Interview # 28

Name: Elizabeth Organ

Sex: Female

Age: 68

Place and date of Birth: St. Alban's. November 7, 1930

Education: Grade 7

Religion: Roman Cathloic

Occupation: Homemaker

Number of children: 11

Names of children and where they live:

Marcella - British Columbia

Helen - Morrisville

Ann - St. John's

Morgan - St. Alban's

Ken - British Columbia

Mike - Deceased

Cecil - Halifax

Pat - St. Alban's

Linda - Morrisville

Jean - St. Alban's

Sherry - St. Alban's

Phone: 538-3081

Date of interview: February 23, 1999

Place of interview: St. Alban's

Interviewers: Leah Marshall and Dale Willcott

Elizabeth's mother, Sarah Baker, was from Harbour Breton. Her father, John Walsh, was from St. Albans. Elizabeth lived in St. Alban's for the most part of her life. Her family lived at Long Path in a four bedroom house with a family of twelve. Along with the Walsh family, the Colliers, and the Barnes were the only families living there. The only time Elizabeth would leave Long Path would be to go to church and school. Her parents would not let their children go down on the road, to the bigger part of the community because of fear they might get lost in the woods. Elizabeth did not mind this because there were plenty of children living close to her. The other two families had just as many children as Elizabeth's parents.

Elizabeth was born premature, she was seven months and weighed one pound. She was that small. Her mother's wedding ring could fit on her leg and further up her body. For six months, her bed was a shoe box placed behind the stove for warmth. Her mother was quite ill after the delivery, and she could not breast feed. Elizabeth was kept alive on sugar water and oats. Her mother had to get a goat so Elizabeth could have milk. Cod liver oil and boiled cherry bark was also used to increase her strength. When Elizabeth had a bad cough, her mother would boil molasses with pepper and peppermint and have her eat it. She still makes it today.

As a child, Elizabeth played games such as hop scotch, tiddly, and schools (Elizabeth was always the teacher.) During the winter months, sliding was quite popular. According to Elizabeth "You were only a child until you were ten years old, then you worked." For instance, Saturday was their wood cutting day. During the weekdays, Elizabeth had to do daily chores after school was over. She would help her mother cook, clean, sew, and brought water twice a day. Sundays was her favourite day of the week because that was when you were a kid again. There was no work done after you came home from church.

Elizabeth went to school until she finished grade seven. Her favourite teacher was Mr. Perry. Not many people liked him, but Elizabeth thought he was great. She, along with the other students had to take turns bringing fire wood. The boys had to take turns lighting the fire. If Elizabeth were walking and saw a teacher she would walk a different path because she was afraid of them. You did not associate with a teacher.

Elizabeth went to church every day because it was mandatory. During lent you had to go twice a day. If you did not go, the priest would point it out the next time you went. Sometimes he would look for the people missing. You had to go to confession every morning. You were also not allowed to eat or drink anything in the morning until you received holy communion. You would not have anything to eat until recess time because school was right after church. Elizabeth can see many changes today with the church. She is glad it is not so strict.

As a teenager, Elizabeth and her friends played many tricks. One woman always had parties but never invited Elizabeth and her friends. Because they were not invited, they would play tricks on the woman. Once they plugged her chimney with old rags. Everyone in the house got smoked out. At another party, they put soap in a boiler of soup the lady was making. They even took a cake that she had been cooling on the window ledge. Robbing apple trees was also a common thing Elizabeth did. Once she almost got caught. She ran so fast that she ended up running through a fence. The man did not find out who it was. Elizabeth was lucky.

When Elizabeth was sixteen, she went to Corner Brook. She worked as a cook in the priests home for two years. They paid her $25.00 per month. Her first pay cheque was spent on a winter jacket. She had the jacket for years and did not mind spending her whole cheque on it. At home she worked cleaning house for $5.00 a month. She would buy herself items such as shoes and stockings. Shoes were only $2.00 to purchase. Stockings were around $0.80. Laundry day for her was always on Mondays. She would have a barrel outside her house and would fill it with water either by rain or take it from the well. This was done on a Sunday. When Elizabeth had her own children, laundry day was an everyday chore. Her work load increased, so her older children had to help.

For entertainment, Elizabeth would attend dances held in the community. She went to the theatre once and saw the movie Coal Miners Daughter. She paid $1.00 to see the movie and absolutely loved it. Every Saturday the theatre would have a cheap day by which it would only cost $0.25 to attend. Many people attended the theatre on this day.

Elizabeth's favourite holidays were Christmas and St. Anne's Day. For Christmas she would get a half of an apple. This was always a rare treat to get. For St. Anne's Day she would go to church in Conne River. People from St. Alban's would put their name in to go on the big boats. They would leave St. Alban's at 5:00 in the morning. Every St. Anne's Day she would get a new pair of shoes. Other holidays or celebrations recalled by Elizabeth were Virgin's Day, August 15th of every year. They held a big dance for this. You would get syrup and cake at the dance. They do not celebrate this holiday anymore. For Valentines Day, Elizabeth would make her own cards and give them to people. She would write a poem on every card and slide a valentine under the door but her name would not be on the card. It was kept a secret. During pancake day, Elizabeth's mother would make pancakes for the whole family. They put five items in the pancakes. If you found one of the five items in your pancake, it would symbolise your future. The items were a button, ring, money, medal, and a nail. The button meant you were going to be a bachelor. The ring meant you were going to marry. The money meant you were going to be rich. The Medal meant you were going to be a priest or nun. The nail meant you were going to be a carpenter or marry one. Elizabeth got the medal once. She said she was almost a nun. She did however work with the priest for two years. For St. Patrick's Day people attended a dance. They would wear a piece of green material on their shirts. During Easter Elizabeth's mother would cook all of the eggs she had saved for a couple of months on Easter Sunday. Everyone loved the breakfast.

Elizabeth recalled some common diseases that were quite frequent when she was growing up and how they cured them. Once her brother had typhoid fever. Her mother would boil grouse or any other type of bird and use the broth to help cure the fever. For measles, Elizabeth had to drink boiled sheep manure. She would not drink it today but she had no other choice back then. Once she had a really bad bleeding nose. The nurse told her brother Joe to go down to the river and get a stone. Joe came back and said there was no stones in the river. The nurse wanted a rock but Joe was looking for real stones. They put the rock from the river on Elizabeth's back to cool her off and stop the bleeding.

When Elizabeth was asked about some ghost stories, she mentioned how there were always ghosts around once. Gully Brook by Jerome Hartery's store was famous for its ghost. Everyone was afraid to walk up the brook. No one ever seen the ghost but plenty of people heard it. Once Elizabeth recalled seeing a Jack o' Lantern out to her cabin at Hardy Cove. The light went right to her cabin doorstep. When Edgar shouted out to the light, it went away. It was the scariest thing she had ever seen. People told her that if the light went into the cabin it would have blown the cabin up. Whether it is true or not Elizabeth does not want to go through it again.

For Elizabeth, the best thing that ever happened to Bay d'Espoir was electricity. She is quite thankful for having it. Her first power bill was $7.00 a month. The prices have changed since then but that is because of all the more things people have such as refrigerators, stoves, etc. . . . Times were hard for Elizabeth but she always managed to survive. She prefers her way of life now than she did in the past.