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Georgina Leriche, date of birth: 191716 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Georgina LeRicheIn 1917 in Recountre East, Southwest Newfoundland, Georgina LeRiche was born to Lucy and George Mullins. Georgina was one of ten children; she had four brothers and five sisters.
George Mullins was a fisherman and although it wasn't very much, the fishing equipment that he used was his own. There were many types of fish caught including cod, halibut, salmon, and caplin. The fish could be prepared in many ways; baked, fried and some dried it to be boiled later with potatoes. There was also a lot of lobster fishing so lobster was a large part of Georgina's diet growing up. She says that everyday there would be a "boil up" of lobsters and the bodies would be thrown away.
They also had their own vegetable garden where they grew potatoes, turnip, carrots and cabbage. At that time everyone had a garden for growing vegetables for the winter. Georgina helped her mother in the garden where they planted and harvested using shovels, garden forks and hoes. They had no tractor. The Mullin's family also raised sheep for wool for knitting clothes. They also made clothes from material they'd bought. It wasn't very often that you would get clothes "already to be put on."
Growing up during the depression affected Georgina's life very much, especially since her father was sick at the time. It was a very difficult time with not enough to eat, no money and being on social assistance which was referred to as being "on the dole". "The dole" that they received was six dollars a month.
As a girl Georgina attended Anglican Church where the Minister would come only a few times a year. Lay readers and school teachers regularly held church.
Georgina says that she doesn't think she had any fun as a child because there was always work to do. Some of her chores were to bring in wood and water, and to scrub the floors.
During Christmas they used to get a can of sweet thick milk that they would occasionally use in their tea. For the Christmas meal they would mostly have salt water birds like turrs. It was a long time before Georgina got used to moose meat. One of the things that they did during Christmas was to go mummering.
Georgina only went to school for a short time. She completed grade one and half of grade two. The school that she attended had approximately sixty students from kindergarten to grade ten. There were ten students in her class including herself. She remembers when she got her first primmer, she came home with it and sat in a chair spelling out words to her mother so that she could tell her what the word was but her mother was not able to. School was very important to Georgina but she says that she never really got a chance to learn.
When Georgina was a child of seven or eight, there was no doctor in Recountre East and she became ill. It was about 1920 and she had a very high fever with no medicine for a long time. She recalls that all she wanted was a drink of water. Her mother had put her bed out in the kitchen near the woodstove because that was the only source of heat in the house. Lucy, her mother, put a drop of cold water and a drop of warm water in a cup to give her. Georgina says she woke up feeling like a wild animal and waited all day for her chance to get a drink. At eight-thirty or nine o'clock that night, once her mother had fallen asleep, Georgina crept out of bed bare foot on the icy floor. She had to break the ice on the water bucket, which was kept out on the porch, to get the water. She then drank three glasses of cold water and went back to bed. In the morning the fever was gone. She'd never told anyone what she had done to break the fever.
Since there was no doctor or clinic in Recountre East there were of course home remedies like keeping some whiskey in your mouth for a toothache.
Georgina started working in Recountre East at fourteen, doing housework. She worked there for three years before, at seventeen, she moved to Port aux Basques. She did the same type of work in Port aux Basques for two years before moving to North Sydney, Nova Scotia, for two years then on to Toronto, Ontario for more than two years. The pay for a serving girl varied from place to place. In Recountre East Georgina was paid two dollars a month, four dollars and fifty cents a month in Port aux Basques, ten dollars a month in North Sydney and in Toronto she was paid thirty-five dollars a month. As a serving girl Georgina's duties included getting breakfast, doing all the cooking and cleaning. "They were slaves," she says.
During the time that she was traveling for work, Georgina realized that you don't miss what you don't have but when you do have it and then have to do without, it's very hard. While living in Toronto she got used to being able to turn on a tap for water and the convenience of a flushing toilet. When she got back to Newfoundland it was very different. In order to brush your teeth you needed to get a cup of water and to bathe you had to boil water on the stove for the washtub. A slop pail was used for a toilet. It was very embarrassing Georgina says, when she lived in Recountre East it wasn't as bad because they lived on a beach but when she came to Port aux Basques she had to go across the road to empty the pail. Before she left Newfoundland it was good, Georgina says, because she didn't know what she was missing.
In 1943, when she was twenty-six, Georgina married Raymond LeRiche in Halifax. This was during World War II and the only member of her family to be in the war was her husband, Raymond. Georgina had no time to contribute to the war effort here or overseas as all her time was spent looking after her children.
One of the ways in which Georgina was affected by war was by the tragedy of the old Caribou. Although she was in Toronto at the time there had been a lot of people that she had known on the Caribou.
Raymond and Georgina lived in Port aux Basques and had twelve children in thirteen years. At one point eleven of her children were in school at the same time. Raymond owned a store after the war and had also been in the navy service. Before owning their own store they bought their groceries where Coleman's in located in Port aux Basques now.
One of the many conveniences that Georgina saw arriving while she lived in Port aux Basques was the telephone.
Today it is a whole lot easier, Georgina says, "because we have everything and have everything to do. Back when she was growing up you had to work hard for everything but now we've got it easy."
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Georgina Leriche as a young woman16 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Georgina Leriche as a young woman.18
Greta Spencer, date of birth: October 2, 19186 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Greta SpencerGreta Spencer was born October 2nd, 1918 on Dingwell Point, Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. She still resides in her home on Charles Street, Port aux Basques, where she has lived since she was a child.
Greta's parents lived on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland all their lives. Her father was a fisherman and a carpenter, while her mother owned a store on Charles Street. "It didn't matter if a man or a woman ran the business." Greta's father would catch codfish, halibut, or whatever else he could to sell. He would use a motorboat to go fishing. Greta's parents would get their groceries at the store that her mother owned. There was a clothing store in Port aux Basques where Greta's mother would buy the clothing for the family. If someone got sick, there was a doctor available in Port aux Basques. There was no hospital in Port aux Basques until later years. If someone needed a doctor, they could go see him or the doctor would go to the person's house to see them. One home remedy that Greta's mother would use for the cold was to swallow a spoon full of Vicks with sugar. Greta's parents lived in the same house that Greta lives in today, except when Greta's mother lived there it was a two-story house and today it is a bungalow. Before electricity, Greta's parents would use kerosene lamps for lights and they would use wood, oil, or coal stoves for heat. Coal would be brought in from North Sydney by the ton. The furniture in Greta's mother's house was all store bought. "At the time we never had much, we never had a chesterfield for years." Greta's parents would get their water from a nine-foot well on the corner of their house. They would fill their wells up with rocks to make the water level higher. There were no toilets back then so Greta's parents had an outhouse and slop pails. Greta tells us that she believes that electricity came through before water. There was a post office in Port aux Basques. The mail would get in and get out of Port aux Basques by horse and carriage. Greta tells us that they would eat whatever was cooked. "No such thing as I don't want; eat what's there or do without it."
As a child, Greta would have lots of fun. "We had more fun then than what they do now. I can't tell you what we did but we enjoyed ourselves growing up." Greta attended church most Sundays. It was an Anglican Church not far from her house. The minister that would hold the services was from Port aux Basques. Other churches that were in Port aux Basques at the time were United Church, Salvation Army, Pentecost, and Jehovah Witness. "Mom made me go to church whether I wanted to or not." Greta attended St. James School until grade ten. "Grade eleven was as far as you could go. I went to grade ten when I was sixteen but I never finished my grade ten. Not too many got their grade eleven." There were two or three classrooms back then with one teacher per classroom. "We had to go to school whether we wanted to or not." For entertainment, there were dances and garden parties. "Everyone was mixed." The young and the old would get together.
Christmas time was a joyful time of the year for Greta when she was a child. They would have a Christmas tree and she would get a doll or something like that for Christmas. "We might not have got so much as they do now but we survived." The Christmas dinner would consist of roast beef; there was no turkey at the time. Greta had lots of fun mummering during Christmas.
Greta tells us that she was married during the war. Her mother contributed to World War II by knitting socks and hats. Greta also tells us that there was an Air Force base in Mouse Island. When the old Caribou sank, Greta had a cousin on it. She feels that the tragedy of the old Caribou affected everyone.
Greta married her husband, Steven, at the age of twenty-two, which was the average marrying age at that time. Greta and Steven had six children, three boys and three girls. Steven worked with the Canadian National Railway (CNR) as a stevedore. When he was not working at the railway he was fishing. Greta worked in a restaurant; she also worked doing some housekeeping; cleaning for other people. There was no washing machines back then so clothes was washed on a scrub board, heating water on the stove, until they got wringer washers. There were no carpets on the floors at the time - it was mostly canvas. Greta tells us that she did not find it hard raising her family. "Children did not want so much back then as they do now." Greta also tells us that there was not a lot of money back then. "We were happy with what we had."
Greta says that the community was closer back in her day than it is today. "People went to each other's houses more than they do now." She also says that people were more helpful then than they are now. "People were happier back then because everyone was alike. No one had more than the other did." Greta also tells us that there are more jobs now than years ago. "It was more fishing years ago, it wasn't the same as it is now. You wait months to get a piece of paper saying how much you were owed then you go and get everything straightened up that you owed."
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Harriett Herritt, date of birth: May 8, 191417 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Harriet HerrittHarriet Herritt was born on the eighth of May 1914, in Rose Blanche, Newfoundland. Her father, Archibald Buffet, was a fisherman and her mother, Annie, was a homemaker who stayed at home to raise Harriet, her brother, and her sister. Harriet says she has lived on the Southwest coast all of her life, and so had her parents. Harriet lived in Rose Blanche all of her life, right up until she was sixty years old. She then went to live in Ramea, where she lived common-law with a man for the next fifteen years. Harriet's husband had passed away a year earlier at the age of fifty-two. Harriet Herritt resides in Mountain Hope Manor in Port aux Basques for the past six years.
As a child Harriet attended school in Rose Blanche. She went until grade three, when she had to come out to help the family. She said it was a one-room school, with about forty students, and all grades from primary to eleven, in one room. She also said she used to play games as a child, but she can't really remember much about them.
At Christmas time, Harriet said she never got much, an apple or some candy. Still, she says, she appreciated it and thought she had the world. When she got older, Harriet tells us she used to go mummering during Christmas. This was when everyone dressed up and went from door to door. There was music and dancing, and lots of cake and drinks. This was a very common tradition in Newfoundland at the time.
Harriet remembers the house she grew up in as quite different from the houses today. There was no electricity or plumbing, so life was generally harder. Kerosene lamps were used for lighting, and wood and coal stoves were used for heating and cooking. Water was brought in from the well by the buckets, and you had to fill up the big barrel that was usually kept on the porch. The bathroom consisted of a wash pan, a slop bucket, and /or an outhouse. You took sponge baths when needed, and cleaned out the slop pail every morning.
Harriet attended church, but very seldom. "I never went much, but they have it up here (at the manor) now."
At the age of twenty, Harriet married George Herritt, a young fisherman and started a family. She had five children; all of them were born at home with a midwife. Harriet never made her own clothing, but she did knit things like mitts, hats, and sweaters. She said she found it very hard when her husband died, because she had an eighteen-month old child, and she was left with four other children to raise alone.
Groceries were bought at the local store but you didn't need much. Most people grew their own vegetables and Harriet's family was no different. She also had to help with everything from planting to harvesting.
Harriet lived a peaceful eight years in the cottages next to Charles L. LeGrow Hospital in Port aux Basques until a heart attack forced her to move to the Mountain Hope Manor retirement complex. She has no regrets about her life, however, and has thoroughly enjoyed her family and her friends.
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Jessie Warren, date of birth: August 23, 19197 July 2003
Margaree, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Jessie WarrenJessie Warren was born to Hughie and Mariah Abbott on August 23rd, 1919, in Fox Island, Newfoundland, a small community about six miles from Ramea. From there she moved to Isle Aux Morts, Newfoundland, and has been residing in Port aux Basques for the last forty-nine years.
Hughie, Jessie's father, was a fisherman. He mostly caught codfish. While Jessie's father was fishing, Jessie would knit to pass the time. To help with the fishery Jessie would wash out tubs, and the boats, dry fish, and whatever else had to be done. Jessie recalls when her thirty-five year old brother and six other men were lost at sea. Jessie says the fish was cooked in many ways; it was baked, boiled, fried, steamed. Fish was a good meal.
Mariah, Jessie's mother, had thirteen children-six boys and seven girls. She was always a homemaker and never worked outside of the home. While Mariah's husband was working she would do the housework, gardening, spin the wool, and look after the children. The women did everything in those days. They always had a vegetable garden. In the gardens they would grow potatoes, carrots, turnip, and cabbage. Besides growing vegetables, they raised sheep and hens. She would buy everything else that they ate at the store. Jessie was always helping her mother. In addition to being a housekeeper, Mariah was a dressmaker. She would buy the materials by the yard and make dresses.
As a child Jessie had all kinds of fun, she used to go out and play. It was that much fun she couldn't even describe it. Other than play there was a lot of work to be done. She would have to scrub, wash, and work in the gardens. Once one job was done there was always another to do, but she enjoyed it. She lived in a two-story house with seven big rooms, with old fashion furniture. There were four bedrooms, a living room, and two big rooms downstairs. While growing up in Fox Island, Jessie recalls they never had telephones but they were able to send telegrams. Jessie went to church whenever she could go. They had a minister that would come from Burgeo every month. Jessie can remember when she went to school there were about forty families living there. It was a one-room school. Jessie achieved grade nine, before she was thirteen. Jessie said that school was considered important, but you could go and come when you like. Some people were strict about schooling. Her parents made her go until she reached grade nine. If someone got sick there was a nurse at Burgeo, about twelve miles away. That was where the closest hospital was located.
At the age of twenty, Jessie married her husband, Emanuel Warren. A minister married them. Her husband always worked as a fisherman. He was away fishing a lot and while he was fishing Jessie would clean, cook, scrub, spin wool, etc. They always had food to eat. Jesse says they didn't starve, but they didn't have what they have today.
Jessie and her husband had seven children, but she only raised six. Four children were born at home by a midwife and the rest was born in the hospital by a doctor. They are all gone away now. Jessie and her husband bought their groceries at a little store owned by Mr. Clevett and Mr. Penny. They paid cash for everything they had. Jessie also made her own clothing after she had her children.
Jessie never got much for Christmas as a child just a little stocking and some clothes. For Christmas dinner they would eat wild bird, ducks, mutton, or maybe have some fresh meat. They never knew what a Christmas tree was. They had lots of fun during Christmas. Jessie said that there was always a "feed on". This meant that there was always something to eat. They also played cards and had dances.
Jesse didn't know much about the depression because her family never had to do without anything. Even though her family had everything she still found it hard. The men were always gone away so the women had to do everything themselves.
Jessie got married during the WWII. Her sister's son went over to the war and he lived through it. Jessie says she knitted things and sent them over to the people in the war. She didn't take part in any social activities where they sent things to the war; she did that on her own.
The first time Jessie went to the mainland she went to Prince Edward Island with her son. She used to go to Burin, and places in the Burin area. Jessie cannot remember when telephones came to Port aux Basques but had one of her own because they had a store. It was a crank telephone on the wall. The first car she ever saw was in Port aux Basques.
Jessie has seen so many improvements over the years. Today there are washers and dryers. They had to use scrubboards and washtubs. Today we have electricity. When Jessie was growing up there was none. We have lights where we just hit a switch. Jessie grew up with kerosene lamps and they use coal stoves to heat their homes.
Jessie said that it is easier growing up today than it was when she was growing up. They had to work hard but it was a lot better. She also says that the roles of women have changed. One time girls would have babies at the age of sixteen, and the girls would look old. They always looked older than they really were. She would have worked when she was younger but her mother needed her at home. Her father couldn't afford to send her away.
Jessie has all good memories of Fox Island. She liked Isle Aux Morts but she loved Fox Island. Jessie said if she could change anything about her life the only thing is she would have electricity. As for anything else in her life she wouldn't change a thing.
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Leah Dominie, date of birth: April 9, 191217 June 2003
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Leah DominieLeah Dominie was born April 9, 1912 in Cape La Hune, which is a small community in Newfoundland which no longer exists. She has been living in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland for fifty-five years. Today she is ninety-one years old and resides in Mountain Hope Manner, which is a retirement home in Port aux Basques.
Leah's parents, Florence and James Baggs, were also from Cape La Hune and lived there all their lives. James provided for his family by fishing lobster and salmon.
During Leah's childhood there wasn't much for her to do for fun. Even as a child she had hard work to do so fun was factored out of her life. While Leah was in school her teacher advised her to skip grade nine and go right to grade ten. She listened to the teacher and skipped the grade and did very well. She was very interested in school but had to eventually leave. At the age of fifteen Leah began to sew; a pair of pants was her first piece of clothing she made. She attended the Anglican Church but there was no full time minister in Cape La Hune at the time, so services was only held once a month when the minister would come to town. There were no hospitals so if a doctor didn't come to town they would have to travel thirty miles to Burgeo to see one. There was a hospital ship that came to town to pick up the sick and either transported them to Port aux Basques or Burgeo.
Leah received apples, oranges, dolls, and other things along those lines for Christmas. Like a large number of people at that time, mummering was a popular tradition that she enjoyed participating in.
As a child Leah had many different things to do around the home to help out her parents. All the work was much harder than it is now because it was all done by hand. Leah would get up in the mornings and get breakfast for her younger brothers and sisters and send them off to school. Once they were ready she would have to get herself ready and go to school. Not all the chores were done right due to the fact that they were just children and they made mistakes.
The depression was a very difficult time for everyone on the Southwest coast. The things that were needed for the house and the children were difficult to get due to the fact that money was very hard to get especially when they were not receiving any means of assistance. During World War II everyone was put on food rations. Stamps were received every so often in order to get food and if they ran out before the stamps came out again they would have to do without it, unless they had friends that would give them extra stamps if it was for something like milk for a baby. Leah remembers just how tough times were during the depression. It was during this time that Leah heard about a young woman in Cul de Sac who was looking for a home for her new baby. She went with her aunt to ask about the baby but wasn't sure how to approach the girl about it. Leah asked her if she was going back to work soon and the girl told her that she would as soon as she could get a home for her baby. As soon as she said that Leah told the girl that she was there to take the baby for her. The girl was so happy that she could only cry in response. Leah and her aunt took the five-day-old baby and stayed up all night feeding the baby drops of milk at a time. The baby was so hungry and undernourished that it vomited blood that night when Leah and her aunt got him home. By nine a.m. the following morning the baby was able to eat a full feeding. This story is a good indication of how hard the depression was; the baby's mother died of the "fits" three weeks after he was taken from her and the baby died at fourteen months old of the whooping cough. It was a very hard and sad time. Leah loved the baby very much and still, over sixty years later, can remember his bright blue eyes.
Leah also can remember a ship coming to town called the "Fiona" that would pick up volunteers to go to war.
A minister preformed the marriage ceremony for Leah and John Dominie when he came to the community. John was a fisherman and Leah was always at home with the children. In the later years he found employment with the Canadian National Railway as a stevedore. Eventually he was offered a better job but he refused because he liked his old job so much. In order to get their groceries they would have to trade things they got like fish, for food they wanted and needed. Leah would make her own clothing but only from the best materials such as velvet and wool. The things she would sew were only made for her own family.
There were no telephones in Cape La Hune but there was a telegraph machine there. While John was at work Leah would do many things such as scrubbing the floors, washing the clothing, cooking, and cleaning the home. The women were just as hard working as the men but their efforts were not recognized. Salmon and lobster were kept by the cases full. There was a well a short distance from the house but water still had to be carried in buckets from the well to the home. In order to wash clothing water would be heated up on the stove and put in a large metal pan. Then the scrubboard would be put in the pan with some soap. The clothing would then be repeatedly scrubbed across the rugged board until it was clean. Kerosene lamps were used as the main lighting source. Wood burned in a stove was used to heat the home. Wood would also have to be cut for the stove by Leah. A pail was used in place of a toilet, and a washtub was used to bathe in.
If it were possible Leah would change the fact that there was no electricity so she could have been able to enjoy all the modern conveniences of today. Women today have it a lot easier because women in those days worked a lot harder than they do now. Her most memorable memories was hard to pin point, there were so many exciting and fun things happened in her life. She believes just growing up in Newfoundland was the best experience.
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Leah Munden, date of birth: Febuary 5, 191712 August 2003
Isle aux Morts, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Leah MundenLeah Munden was born on the fifth of February, 1917, in Burnt Islands, even though she still considers Isle aux Morts to be her home. Her husband, John Munden was a fisherman, and they raised four children together. Her mother, Agnes was a homemaker and her father, George Hiscock was also a fisherman. Leah had two brothers and two sisters. Leah's family lived in Isle aux Morts all their lives and her parents were originally from Isle aux Morts.
Leah's father always fished with his father and they usually only fished for cod. Fish at that time usually went for about one cent or one and one half cents a pound. Leah remembers one time when it went up to three cents. Leah doesn't recall any ship wrecks, but she does recall one time when a schooner went ashore and two men got drowned.
Leah's husband worked at the fish plant for a short time, but she says she has a daughter that worked there for a long time. Leah says that her family always had their own vegetables. "We grew cabbage, potatoes, turnips, carrots and onions...all the work was done by hand...my mother had to help with all that." They also raised sheep, and they would sometimes eat mutton. Leah also says that once or twice they kept a pig. "We kept the animals in the barn...we had to feed them in the winters, but in the summers they fed themselves...they would graze." The animals that they had were raised purely for meat for the family; it was not sold for income.
Leah says that they had a very nice house and nice parents. "It wasn't a really big house; it was two stories with three rooms upstairs." Since there was no electricity or plumbing in the house, they had to use kerosene lamps and washtubs. For a toilet there were slop pails and every Saturday you would take a bath in the big washtub. Clothes were washed with sunlight soap, or sometimes lye soap, which was made from the fat of animals. Water was brought in from the nearest well or your own if you had someone to dig a well for you. If not, the nearest pond was your water supply. Wood stoves and coal stoves were used for heating the house. Bringing in kindling and wood for the fire was one of many chores around the house.
Leah's mother made all of her children's clothing. Leah says her mother was an excellent seamstress, and all the things she made were lovely. "She would remake old clothes, and reuse old material...she washed it all by hand on the washboard, it was hard work." Leah also says she did a lot of carding and spinning wool, from the sheep. "We did do a lot of that, I can remember that."
Leah says that her family always ate well, "We had a lot of fresh meats and vegetables so we ate well." The groceries were bought at a local store...first it was Mr. Walters, then Mr. Cutler, and Mr. Payne. You could get what you needed on charge accounts, and you would pay for it when you had money.
There was no doctor in the area. If you got really sick, you had to go to Port aux Basques to the clinic, or to the Corner Brook hospital. Leah recalls that there were lots of home remedies, but she can only remember a few clearly. "Ginger wine and peppermint for when you had the cold or the flu...you would drink that and it would clear you right up."
There was a mail service at the time. It would come by boat, and it was delivered to someone's house in the area. Everyone would go to that person's house to get your mail.
There were no telephones or roads at the time. The roads weren't paved until the fifties or the sixties. Then people started getting cars.
For fun as a child, Leah says she would "play games out around the door, and stuff like that." Leah also had daily chores to do around the house and yard. "When I was very young I used to sweep the floors, do the dishes, and shake the floor mats...I was also a church person, I went to church all the time...I went to the Church of England." The minister would come from Rose Blanche, and when he couldn't make it, there were lay readers. Leah also attended school. "I went to St. George's School, I got grade six. It was a two-room school, all the grades were divided into two rooms, the lower grades and the higher grades...school was considered important," says Leah. She also says they used slates to write on, and later on they had scribblers.
Christmas was much simpler back then, but many say it was also much better. "School opened up in September, and we went right through until two days before Christmas...not like now, when they get all that time off." The presents and the material aspect of Christmas was very different than today. "I got a little broach, or some candy, or fruit, and we were so happy with that. Christmas dinner was usually mutton, baked pudding, vegetables, and things like that...there were some things you saw at Christmas that you didn't see the rest of the year, like syrup, cocoa, peppermint, you only saw that Christmas times." Leah says that people got together more then, people were closer and Christmas meant more.
Leah did work as a serving girl when she was fourteen. "I had to clean the woman's house, bring the coal, and get the water, things like that. I worked there for four months, and I got twelve dollars. That was a lot back then." Leah also remembers the depression. "We had to do without a lot of things...sometimes you would have no butter for your bread or no sugar for your tea, but you had to eat it like that, you had to eat something."
Leah also remembers the war, because her mother used to knit for the war effort, and she also remembers the Caribou tragedy. "Oh yes, there was a lot of people from here lost on the Caribou."
Leah has been married for almost sixty-eight years, though her husband passed away almost forty-eight years ago. "We didn't have very long together; we had a very short time." Leah met her husband in Isle aux Morts, and she says he was a really nice man, "but we only had nineteen years together." Leah says after she was married, she went to George Chalk's store. "You could use what we called a 'Jew note.' It was like an I. O. U, but that's what we called it." It was shortly after they married that Leah and her husband built their own house, a nice two-story. Leah says she didn't really find it hard raising her family. She says there were some things you like to give your family that you couldn't, and that was the hardest part...but she also says they were happy, it seems everyone was closer back then. Leah remembers that all of her children were born at home with a midwife. "That's how it was done back then; a lot of the babies were born at home."
Leah says she misses the way things were, when she and her husband would work in the fields together. "Whatever one was doing, the other one did that too...we always helped each other. We worked together." Leah says she thoroughly enjoyed her life, and wouldn't change anything about it. She has lived a happy content life, and leaves quite a story to pass down through her family.
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