, sailed down from Ireland. His great-grandfather John was one of the first people to live in St. Joseph's Cove. Sam Organ, another family member, was the first person to live at Goat Cove. Ida, Bernie's mother, and Frances, Johnny's mother, passed away on the same day.
Bernie and Johnny were married 50 years ago on September 30, 1948. They had a house wedding at Dan Hoskins' house. They were married at 8:30 in the morning. After the ceremony, there was lots of dancing and food was served.
Some of Bernie's friends were Sue Collier, Mary Willcott, Carrie Willcott, and Ann Willcott. When they would visit Carrie's house, they would have to stay for rosary. For fun, they would play hopscotch, skipping rope, and cards such as 45's and 120's. Most of the time, they would have to cleave wood and pack it away. Bernie recalled babysitting for only 25 cents which was a lot back then. She recalled going to dances at St. Joseph's Cove by walking through foot paths. In the morning, she would have to go to church. She also recalled that her father used a horse and buggy to go to St. Joseph's Cove. She remembered it costed only 10 cents to go to a dance and only 5 cents for a bowl of soup.
The priest that was in St. Alban's at the time was Father St. Croix. Bernie remembered him being really strict. He was the priest that christened her husband Johnny. She mentioned a teacher named Gordon Perry which she felt was a good teacher. The first church was located where the fire hall is now. The new church was built by the people of St. Albans. The person in charge was Mr. Samuel Cox.
Bernie's husband, Johnny, recalled a store called the St. Alban's Trade (Co-Op) which was owned by Mr. Garland. This store was located where the Town Council Office is today. George Hoskins had a small convenience store where Owen Hoskins resides at this time. Another store was owned by Samuel Collier and was located where Snook's Foodland is today.
The first type of electricity introduced in St. Alban's were diesel generators located at Path End. After this, in 1965, Hydro came to Bay d'Espoir. Before the Diesel generators and Hydro, people would have to wash their clothes with scrub boards, use kerosene lanterns for light and pot belly stoves for heat and cooking. In order for the community to receive food, boats from outside the community would come in the harbour. People would have to walk out on the ice during the winter to get their food.
The doctor that Johnny remembered was Dr. Scott. They would have to travel by boat and go outside the community to visit the doctor. If the doctor was not available, they would use their own home remedies. They would put turpentine from a tree on the infected area while bandaging the area with cloth. They would also use bark from a tree to make a splint for a broken bone.
The post office had the first telephone which had to be cranked up. Before the telephone, they had telegrams to communicate and ships would use Morse Code to communicate with other ships. Bernie remembered having to walk from house to house to deliver messages before the telephone was introduced.
Johnny remembered that Thomas Walsh owned the first car in St. Alban's. It was a 1955 Chevy. Johnny could never forget a 1939 automobile that he owned. It had spooked rims, meg tires, bucket seats, two piece windshield, and, in the back, it had hen mesh on both sides. He also recalled that Mike Farrell and his brother operated sawmills located along the beaches where Cohen's is located today. Johnny also informed us that Voyce Cove was once known as Man of War Cove. It was known for this because the ships would pick up the men who were going to war. "You had to be 18 at the time but many young guys were under age but passed for 18," says Johnny.
Bernie's family had a few animals such as sheep and cows. She would shear the wool from the sheep. By using cards, she would rake the wool to get it ready for the spinning wheel. She would then use the wool to knit gernseys, underwear, and socks. Her family would make butter from the cow's milk. First, the milk was cooled, then the cream was skimmed and finally, the cream was churned into butter.
Bernie was mainly a housewife all her life but in her spare time, she was a midwife. She started on January 1, 1983 and retired in 1998. One of Rita Crant's children (Conne River) was the first child that Bernie helped deliver. She also recalled helping Glenda Quann from Conne River. Although she only delivered ten babies (five from Conne River and five from St. Alban's), she recalled having to give up special holidays during the time she served being a midwife. She still had her daily household chores to tend to such as cooking and tending to the children. The midwives who were on call before her that she recalled were as Joanie Collier, Carrie Organ and Aunt Eva Collier.
Bernie's husband, Johnny, spent most of his life working in a sawmill but at the age of fifteen, he worked at Glenwood which is not too far from Gander. He recalled having to walk there which took him eleven days. He had to set up camp along the way. He would work at Glenwood during the summer months. When he worked at Glenwood, he received bores of food such as beans, peas, prunes, butter, and sugar in exchange for the work that he did. Johnny's father first started up the mill and Johnny took over in 1945 when he was seventeen. He continued working at the sawmill until 1984 when he reached the age of 58. He also enjoyed trapping and moose hunting. Some animals that he trapped were beavers and rabbits.
As you can see from this report many things have changed from the earlier years.