Interview #47

Name: James Dollimont

Sex: Male

Age: 65

Place and date of birth: St. Joseph's Cove, July 21, 1933

Education: Grade 8

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Logger

Number of children: 8

Names of children and where they live:

Melita (Alberta) Dan (British Columbia)

Sharon (St. Joseph's Cove) Regina (Alberta)

Debbie (Alberta) Pam (St. Alban's)

James, Jr. (Alberta) Rodney (Alberta)

Phone: 538-3721

Place of interview: St. Joseph's Cove

Date of interview: March 16, 1999

Interviewers: Leah Marshall and Dale Willcott

James Dollimont's father was John Dollimont and his mother was Ann Collier, before marriage. His father was born John in St. Joseph's Cove and his mother was from Conne River. James spent time away from home when he was working. James had nine brothers and sisters when he was growing up. Some of them died at a young age and James cannot even remember some of them. Today, only he and one of his sisters are still living.

James said when he growing up, families had more kids and less money than today. James lived in a two-story house with four bedrooms. He said, "We all had to share rooms. The house was cold but we didn't mind it then. It had to be cold because in the winter time, water would freeze in the buckets. The fires would be in all day long but they would put the fire out before they went to bed. I suppose the old fellows were afraid of fire in them days. We never had stoves like we do today."

James recalled some chores he did around the house. He brought in the wood, made the hay, and got water from the brooks and the wells. The brook was not too far away so it was not too hard. He also had to feed the sheep, the hens, the lambs, and the oxen.

There were no cars around when he was growing up. James and his friends played hop scotch, titley, and football. He recalled playing tricks on people when he was younger. Sometimes he took people's sleighs and hid them. The men who went into the woods got up in the morning and could not find half of their gear because James and his friends would hide it. He said, "When you got caught, you probably got a spanking. You didn't get away with too much in them days."

James recalled that whatever he did in the summer, was usually done in a dory. James remembered doing a lot of fishing and berry picking with his family. He said, "We use to go visit our relatives in Conne, St. Alban's, and St. Veronica's. Conne was on the southeast side, called Colliers. When I was young, I spent a lot of time over there."

James said that a few of the diseases around in the past included measles and the whooping cough. He cannot remember what people used if had for it. He said, "I suppose we waited for it to go away." There were no doctors around only a hospital boat that came in now and then. A coastal boat called The Christmas Seal, which was the X-ray boat took X-rays for TB. This boat came in every summer. It would mourn off in the cove. James said, "You could hear music and people would row off in their dories." The captain of the boat was Peter Throat, who died a couple of months ago.

James said that Church was really important. He said, "If you didn't want to go, someone would persuade you to go." The priest only came to St. Joseph's Cove once every three months unless he had other reasons. The church and school were all in one. The school had shutters and when there was a big crowd for church, the shutters were opened. Every Sunday, there was a Rosary in the church said by a teacher or an older student. James said that sometimes people walked to St. Alban's for Mass and it took about an hour. In the winter, people went up on horses and riding slides with a couple of seats on them.

James recalled the first job he had. He cut fire wood and sold it to the schooners. He cut it in the winter time and sold it in the summer. James said, "I was pretty young when I done that. Got only $3.00 for a chord of wood." He said that this was not much money. He bought clothes and helped his family if he had enough. His father had a sawmill and James worked there for a long time. He also went to Deer Lake to work. Sometimes it took a week to get there if the weather was good. James also worked with Bowaters at camp eight and got five or six dollars a chord. He said, "Couple hundred dollars a month, you had a good bit."

James said that school was a lot different from today. He carried wood every day. All grades were in one room. All the teachers were from outside the community. He said, "If you were bad, you would get the slapper or put on your knees." James did not like going to school. He preferred to be in the woods. He said, "We didn't know the value of education in them days. I wish I had more learning now."

James said that at Christmas, people went to dances and went mummering. He said, "You never got much but when I was going to school one time I got crayons. Sometimes you got gloves." There was no big talk of Santa Claus. James felt that it was better then because people visited relatives but people do not do that anymore. He said, "Now I suppose there is more places to go like the clubs." For St.Anne's Day, James went to Conne for a big Mass and for the 15th of August, there was another big dance. He said, "All them days and celebrations are gone now."

James thought that the hydro project was the best thing to happen to Bay D'Espoir. It created many jobs and they put the road through. The power in itself was a good thing.

James had a lot of information for us and he helped in preserving our past.