From Basin to Ridge…

Landscape, Culture and History of the Chignecto Isthmus – Field notes from My Mother’s Cookbooks.

Dixon Island – Sept. 2026 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

You could be forgiven for missing the historical importance of a place that holds such a small footprint. The narrow land bridge between modern-day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is just such a place, and you can blame it on location, location, location.

The Chignecto Isthmus is a place of ancient geologic and climatic events. A place where landscape, weather, and culture interact in ways that are as unexpectedly rich and as beautiful as the sculptures created by its tidal rivers. Beauty often has a darker side and Chignecto’s results from the clash of topography and weather.

For the Mi’kmaq, the vast salt-water marshes, peat bogs and sandstone ridges of the Isthmus represented both a place to live and an all-important transportation corridor they called it Siknikt1, or ‘the drainage place’. The Siknikt district of the Miꞌkmaꞌki (or Mi’gma’gi) territory comprised the land bridge, as well as adjacent areas of the region. Paddling and portaging its rivers and marshes permitted travel through-out the territory including between the prolific fish habitats of the Bay of Fundy and the Northumberland Strait.

Pecks Cove, Cape Maringouin July 2025 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

The variety of plants and roots of the marsh, abundant fish in its rivers and the game of the dense Wabanaki-Acadian2 forest made the isthmus not only a through space, but a living one. The Mi’kmaq of Chignecto were not isolated or insular, they encountered other cultures regularly over millennia, engaging in trade, adopting and adapting. Although the Mi’kmaq claimed territory over the land bridge they shared it as a transport corridor including with their Wabanaki neighbours and kin3.

European interest in the region initially did not interfere with the Mi’kmaq, and their use of the land. Trade in fish and furs did alter it though adding a new layer of activity and movement in Chignecto. Continued waves of European engagement would usher in disruption and change, human conflict, and a forever-altered relationship with the land.

Chignecto bends and flexes with what the tides and weather have to give it, and it is supposed to be that way… The tides of the Bay of Fundy4 are unique, high volumes of tidal water entering a funnel-shaped bay combine with the bay’s tidal resonance delivering hundreds of billions of tonnes of water into the bay twice each day. The tidal rivers, creeks, salt marshes, fens, and peat bogs of Chignecto absorb and accept it. But it is not just seawater… ancient glacial till and eroding iron-bearing sandstone in the basin are churned, and deposited back to the basins and the isthmus. Over thousands of years the twice daily rush of water and sandstone wash created unique, nutrient-rich, prolific terrestrial and marine environments. And chocolate rivers.

Chignecto Isthmus: transportation and energy corridor, agriculture and industry. – Sept 2026 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

To the Mi’kmaq Chignecto was home. To the first Europeans in the region, it represented obstruction to trade. For the traders of furs and fish, moving product along the eastern seaboard, the narrow strip of what they thought of as inhospitable territory meant abandoning ocean-going ships for canoes and portages. A trip around Nova Scotia and Cape Breton to access the North Atlantic and the St. Lawrence represented inconvenience, delay and increased cost. In the era of empire and trade building, an obstruction like Chignecto represented risk, a pinch point, and a place of growing interest.

The first significant group of European settlers in Chignecto were Acadians5, the first group but not the first non-Indigenous settlers. We know longstanding Acadian settlements of Port-Royal, which began in the early 17th century grew into prosperous farming settlements. The relationship between Acadians and Mi’kmaq is both longstanding and rich. Understanding the nuance of their coexistence with the Mi’kmaq during the 17th and 18th centuries remains a work in progress – one complicated by cultural and factual erasure and appropriation.

Some questions have answers, for others none exist, and the gaps are important. Did Acadian farmers and families ask permission to settle in Miꞌkmaꞌki? There is documentary proof in some cases, permission was sought and accommodated. Does that mean all Mi’kmaq and Acadians viewed each other in the same way? Was the coexistence forced or natural? Were there power dynamics like trade and commonality that influenced choices? In the absence of widespread and specific documentation, applying what happened in one incident is risky and leads to assumptions that flatten reality.

Dyke spades – Campbell Carriage house museum July 2025 – Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

The fact that Acadians placed their homesteads and farms on the land ‘between’, is sometimes cited as the reason why the relationship between the two groups appears largely positive. By reclaiming wetlands and salt marsh from the sea using a complicated water management system of wooden sluice gates and dykes Acadian farmers essentially carved out a living space. These settlements and activities are often described as having a minimal impact on those already living in Chignecto, but minimal impact does not mean no impact.

Exactly how movement of Acadians on to the Chignecto Isthmus came about, whether it resulted from an invitation by the Mi’kmaq Siknikt Chiefs to respected former surgeon and Fundy trader Jacques Bourgeois6 or not, is up for debate. Did the Mi’kmaq trust the Bourgeois family to inhabit the in-between space where marsh meets ridge? Or did other considerations like the benefits of having a shipbuilder/ trader and surgeon as neighbour influence the choice?

The Acadian settlement in Chignecto that began as Beaubassin and the Bourgeois family around 1672 eventually grew into a collection of farms and houses that lined the slopes of the Isthmus’ ridges across the width of the land bridge. But crafting a peaceful life and coexistence on the Chignecto Isthmus was not a function of locals alone. Empire building and export of fish and furs, brought conflict back directly to Chignecto.

As terrorist acts, piracy, raids, naval skirmishes and guerrilla warfare grew between the British and French (and traditional allies, the Indigenous Peoples) fears, insecurity throughout North America grew. Chignecto’s location assured violence visited regularly as the horrific tit for tat between the two powers and their allies grew. On at least two occasions in direct retaliation for raids in New England, Chignecto was targeted, leaving farms burned, dykes and trade infrastructure destroyed7.

The signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 made things even more difficult, because it did not clearly demarcate the Territory claimed by the French and the English. The Missaguash river and the wider Chignecto region wasn’t just a pinch point, it was front and centre to the conflict.

In 1750, Beaubassin would end in flames, families forced to watch from the northside of the Missaquash river as their once prosperous homes and farms burned. Destroying the community kept Beausbassin from falling into British hands, but also severed connections and scattered families8. Britain’s eventual success in controlling Chignecto (and the region) would lead to a single act that characterized the treatment of Acadians for generations. Whether you see the expulsion of Acadians9 as ethnic cleansing or instead see it as a function of the military security machine of the time there is one undisputable fact. When human violence erupted here, Chignecto wasn’t just a witness, it was an active force.

Scorched and diminished, stripped of its prosperous farms and trade infrastructure, Chignecto remained vital and important. British control of the important land bridge could not be maintained by military means alone. The Mi’kmaq and those Acadians who had managed to flee deportation used the sparse British occupation to challenge the occupying force10. The British Crown had successfully planted settlers in strategic locations before so applying the same strategy in Chignecto, the invitations went out. Invitations for New Englanders and Britons to settle the lands made available by the forced removal of Acadians from their farms11.

On the Ramparts – Aug 2026 Delancey’s Brigade reenactors at Fort Beausejour (Fort Cumberland) Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

And they arrived, but not until after seven years of limbo. Once prosperous farms wasted away. Storms breached dykes and flooded farm fields, and no one was there to repair them. Eventually New England planters from Massachusetts and Connecticut along with English settlers from Yorkshire embraced the opportunity that Chignecto represented. For the British authorities it was a gamble, who to invite and who to exclude was key, farmers were favoured over former military men, and no one who wasn’t Anglo and Protestant could be considered. Of course being born in Britain or in the colonies did not always equate to loyalty, being English speaking and Protestant helped but still there was no guarantee. In a place like Chignecto, opportunity, autonomy, security and loyalty to a distant and often capricious administration combined to create fluid, changing and differing individual views on loyalty to the Crown.

The ‘quintessential Loyalist” – From Wallace and Area museum. Sept 2026 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

Still geopolitical and local politics were far from done with Chignecto and its people, it continued to be a tenuous and troublesome place to live. The months leading to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 were as fraught with insecurity in Chignecto as elsewhere in the region. In October 1776, with the War of Independence raging across New England, Chignecto’s loyalty to the British Crown was tested, and a rebellion that could have seen Nova Scotia become the 14th state in the union was decided right here in Chignecto12.

With the political stability of North America finally beginning to emerge, Chignecto would again see a surge of new immigrants, the Loyalist refugees from New England. The arrival of more than 45,000 Loyalist refugees presented new challenges, delivering new forms of stress for families of the region13. Competition for land, political and social power would eventually lead to the formation of New Brunswick as a separate colony, entrenching an artificial boundary that might have impinged on this place but through it all, Chignecto remains…

A beautiful September morning near Wekwamaqwek or ‘Lands End’ the Ancient Mi’kmaq Missaquash-/Baie Verte Portage route. The bay (in the distance) drew the attention of early French traders who called it Baie Verte or ‘Green Bay’, Baie Verte was an important trade and transport hub, in 1751 with threats of British attacks, the French built Fort Gaspereaux (pictured). The English would take the fort renaming it Fort Monckton. Not long after 9 young Provincial Soldiers garrisoned at the Fort were killed in an ambush while collecting fire wood, they are buried at the fort. Today it is Fort Gaspereaux a National Historic Site, on a road called Fort Monckton Road, in the community of Baie Verte, All on the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq..

Where Chignecto takes me…

Like many who grew up in the Maritimes, my introduction to Chignecto was as a through-place, it was on the road to somewhere else. Of course I saw the hints, road signs, cairns, historic sites and commemorative events but they hinted at ‘institutional’ history, military history particularly, and quite honestly that does not interest me greatly.

Living in Chignecto has changed my interest in its history, it has taken me in by pointing me to the landscape that dictated lives, that delivered security and denied it too, that demanded accommodation even in the thick of battle. The history of ordinary people of Chignecto is written in this landscape. When I visit Slacks Cove I think about Chignecto’s first Baptists, their leader Elder Mason but also Experience Baker. When I visit where the Aulac River meets Mount Whatley Road, of course I think about Rebel Leader Jonathan Eddy. But I also think about Olive Morse Eddy and Sarah Metcalf Davis. I think about women and children fleeing their burning homes to shelter from British troops on the Marsh.

Of course my thoughts lead to writing but to assure I am clear, My Mother’s Cookbooks’ wheelhouse is grounded in family connections and food. I recently encountered “Revealing the History of the Isthmus of Chignecto: Toward Truth and Reconciliation”14 by Anne Marie Lane Jonah. In it she describes her work this way: “This is settler history that aspires to converse with Indigenous history, but it is not an attempt to tell the Mi’kmaw story or explain the Mi’kmaw world view”. I consider her words a standard to live by.

So in addition to this glimpse at the Chignecto field notes, over the next weeks I will share a series of articles inspired by Chignecto, beginning with:

Covenant keeper – Experience Baker and the Swansea Baptists on Wednesday 28 October 2026

Fireweed and Rebellion – Families of Chignecto on Wednesday 25 November 2026.

Wednesday 9 December 2026 will see a return of the Atlantic Canadian Women of the Cloth series with Yorkshire Rose – Mary Field Wry and Tillie on Wednesday 9 December 2026

As usual each blog will include a recipe from My Mother’s Cookbooks …

Cheers, Elizabeth Lyons Morrison.

Through the lens of Experience:

Northport Beach, July 2026 – Elizabeth Lyons Morrison
Slacks Cove, Tantramar, NB – Photo courtesy of Katherine Lei
Tantramar River – October 2025 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison
Tidnish, NS site of the Chignecto Ship Railway – July 2026 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison
Chignecto Isthmus at Pecks Cove, NB where rock grows sideways – July 2025 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

Sackville, NB’s Fall Fair – September 2026 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

Footnotes and Explanations:

  1. Siknikt Territory: “Siknikt/Sikniktuk translates to ‘a drainage place.'” Learn more about the boundaries and ancestral treaty history of the region via the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre ↩︎
  2. Ecological Connectivity: Explore how the land bridge acts as a vital ecological corridor for wildlife in this interactive Wabanaki-Acadian Forest StoryMap. ↩︎
  3. Mi’kmaq Cultural Landscape: Read a deeper analysis of traditional Indigenous worldviews and long-term relationships to the land in the Introduction to Mi’kma’ki Guide. ↩︎
  4. Bay of Fundy Tides: Discover the unique mechanics of basin resonance and funnel-shaped geography behind the world’s highest tides on Parks Canada. ↩︎
  5. Chignecto Historical Overview: Review the multi-perspective history of these ancient, shared landscapes in the Revealing Chignecto Exhibit Framework ↩︎
  6. Acadian Settlement Origins: Trace the life and lineage of merchant, surgeon, and Beaubassin founder Jacques Bourgeois through the Tantramar Heritage Trust. ↩︎
  7. Early Colonial Conflicts: Read about the devastating 1696 and 1704 New England frontier raids on the settlement via Fort Beauséjour’s First Warfare History Page. ↩︎
  8. The Burning of Beaubassin: Review the archeological evidence and the 1750 deliberate destruction of the community on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. ↩︎
  9. Acadian Expulsion: Read the full federal history and plaque text commemorating the 1755 Grand Dérangement on the Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. ↩︎
  10. Fort Gaspareaux Resistance: Explore the history of the sparse British occupation and the 1756 ambush of provincial soldiers at Fort Gaspareaux National Historic Site. ↩︎
  11. The Planter and Yorkshire Migration: Read about the massive resettlement shift from military control to incoming Anglo-Protestant farming families in the Settlers from Yorkshire Records. ↩︎
  12. The Eddy Rebellion: Read the month-long tactical timeline of Colonel Jonathan Eddy’s historical assault in The 1776 Siege of Fort Cumberland Chronology. ↩︎
  13. Loyalist Influx & Colony Separation: Track the post-war arrival of 45,000 refugees and the subsequent August 1784 boundary line split in The Canadian Encyclopedia’s New Brunswick Timeline. ↩︎
  14. Public History Collaboration: Review the complete methodology for connecting settler and Indigenous histories in Anne Marie Lane Jonah’s open-access paper, Revealing the History of the Isthmus of Chignecto: Toward Truth and Reconciliation. ↩︎

Acknowledgement: I acknowledge that the land on which I live and write about is the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.

Trains, Harvest and Depression Stew.

The first harvest of new potatoes, baby carrots, new onions, tender peas and beans…always makes me think of my Grandmother’s (and Mother’s) Depression Stew1.

Dungarvan Whooper at Blackville, NB c.1890 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

The railway is credited with helping develop this country. The settlement of western Canada did depend heavily on the railway, but the role of the railway in development of industry and the transportation of goods to market in all parts of the country was also significant.

Railway construction crew c.1890 New Brunswick Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

Beginning in 1890 the railway became a tool for increased settlement in the Prairies, with onset of “Harvest Excursions2“. Shortage of workers in the region was a problem generally but during harvest particularly so. A campaign of propaganda designed to lure young men to the prairie harvest, with the eye on many deciding to settle, began.

Canadian Pacific line c.1900 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

Fueled by the overwhelmed cries of desperate wheat farmers, and by the railway’s desire to settle the land they owned and served in the prairies, the campaign focused on the nation’s need for a successful harvest. Drawing on nationalistic pride which grew fiercer during the war years. Ads, flyers and the rumour mills presented the ‘best case’ and were often more than a little exaggerated from reality.

First Class train car c.1927 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

Harvest Trains offered cut rates from a main line anywhere in the country to Winnipeg, then a penny a mile for the remaining distance, depending upon where workers were headed.

A woodburning engine c1890 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

My Grandfather William James Walls went to Saskachewan in 1903, and soon after acquired a property to work. Several years later Grandfather returned to New Brunswick, married my Grandmother and in 1910 they returned to homestead, settling near Halbrite Saskatchewan. In addition to my Grandparents, his parents Isaac and Dorothy (McKinnon) Walls and several of his siblings went west on the same Settler train. Where my Grandparents and one of Grandfather Billy’s brothers, Charles Walls eventually returned to New Brunswick to live, the other family members remained in Sackatchewan.

The Ocean Limited c.1930 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

I suspect Grandfather Billy made his first trip on a harvest train. It is unlikely he would have had the money for regular fare. He would have joined his comrades on the stark wooden bench seats night and day for the entire 5 day trip. The fares were cut rate, and so were the accommodations. No dining cars, meals were the sandwiches carefully tucked in their cases sometimes accompanied by alcohol. For those who did not bring their own, others were more than able to supply it.

Standard class train accommodation c.1900 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

Harvest trains quickly became notorious for the acts of vandalism, theft and violence which followed in the wake of hundreds of bored young men, some fuel by drink. Reputation aside the collective and individual effort of the harvest workers was essential to the development of the region and continued from its first inception in 1890 until 1930.

Drought and the Great Depression would see many young men from those same Prairie communities jumping freight trains in search of work. Their reputation as Bums and ne’re-do-wells was just as erroneous as their harvester predecessors being labeled as thugs, drunks and thieves. Grandmother Edie knew the difference and did what she could to help those with less than her family.

Eastern Canadian Railway c.1890 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Family Heritage site.

During the depression, despite having little money to buy food, particularly meat to feed her family, what she had she shared with anyone who was in need, including the travelers who found themselves at her door on the Station(train) Road in Blackville, NB.

Many years later my uncle Isaac Walls while in Saskatchewan with the United Church of Canada, was asked by a church member where he was from in New Brunswick. Ike replied that his home of Blackville was a small community and it was likely the gent would never have heard of it. The man laughed and explained he had visited Blackville on a freight train during the depression. He went on to inquire if my uncle knew the kind woman who had fed him, she and her husband had once homesteaded in Saskatchewan…it was Grandmother Edie.

What exactly Grandmother Edie fed this man I can’ t know, but if his visit was in summer there is a good chance she might have fed him some of her Depression Stew.

The My Mother’s Cookbook’s Depression Stew, the meatless stew presents the delicious tender veggies in a rich cream sauce. Not a health food version of veggies but one which I permit myself once each summer…and it is worth it.

Depression Stew

Ingredients:
A selection of fresh, young ‘baby’ veggies including but not limited to: Potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, beans, swede, etc.
Cream
2 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
Method:
1. Clean, and pare veggies to assure even cooking time;
2. Place in a large pot and add salt and water to just cover;
3. Bring to boil over high heat, reduce to simmer and cook until tender;
4. Drain about half of the remaining water;
5. Add enough cream to cover the veggies;
6. Add butter and return to a low heat to heat through;
7. Season to taste, ENJOY.

Explanations and Resources:
1. Depression stew is the name my family call this main meal veggie dish, made with fresh tender veggies and cream. Some versions are known as Summer stew, Brugoo; and Veggie stew. Other less rich versions use canned condensed milk, and a slurry of flour and water to thicken the sauce. A version I encountered in the Acadian Community of Isle Madame uses salt fish in the stew.
2. Harvest Trains operated from 1890 until the summer of 1930. Homesteading farmers could sow more acreage in spring than they could harvest. The cutting and thrashing of wheat was highly labour intensive, requiring a team of men for the farm’s harvest period. The maritime provinces, Quebec and Ontario supplied the harvest workers, as loggers, miners and labourers seeking new opportunity joined their ranks. Some harvesters traveled home after each season, using the extra income to support their lives, and families in the east. Other’s like my Grandfather and his kin homesteaded and remained (at least for a period). The descendants of Isaac Walls and Dorothy McKinnon Walls can be found a variety of areas (and countries) most especially New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.
3. The Harvest Train — When Maritimers Worked in the Canadian West, 1890 to 1928 by A.A. MacKenzie Breton Books 1982
4. The Canadian Encyclopedia – Harvest Excursions https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/harvest-excursions

Apples, Cider and Bettys?

A quick drive thru rural areas of Canada’s Maritime provinces reveals countless abandoned homesteads. Some with remnants of buildings, houses, barns, etc. others are marked by trees, apple trees. Despite filling the spring air with their glorious blossoms these wild apples are mostly, small, sour, and unpalatable.

Photo courtesy of Nova Scotia Archives Photographic Collection c.1950 Image #201603573

You could be forgiven for thinking apples are native to North America, but they aren’t, nor are they native to Europe. Apples originate in Asia, and owe their worldwide prevalence to the Silk/Spice trade routes1, although some say we owe our North American apples to cider.

Apples had an important presence in Abigail Lyon’s life. The daughter of a prosperous farming family in colonial Connecticut, Abigail grew up picking, eating and processing apples. Abigail’s father John raised a variety of crops and livestock, including apples and other tree fruit. Some of the apples Abigail helped to pick, she accompanied to the kitchen for preserving, drying, or made into apple sauce and apple butter. The majority of the apples, those with poor texture, taste and lacking the sweetness of eating apples, were fermented into apple cider and apple cider vinegar2.

Mary Rose Wilkins knew apples too, although in her early years in the newly established Halifax, Nova Scotia her father Walter, purchased them for both his family and his business. The apples and apple cider arrived packed in barrels from New England but not from nearby Acadie.

Old French Apple Trees – Photo courtesy of the Clara Dennis Collection at the Nova Scotia Archives #630

Mary Rose, like most children and adults elsewhere in Nova Scotia; in Virginia; Acadie and New England, drank apple cider with most meals, even breakfast. Loosing her mother at 5 years old, did not hamper Mary Rose learning the skills she would need as a wife and mother. The raids by Mi’kmaq and Acadians3 which occurred with tragic frequency, despite fortifications and military guards meant Mary spent much of her time with the women of the household, watching, helping and learning. Fall was especially busy with lots for Mary Rose to absorb, about important winter preparations, harvesting, preserving, and processing food including apples. By the time of her marriage to Alexander MacKenzie, 16 year old Mary Rose was well familiar with household duties, although not with farm or even township life.

Mary Rose arrived at Stoney Beach4 on the Annapolis river about 1765, 10 years after Acadians had been forced from their land. Only foundations, root cellars and neglected orchards remained of the once vibrant and productive community. Mary Rose and Alexander MacKenzie claimed and eventually built a home on their township lot and farmed the former Acadian lands they were granted.

Farmer plowing among apple trees nearing Canning, NS – Photo courtesy of the NS Archives Image NSIS 6853.

Fortunately apple trees are relatively long lived, maturing around 4 years and remaining productive for 20 or more years, even when neglected. In the early years working their land Mary Rose and Alexander depended upon the area’s natural bounty of fish, game, greens, and berries but also upon apples trees which had been planted and tended by Acadian farmers. Dykes which had been damaged in storms after the expulsion of Acadians had to be repaired and fertile farm land returned to production. Eventually Alexander and Mary Rose renewed the orchards replacing older trees with younger and more productive ones. Apples, and apple cider along with a range of fruits, vegetables and other farm produce from the region went to market in Halifax, Newfoundland, New England, and eventually to troops and refugees of the Revolutionary war.

In June 1775, the force of political dissent which had turned neighbours and kin against each arrived in Redding Connecticut. Abigail’s father John’s political support of the British Crown saw his land seized and a mob of his neighbours bent on executing him, sent him fleeing for his life. For Abigail, her siblings, and their Mother Hepzibah Betts Lyon their once comfortable life and social status were gone, replaced by threats and insecurity.

Picking apples ca. 1950 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives

It would be two years before the family were able to escape Redding, and join John in Lloyds Neck, Long Island, NY5 where he was garrisoned. The refugee settlement which grew up around the Lloyds Neck garrison meant improved security, and meant John was available to remove some of the burden of care his wife had born alone.

Strategic importance to supply routes and its natural defenses, made Lloyds Neck a logical place for the British military to headquarter. Lloyds Neck was also blessed with reliable sources of food. The waters of Long Island sound provided fresh fish, and shell fish, the surrounding land was rich with wild game, productive wheat fields and farm produce including berries and fruits, pears, plums and apples. Abigail and her siblings helped with gathering food, harvesting, and foraging, but also gathering fire wood, and hundreds of other tasks life now required, all under the watchful eyes of adults.

‘Mother and Children’ Emma Mae Blackmore and her children c.1900 Photo courtesy of Our Miramichi Heritage family.

Life was far from normal, living in tents during summer, sheltering in any available structure in winter, windowless barns, sheds even military structures. The Lloyds Neck refugees did all they could to maintain normalcy, including arranging school for their children. By attending school Abigail and her siblings were able to continue their education, and were provided some distraction from the unrelenting fear of rebel attack. The constant vigilance life in a war time refugee camp required was eased during those hours at school, eased for both the children and Hepzibah.

In the Laboratory – a lesson on apples at McDonald Consolidated School, Kingston, Kings County, NB ca. 1900 Photo courtesy of the

Threats of violence and disease were unrelenting company for the entire 6 years Abigail remained in Lloyd’s Neck. Sadly, it took a tragic toll on the young family, Abigail’s baby brother George, who had been born in the immediate months following his father’s flight from Redding, died at Lloyds Neck, NY in 1780.

In April 1783, with the hope of a crown victory long since gone, the Lyon family along with other Lloyd’s Neck Loyalists6 embarked the ship Union for Nova Scotia, several weeks later they arrived at Parr town at the mouth of the Saint John River. Eventually, they and a sizable number of former Loyalist refugees made their way to the land they had been granted at what would become known as the Kingston Peninsula, founding the first Loyalist settlement in Nova Scotia (New Brunswick).

The Kingston Peninsula, a fertile isthmus of land between the St John River and the Kennebecasis River represented opportunity but also struggle and hardship. There were houses to build, land to cultivate and apple 7 seeds to plant…

Lower Kingston, Kings County, New Brunswick. c. 1905 Photo courtesy of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Image # P61-184.

Abigail and Mary Rose drank and made apple cider, but they also harvested and prepared apples, those with a sweet taste, and good texture, were made into condiments and desserts for their families. Apple sauce, apple butter, pies, tarts, dumplings and brown bettys all made appearance. The My Mother’s Cookbooks recipe for Apple brown betty is a healthier version than the traditional flour, butter, sugar crumb topping. Traditional betty recipes eventually, because of the lack of availability of wheat flour, became ‘crisps’ with the substitution of oats… Abigail and Mary Rose used what they had available, so this combination recipe is close to their experience.

My Mother’s Cookbooks

Apple Brown Betty:

Ingredients:
8 tart apples, remove the core, peel and slice
1/2 c raisins (optional)
1/2 c honey
1/2 c apple cider, apple juice, apple tea or water
1/4 c brown sugar
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
3/4 c rolled oats
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c honey
4 Tbsp butter, margarine or lard
Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F;
2) Combine filling ingredients in a bowl, toss to combine and place in a greased 7″ x 11″ baking pan;
3) Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, cut in fat, sprinkle mixture over the apples and bake for 45-50 minutes.

One of the wild apple tree on the MacNeil homestead, Irish Cove, Cape Breton ca. 2014 Elizabeth Morrison

Footnotes and Resources:

  1. Silk and Spice routes: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/what-are-spice- routes#:~:text=The%20Spice%20Routes%2C%20also%20known,across%20the%20Mediterranean%20to%20Europe. ↩︎
  2. Apple Cider vinegar – Apple cider has long been viewed by historians as the reason why new settlers to North America brought apple seeds with them from Europe. It is true that fermented drinking cider was already well entrenched in European society by the mid 1600s and it took until prohibition to take cider out of daily use. Apple cider was also needed to make apple cider vinegar, an additional step of fermentation and the cider became vinegar. Apple cider vinegar had many uses, as a condiment, a health remedy, a cleaning agent and most importantly to preserve food, vegetables particularly. ↩︎
  3. The British Crown’s decision to found a fortified settlement in Nova Scotia was unilateral, driven by competition with France, and severed a peace treaty with Mi’kmaq peoples. Raids by Mi’kmaq and their allies the Acadians but supplied out of Louisbourg by the French, were met with retaliation and escalation. The conflict is known as Father Le Loutre’s War. Who was Father LeLoutre? http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/le_loutre_jean_louis_4F.html ↩︎
  4. Stoney Beach, Kings County, Nova Scotia is located near Port Royal on the Annapolis River, about 3 km from Melanson’s Settlement. Melanson’s Settlement was settled by Acadians Charles Melanson and his wife Marie Dugas about 1664. The community of Melanson and related families was a sizable settlement until the forced expulsion from their lands in 1755. For more information on Charles and Marie Melanson: https://www.acadian.org/genealogy/families/melanson/ ↩︎
  5. Lloyds Neck, Long Island, New York was home to one of the largest Loyalist refuge camps in New York. Part of the area is now a state park:https://parks.ny.gov/parks/caumsett ↩︎
  6. Loyalists or Tories as they were known during the Revolutionary War were those in New England who remained loyal to the British Crown. Loyalists related resources: At Library and Archives Canada – https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/loyalists/Pages/introduction.aspx
    The Loyalist refugee ship Union https://uelac.ca/loyalist-ships/union/
    On Hepzibeth Betts Lyon (by Stephen Davis, Lyon descendant) https://uelac.ca/loyalist-trails/loyalist-trails-2009-39/#Wife ↩︎
  7. Apples: https://vermontapples.org/all-about-apples/a-brief-history-of-apples/
    Propagation of Apple trees using grafting: https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/janick-papers/c09.pdf ↩︎

Don’t miss this week’s release of Fanny Frugal Food Hacks – Fat Fancy?

Marshlands of the Cumberland township. Photo rights: F. Elizabeth Morrison 2024.

If you can’t stand the heat…use the summer kitchen?

When convenience didn’t involve a corner store and bread came from the oven, not a bag.

I grew up in five different houses… the first my Dad started after my parents married using his army severance pay. The house was modest and very much a house of it’s time, it remained a work in progress until Dad decided to enter ministry.

The Carnahan family home c.1890, with kitchen as a separate wing. Photo courtesy of Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site

Dad’s decision would take us to a series of large century homes which served as church manses/rectories. These houses had formal livingrooms, formal diningrooms, inside parlours; large kitchens, bathrooms, and 4 or bedrooms. Most also had remnants of a ‘summer kitchen’.

Advocate Harbour, NS, Methodist Manse C.1910 Photo courtesy of the Advocate Harbour, NS and Area…Families and History FB site.

Today’s trend of ‘summer kitchens1‘ is not a new one…although the 19th century version was a bit different than the high end outdoor living, barbecue, wood fired ovens, cook tops and swim up bars of today.

Gerrish house, Blackville, NB c. 1980 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site

When Jane McRae Bean Gerrish and her new husband James Gerrish were building their home in 1915, they decided to include a summer kitchen. Jane and her first husband James Bean were merchants in the village of Blackville, NB, Jane continued the business after his death and after her remarriage two years later.

The Gerrish home included a winter kitchen and the property boasted a separate structure to house the kitchen in summer. Jane is well known for her business acumen, it is likely the addition of a summer kitchen reflected a business opportunity. A business investment without inconveniencing her family.

Sporting goods store, the former summer kitchen to the Gerrish Family, Blackville, NB C.1980 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site

Summer kitchens which developed in northern areas of the United States in the 1850’s did so largely as a result of technology. In particular, cast iron cook stoves replaced inefficient fireplaces as the heat source for cooking. Where previously the issue was the amount and cost of fuel, the issue quickly became too much heat. In summer houses which were poorly or not insulated at all, were hot, particularly in second floor bedrooms. Additional heat from cast iron wood fired or coal fired stoves was unwelcome in summer months, but a benefit in winter. The solution for anyone who could afford it was a ‘summer kitchen’.

Mary Ann Morrison Campbell and her husband Alexander were grocery merchants on Lingan Road, Whitney Pier2, Cape Breton. Their home and business was located on the residential street, walking distance from the steel plant, coke ovens, and the extensive infrastructure of a busy port and steel making center. Did their house and business have a dedicated ‘summer kitchen’? In all likelihood Mary Ann and Alex made some accommodation for the heat from cooking during summer months, A semi-detached ‘outbuilding’ which could act as a kitchen location were common among those with sufficient land.

Kitchens of the day were not like those we know… Kitchen equipment was mobile, the stove could be taken apart and moved. Tables, sideboards and equipment free standing and movable to a temporary summer structure.

Whitney Pier neighbourhood c.1910 Photo courtesy of Vintage Photos of Cape Breton

Rural communities and small villages afforded plenty of opportunity for a summer kitchen to be used. Garden and orchard produce, wild harvest all required processing, pickling, canning, curing, or to be made in to jellies, jams, ciders, cordials, etc. Kitchens were places of industry, where women prepared products to consume, sell or trade.

Miramichi home and women c.1890 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site

For Jane this meant drawing on her Scottish heritage to turn her husband’s farm produce in to products from her summer kitchen for sale to her store customers. Blackville, NB was a mill town in the midst of a boom, bringing men from surrounding communities to work and providing a ready client base of men looking for conveniently prepared food.

It is also likely Mary Ann would have prepared and sold products familiar to her and her Scottish neighbours but she would have also included a mix of food from cultures represented in her community of Lingan road3. Blood pudding, and haggis would share the stage with polish sausage, keilbasa and other foods made by neighbourhood women. Mary Ann might well have purchased polish sausage, and pickled it herself for sale to the steel workers flooding the town.

Whitney pier c. 1910 Photo courtesy of Vintage Photos of Cape Breton

In early summer, the focus of work would be the harvest of wild strawberries and raspberries for preserving in jams and jellies. Jams and jellies which would be enjoyed with that most common kitchen product, winter and summer… bread.

The My Mother’s Cookbooks whole wheat bread (60%)

Ingredients:
2 pkgs dry active yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3/4 cup milk
1 cup water
1/3 cup butter or margarine (shortening)
4 Tbsp molasses
1Tbsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sifted all – purpose flour
Method:
1) Preheat over to 400 degrees F;
2) In a small bowl mix yeast, lukewarm water and sugar together, placing it in a warm place to prove;
3) Place scaled milk, water, butter, molasses and salt together in a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature;
4) Add yeast mixture to milk mixture;
5) Work in flour until it mix comes together and can be turned out on a floured surface for kneading;
6) Knead until the dough is smooth;
7) Place in a clean, greased bowl, brush with melted butter or margarine, cover and place in a warm site to double in size about 11/2 to 13/4 hours;
8) Turn on to a floured surface and knead just to deflate;
9) Cut in to two pieces, cover and let rest 10 minutes;
10) Form into two loaves and place in greased bread pans (9″ x 5″ x 3″);
11) Let rise until doubled about 40 minutes;
12)Place in a 400 degree F oven for 15 minutes, decrease heat to 375 degrees F for an additional 35 minutes or until done;
13) Turn out and brush with melted butter or margarine while still warm.

A bit about Jane and Mary Ann:

Jane Craig MacRae Bean Gerrish
Born: 6 March 1862, Blissfield, Northumberland County, New Brunswick
Died: 23 June 1952, Blackville, Northumberland County, New Brunswick
Parents: John MacRae and Hannah (Helen) Weaver MacRae
Married: 1st James Bean m.1879; 2nd James Gerrish m.1915

Mary Ann Morrison Campbell
Born: 28 April 1883, Morrison Glen; Cape Breton County, NS
Died: 22 August 1952, Sydney, Cape Breton County, NS
Parents: Joseph Morrison and Jessie McKinnon Morrison
Married: Alexander Archibald Campbell

Explanations and Resources:
  1. Summer Kitchens – Kitchens separate and distinct from the household were common in the southern colonies, where slaves did the food preparation. Kitchen buildings included a second story to house the slaves sleeping quarters. These structures assured families the comfort and protection from heat, smells and fire risk associated with kitchen environments. In northern colonies summer kitchen developed after the invention of the cook stove. Sometimes separate and distinction structures but more often than not semi detached spaces which could be converted to meet the season requirements. Summer kitchens did not go unused during winter months but instead were used for other smelly work, such as laundry.
  2. Whitney Pier, Cape Breton County, NS was named for Industrialist Herman Melville Whitney who established the Dominion Coal Company (1893) and the Dominion Coal and Steel Company (1901). Whitney Pier developed as a result of two major industries, coal mining and steel making. Whitney Pier a working class community was at the nexus of the two industries in Cape Breton, separated from Sydney by the steel plant property and connected to coal mining centers of Glace Bay and New Waterford by extensive rail systems designed to bring coal for use in the steel plant or shipped from the pier. The ‘Pier’ is a unique and diverse community built by steel workers and coal miners from across the world drawn by the promise of jobs during the early years of the 20th century.
  3. Lingan Road, now a part of the larger community once known as Whitney Pier in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. The community is comprised of modest working class family homes whose back gardens were linked by a back lane, which facilitated communication and interaction. Those who grew up in the area remember fondly the comings and goings on those back lanes and appreciate their role in the texture of the community.
  4. Summer Kitchen – an article by the Pennsylvania Agricultural project: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/agriculture/field-guide/summer-kitchen.html
  5. Kitchens Apart – An essay by Michael Olmert at the University of Maryland as part of his larger series “Kitchens, Smokehouses, and Privies: Outbuildings and the Architecture of Daily Life in the Eighteenth-Century Mid-Atlantic”
The former Advocate Harbour, NS Methodist and United church Manse c. 2020 Photo courtesy of the Advocate Harbour, NS and Area…Families and History FB site.

Strawberry fields and pit heads…

There are certain recipes in the My Mother’s Cookbook recipes which can be altered to create what Mum called “Best” versions, made with ‘rich’ ingredients, margarine replaced with butter, milk with cream, increased sugar and fat. These ‘best’ versions appeared only on special occasions…like the first spring strawberries marked with the ‘best’ strawberry shortcake.

c. 1890 Mother and children – Photo courtesy of Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site.

Alma Myrtle McPherson was born in Springhill, NS in October of 1889, her father Angus was second generation Cape Breton born coal miner of Scottish ancestry. Annie B. Coleman McPherson, Myrtle’s mother was also of mining stock, she was born in Albert Mines, NB1 where her Yorkshire mining family settled during the 1850’s. The Coleman family mining roots extend back beyond the family’s immigration from England first to Nova Scotia then to New Brunswick. Generations of women after women raising their families in coal mining towns, in company towns.

Company town, single industry, model town, planned town, workers town were towns and infrastructure built to serve the workforce of a single industry, often a single company. It was especially common in ‘boom’ towns, where local infrastructure was inadequate to meet the needs of a burgeoning population.

Boom town Glace Bay, NS c.1900 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives.

Textile mills, sawmills, mines, pulp mills, and many other mines, and factories had towns develop around them to serve their workforce. Company owned houses for rent, company stores supplied staples, everything a family needed, shoes to flour and oatmeal, all conveniently docked from the miners pay envelope.

Miners at the No 1 colliery Dominion Coal Company c.1920 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives.

Company owned towns quickly became the business model of choice, one typified by abuse of power and financial gain on the backs of people with little or no choice. A ‘company town’ represented a financial opportunity for company owners, debt and poverty for workers and their families.

Miner company homes c.1900 in the Sydney Coal fields Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives

Albert Mines, NB; Springhill, NS and New Waterford, NS were company towns in the truest sense. All three owed their existence to mining and the miners who toiled underground in dangerous conditions.

Albert Mines, NB c.1860 Photo courtesy of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick P1-21

Conditions in company rental homes were over crowded, the houses had no sanitation, no insulation and limited heat. The water source was some distance and in the case of areas of Cape Breton shared with the mine stables.

Whitney pier, Cape Breton Steel plant c.1900 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives.

Myrtle and her Mother Annie were expert at keeping starvation at bay. Depending upon bread, porridge, potatoes, and a short supply of protein. Small amounts of protein were stretched with pork fat in stews and other dishes. Fish, also appeared in various forms fresh, smoked, salted depending on availability and ability to pay. The diet of mining families was limited and repetitive.

Coal mining town, Reserve Mines, NS c1920 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives.

Most families grew potatoes in their limited back yard. Local harvest of wild game and fish was difficult except during production shut down periods. Miners worked 10 hour days 6 days a week, but production shut downs occurred frequently, leaving families without income. Mining families like the McPherson and Coleman families did not have farms to return to during shut down periods as some miner/farmers had.

In June and July wild strawberries and woodland strawberries ripen across Canada. They can be found in most areas, at the edges of roadways and even in poorly kept lawns. The tiny fruit are well worth effort of the tedious picking, sweet and tasty they lend themselves to enjoyment in a variety of forms… served with cream and sugar, preserved as jam but most frequently as strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry fields c1890 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site

Strawberry shortcake2 first appeared as early as 1588, but it would take until the 1850s for it to experience widespread popularity. Myrtle and Annie might well have saved a bit of wheat flour, sugar and fat to make shortcake.

Myrtle married William Davis in 1904, and settled in New Waterford, NS. Bill a Glouchestershire, England born multi generational miner worked for the British Empire Steel Company (BESCO). Myrtle’s parents Annie and Angus McPherson also moved to New Waterford during the early boom years to work in the some 16 collieries owned by the company.

Miners at shift end c.1930 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives

Labour disputes between miners and British Empire Steel Company (BESCO), were frequent as wages began a downward trend. BESCO, began their ownership with an intention to break the miners solidarity to the United Mine Workers of America. In January 1925 at the end of the current contract BESCO refused to negotiate with the union. On 2 March, BESCO stores refused all credit to miners. This act effectively served to starve miners families out, putting pressure from families on miners to cease their support of UMWA. By June mine families were in dire straits, food was scarce.

Spring trout, clams, smelts, etc which could be harvested locally by women and children would have supplemented the family’s food resources. Berries, particularly sweet strawberries would have been scooped up and eaten by the hand full. Those which made it home might just have had a dusting of sugar, and if they were fortunate maybe accompanied by a bit of whole milk, from a generous neighbour’s cow. 1925 would not be a year for celebrating strawberries…

On the morning of 11 June 1925, a riot erupted, provoked by well armed company police force. Just shortly before noon during a rush of the crowd by company police, a private police officer took direct aim at Bill Davis’s chest, killing him instantly.

Bill Davis’ murder was met by renewed resolve by fellow miners, the events would eventually see the government side with the company ordering troops on to the streets of mining communities across the region. Miners set up a fund for Myrtle and the family but her oldest son Thomas3 would seek work in the mine to provide for the family. In September of 1925 Myrtle gave birth to her 10th child a boy, she would eventually use some of the money from the fund to purchase a stone grave marker for her husband Bill Davis.

When I prepare Mum’s best Strawberry shortcake recipe, which I do at least once each season, I use the sweetest local commercially grown berries available. Harvesting wild strawberries is a thing of the past just as boy miners and company homes are of the past. But the hard won improvements in safety, working conditions and fair wages endure…

Best Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients
2 cups of All purpose flour
1/4 cup of sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp (reserved) cold butter
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp soda
1 cup Buttermilk or soured milk
1 qt strawberries hulled and clean
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 c Whipping cream
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method:
1) Add 2 Tbsp sugar to prepared berries, and toss gently set aside to mascerate.
2) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.;
3) Sift flour and other dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl;
4) Cut shortening and cold butter in to the dry ingredients using a pastry blender, until mix reaches a med crumb.
5) Add buttermilk and mix gently. Place on a lightly floured surface, and shape into a 9 in x 9 in square of dough.
5) Cut in to pieces, and place in a 9in x 9in square pan;
6) Bake 20 minutes until slightly golden brown on top.
7) Whip cream, add salt, sugar and vanilla continue beating until soft peaks form.
8) Once the short cake is cooled, serve with berries and cream.

Explanations and Resources:
1. Albert Mines, NB was a mining community which developed at a site in Albert county NB, where Abraham Gesner, used a recently identified ore called Albertite. Albertite is a black shiny rock comprised of hydrocarbons which Gesner was able to use to discover kerosene. Kerosene was the first replacement for whale blubber as lamp oil. From 1854 until 1884 Albertite was mined and sent to Boston for use as lamp oil. Albertite was the beginning of petroleum extraction which would ultimately lead to the oil and gas industry of today.
2. Strawberry shortcake appeared first in an English Cookery book of 1588 according to industry sources.
3. Thomas Davis the oldest son of William Davis and Alma Myrtle McPherson Davis, was named for the older brother of William Davis who died in one of the worst mine disasters in Canadian history. Thomas Davis died on 21 February 1891 in the Springhill mine explosion. Thomas was one of 17 boys under 16 years killed that day, a total of 125 men died in the explosion.
4. Albert county Museum https://www.albertcountymuseum.com/mining
5. Glace Bay’s Miners Museum at https://www.minersmuseum.com/

The Holiday Favourites list…

Frying pan cookies and canned peas?

Christmas on the Miramichi, Miramichi, New Brunswick Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FBsite.

Recently, while browsing through some of the recipes in the My Mother’s Cookbooks collection I came across one of Mum’s handwritten holiday menus. A list of all of the special foods she planned to prepare, share and serve during the season. It contained all of the usual suspects, Squash Puff, Cornish Pasties, Whipped Shortbreads, Buttertarts, Doughnuts, Fruit bread, Sausage rolls, etc. including Frying Pan Cookies.

I remember frying pan cookies, they appeared perrennially each Holiday season, but I don’t recall them being anyone’s favourite. Mum spent weeks cooking and baking from her lovingly maintained list of each family member’s favourite foods. Come the Holidays some of each of the prepared favourites would be retained for everyone to share, the remainder packaged for the favoured family member to ‘take home’. Which of course helps explain the size and complexity of Mum’s Holiday menu.

Holiday preparations, Christmas tree harvesters, Miramichi, NB c.1945 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site.

Mum loved to discover new foods and managed to embrace the small bits of diverse culture and tradition she encountered, honouring and respecting those whose life and times intersected with hers, using food. At Holiday time that meant providing the best traditional experience for each and everyone at her table through their favourite holiday foods.

The Buckley Family Christmas c. 1915, Guysborough, NS Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives Buckely Family collection, William H. Buckley Photo # 1985-386 #22

When my then boyfriend, now husband Ray, found himself with a last minute change of his holiday plans, of course he was invited to spend the Holiday at my parent’s home. The haste of invitation restricted Mum from learning about Ray’s favourite foods and her limited knowledge of his background precluded her from preparing something specifically for him.

Ray’s first Christmas with our family was already heading for the record books. Christmas dinner was being hosted by Eleanor, My sister in law Darlene’s Mother, aided by her son a professional chief. The meal was outstanding, variety of roasted meats, vegetables, salads, and desserts, oh the desserts. After a lovely meal and time spent catching up on the year’s events in our lives, Ray and I along with my parents began the hour long drive back to my parent’s home.

Christmas Dinner at Vian Aandrews’ c. 1950 A John Collier jr photo courtesy of the Alexander H. Leighton Collection at the NS Archives Image # 1988-413 negative 1895-d.

During the drive, the meal we had just consumed was lauded and appreciated by everyone. It was Dad, who’d pointed out delicious tho it had been, it had not been a ‘true’ Christmas dinner. He’d missed the turnip, and jellied salad had not replaced his favourite squash puff. Ray empathizing with Dad chimed in that yes, he’d missed the canned peas, with the turkey. Mum turned to meet his eyes in the darken car. “Now that is interesting Ray. Canned peas, to go with your turkey dinner. It is a good thing I have the turkey thawed, we will just have our true Christmas feast tomorrow”.

Christmas in the Miramichi, Miramichi, NS Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site.

The next morning Boxing Day, Mum was up early with the turkey stuffed and in the oven before most of the family were roused for the day. My parents retirement home in the central New Brunswick community of Ludlow did not offer much in the way of retail experience, especially on Boxing Day. So I was surprised, as I wiped sleep from my eyes, to find Dad donning his jacket and boots, heading out to find an open convenience store. You see Mum did not have canned peas on hand.

Oh sure, there had been a time when canned peas had appeared on our family table but they had long since been replaced with the frozen variety. For Mum that did not mean they could be used in a pinch, not for Christmas dinner. Ray had said canned peas, canned peas he would have. Dad always Mum’s accomplice when it came to ‘doing’ for family, happily made the slog to the local Irving and snagged a can of peas.

The Height Family c. January 1951 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives. Photograph appears courtesy of the Alexander H. Leighton Collection at the Nova Scotia Archives – John Collier Jr. image 1988-413-4003-d

Ironically, I was the one who nearly ruined her plan to assure Ray had his peas just the way he liked. Fortunately, I was saved from an agregious mistake, by Ray’s observation ‘Oh you are heating the peas?’ You see Christmas dinner canned peas are not a ‘vegetable’ or at least not served as a one, they are served cold as a condiment, similar to cranberry sauce.

As was her habit canned peas along with a considerable number of Ray’s other favourite foods were added to her list of Holiday favourites. When I began writing this piece, I was stumped about whose list of favourites included Frying pan cookies. As I considered the recipe it became clear…dates, cherries, coconut; simple, quick, one dish…Frying pan cookies were Mum’s favourite.

My folks are both gone now but they live on in the hearts and minds of those who shared their table and spent time on Mum’s list of Holiday Favourites. A little last minute Holiday baking is in my future, Frying Pan cookies will make an appearance this year. Wishing you and your family the very best of the Holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year!

My Mother’s Cookbooks Frying Pan Cookies

Ingredients:
1cup white sugar
1 cup dates chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup candied cherries chopped
2 cups rice crisps
1/2 cup (or so) of shredded coconut

Method:
1. Place the sugar, dates, butter, egg, vanilla and salt in an electric fry pan cook for one minute.
2. Add cherries and rice crisps, stirring to combine.
3. Portion in to small balls and roll in coconut.

Acknowledgement: I acknowledge that the land on which I live and write about is the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.

Friends, Fruit and Sultana Cake

For Mum, Christmas Holiday baking began in October. Fruit cakes, plum puddings, gum drop cakes, things which need curing were first, followed by the long list of sweets and savories which had become favourites in our family. Christmas baking for Mum meant focusing on special recipes those reserved for Christmas, including Elizabeth Moody’s Sultana1 Cake.

Vickers family home, Blackville, NB c.1900 Photo courtesy of our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site.

The telling of how this recipe became part of the My Mother’s Cookbooks collection is almost as much a Christmas tradition as the cake it’s self. Elizabeth Maud Walls Moody born 1895 Blackville, Northumberland County, New Brunswick was a woman known for her baking, her Sultana Cake in particular, but she was also known not to share this recipe.

Not all cooks share their recipes. It is a personal choice, and quite reasonable considering the risks to reputation sharing a recipe might mean. Elizabeth did not share this recipe, but she made the cake and shared it, generously. How else would she and her Sultana cake have gained reputation?

c. 1930, Main street Blackville, NB Photo courtesy of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Blackville Historical Family Collection Image number P143-18

Women’s Institutes; The Red Cross; Home and School Associations; Hospital Auxiliary’s; Church women’s groups; Legion Auxiliary’s etc. represent women actively serving their communities. Fundraising, the means to do the work of the group depends heavily on the generosity of women like Elizabeth and Greta Vickers Sturgeon. Scratch under the surface and you see hours of back breaking work, volunteer effort, by women. Cooking, baking, serving, washing dishes, etc. all done in aid of the group’s cause, suppers, bake sales and catered events.

For Elizabeth and Greta gaining a reputation as a good baker resulted from long hours of community and church group service. When fund raising was needed, women like Elizabeth and Greta went to work. Both wives and mothers, Elizabeth and Greta knew each other well as they did most in the small community.

Main street Doaktown, NB c. 1909 Photo courtesy of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Miscellaneous Post card collection Image # P46-54

Greta and Elizabeth share deep roots in the Miramichi region of New Brunswick, their settler families were primarily from Scotland, Ireland, and England. Settlers drawn by the promise of the areas natural resources, timber, and fish. Blackville, located on the Southwest Branch of the Miramichi River was settled first by Davidson settlers prior to the Revolutionary war and became a business center and mill town in the 1850’s.

Bridge and Mill at Blackville, C. 1930s Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site.

It is common to see raisins in fruit cake recipes, along with the candied cherries and fruit peel. Fruit cake which has been in existence for hundreds if not thousands of years, was banned for a considerable period in Britain. Dried and preserved foods of all sorts were a practical reality during the Northern Appalachian Acadian winter when dried berries, meat, and fish comprised a large portion of the diet. So it is not surprising that during the Victorian period when Fruit Cakes began appearing as Christmas treats (encouraged by the festive green and red cherries) New Brunswickers were quick to assume it as Christmas tradition.

Elizabeth Moody’s Sultana cake is a ‘light’ fruit cake. Many fruit cake recipes are very fruit dense and the cake merely a vehicle to deliver the fruit. This cake is rich, moist and delicious on its own, with the fruit it is one of the best fruit cakes I have ever eaten.

So, how did it come that Elizabeth Moody’s recipe made its way in to the collection… Greta, despite being almost 20 years Mum’s senior, was a good friend and neighbour. Greta and her husband Freeman lived across the street from our family home, for the 17 years or so our family lived there. For many of those years, Greta and Mum met at least 3 times a week for a cuppa and chat. Usually, Mum would ‘just run over to Greta’s’ when she had a few minutes and there was an older sibling about to keep an eye on me, the youngest. Occasionally, I would accompany Mum to visit Greta, which I loved. I recall vividly those visits, and the cat clock which hung on Greta’s kitchen wall. The eyes tracking left and right, tale swinging right to left fascinating to my child mind and a great diversion as the two women chatted.

Blackville, NB train station c. 1890

One morning just before our family left Blackville in July of 1967, Greta invited Mum for a chat. Several times over the years of their friendship, the subject of Elizabeth’s Sultana Cake came up in their discussions, usually after one or the other had attended an event where the cake had appeared. Greta and Mum were avid bakers, and good friends. It surprised Mum to learn that Greta had the recipe, in fact had had it for some time. Greta who’d been sworn to secrecy by Elizabeth had spent considerable time agonizing whether to share the recipe with Mum. Now that Mum was leaving and knowing how much Mum enjoyed the cake she’d decided to break her promise to Elizabeth and share it with Mum. Mum kept to the strict promise she made to Greta. The cake remained ‘special’ it appeared only at Christmas, she never made it for any other purpose. Only after Elizabeth’s death in 1991 did I get my first copy of the recipe. I guess you can say friendship brought this recipe in to the My Mother’s Cookbooks Collection.

Elizabeth Moody’s Sultana Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup butter room temperature
1 1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla
1tsp almond extract
3 cups sifted flour, divided
1 cup warm milk
1 pkg white raisins (~ 11/2 cups)
1 pkg cherries (~1 cup)
1 pkg mixed peel and mixed fruit(~1 cup)

Method:
1. Preheat over to 250 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch x 5 inch x 3 inch loaf pans and set aside;
2. Cream butter and sugar until light in colour, add well beaten eggs and mix to combine;
3. Add lemon, vanilla and almond stir to combine;
4. In a separate bowl sift 2 1/2 cups of the flour, baking powder together and set aside;
5. Alternate adding the flour mix and milk, being careful not to over beat;
6. Dust fruit with the remaining flour and add to the cake batter, mix to combine;
7. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and place in the oven for 2 hours or until tester inserted in to the center of the cake comes out clean.

Elizabeth Maud Walls Moody
Born 22 April 1895, was the oldest child of Justus Walls and Elizabeth Ann Astle Walls. In 1912 at age 17 years, Elizabeth married Wilmot Moody and settled in Blackville to raise their family. Elizabeth and Wilmot had two children before Wilmot’s untimely death in 1923. Elizabeth raised their two children on her own, never remarrying. She lived in Blackville until her death in 1991.

Greta Myrtle Vickers Sturgeon
was born 16 Aug 1911 to Thomas Vickers and Lucinda Maud Astle. On 14 December 1927, Greta married Freeman Ernest Sturgeon. Freeman and Greta raised their 9 children in Blackville. Greta died in 1994, Freeman a year later.

T.C. Millar house, Derby, Northumberland County New Brunswick, C. 1892 Photo courtesy of Miramichi Historical Society Collection Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Image # P204-261

Explanations and References:
1. Sultana raisins are a variety of raisin, dried from white grapes of particular varieties. The term ‘Sultana’ was once used to refer to ‘raisin’ generally.

Christmas Doughnuts and House Girls…

There were many baked treats on Mum’s Christmas preparation list, but only one item warrants two versions…Doughnuts. The most Canadian of doughnuts does not come from a coffee shop, it does not have maple icing or a fancy name…it is a cake doughnut made with molasses. Once fried, the doughnuts may be rolled in granulated white sugar, although the non sugared version is my personal favourite.

The home of Otto and Amelia (Wilson) Hildebrand, Main Street Doaktown, NB ca 1905-10. (P156-34, PANB)

It is impossible to know when doughnuts first came to Canada, since fried batter in one form or another has been around for thousands of years. What we can say is that doughnuts saw a major upswing in popularity after veterans returned from the First World War. Many Canadian Soldiers were introduced to the delicious fried treat by French families, who were doing their part to support the young soldiers fighting in nearby trenches. A good many of those young soldiers returned home with the taste for doughnuts.

The lives of our early ancestors were difficult, but none more so than those coming to age in the first quarter of the 20th century. Nearly 50 years of growth and development both technologically and socially had increased expectations. Expectations for a life different from their parents, an easier one, more advanced and modern were promised, development and modernization do not however follow a straight path. No one could know the challenges which would present in the first half of the 20th century and how much they would challenge and frustrate the expectations people had for their lives.

Petites, NL Harbour,and Merchants Row. Photograph Courtesy of the Petites Church Newfoundland: Restoration Project Facebook site.

Molasses, began falling out of favour as a baking ingredient as soon as a regular and affordable supply of sugar became available. Molasses has a unique flavour profile, one far different from that of sugar, and then there’s the colour issue. The strong dark colour of molasses and its characteristic flavour contributed to the perception Molasses is ‘old fashioned’ and ‘poor mans food’, especially as a baking ingredient. Yet most families in the Atlantic region continued to have molasses on their tables well in to the 1960s.

Growing up in the bustling out port fishing community of Petites, on the southwest coast of Newfoundland Maud Blanche Tufts knew molasses, it was cheap and available (thanks to fish and its trade with the West Indies). The fishing industry in Newfoundland, upon which out port communities had been built, depended heavily on molasses. For the fleet of vessels fishing the nearby Rose Blanche fishing grounds and on shore where the fish was processed, molasses was staple, providing a cheap and satisfying source of carbohydrates., and micro-nutrients.

Petites, Newfoundland c.1950 Photograph Courtesy of the Petites Church Newfoundland: Restoration Project Facebook site

Petites, despite not boasting more than 200 residents, was a community built on serving not only the fishing industry but also supplying the smaller out ports of the region. Strategically located near the rich fishing grounds, and graced with a source of fresh spring water, Petites boasted up to 6 stores, one of which was operated by Maud and her husband Isaac Mauger. It is without doubt a puncheon1 of molasses graced their storeroom, and that locals and fishers alike depended upon it for their supply.

It would be easy to to think of Petites as isolated and insular during this time, but like Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Petites was well connected to the outside world and surprisingly cosmopolitan. Trade vessels which supplied communities like Glace Bay and Petites linked them to far flung places, including European, American and West Indian ports of call.

Train Trestle at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia c. 1900 Photo courtesy of the Cape Breton Island the other Scotland across the Atlantic FB site.

Sarah McDougall and her family relocated to Glace Bay, when her father Allan took full time work in the coal mining industry. For Sarah this move was transformational, her life transformed by new people, new foods and new opportunities not available in her rural Cape Breton Backland home.

Main Street, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia c. 1920 Photo courtesy of the Cape Breton Island the other Scotland across the Atlantic FB site.

For young women, respectable young women like Sarah, changing times, meant she could work outside of home, at least until her marriage. Some young women would seek training as nurses, and teachers, others moved to larger centers for work in factories or as store clerks but many women including Sarah found work as “house girls”2. Glace Bay at the turn of the century was a growing bustling industry town, with tram cars, stores, and people from all over the world seeking work in the mining and fishing industries. Merchants, businessmen, professionals and mine officials had the means to hire young women like Sarah to support their households, while the majority of citizens struggled to meet their basic needs. Until she married Sarah’s wages would have been added to her family’s resources with a bit reserved for Sarah to buy something for herself, a bit of pretty lace for her hat or a sugary treat from one of the local bakeries which served area workers. At home molasses remained a dietary staple.

It is not in the least surprising that at the end of the First War, once the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 -1919 had waned people wanted to celebrate. The lingering piety of the Victorian period was forced aside by enjoyment, indulgence and by a focus on the new, the modern and on luxury, doughnuts included.

Nelson Hollow – near Doketown, N.B. – scenic – wading on gravel bar – in Miramichi River, 1950. Ingenium digital archives Archival Number X-32648

Ethel O’Donnell of Carrolls Crossing in central New Brunswick, married London born First World War veteran Wilfred Knight in 1919. Ethel might have found her first attempts at making doughnuts a challenge but the desire to ‘provide’ for her new husband’s tastes would have seen her working to get it right. Doughnuts quickly became a favourite, appearing in bakeries, home kitchens, and lumber camps. Lumber camp cooks, both men and women, were interested in keeping their crew happy and well fed. By the early 1900’s out migration served to improve conditions for lumber camp workers, by making it necessary for employers to compete for workers. For employers and owners of Lumber camps recruiting and keeping workers meant finding and keeping a good Camp cook, especially one able to provide for changing and modern tastes of workers.

New Brunswick farm – near Nelson Hollow – near Doaktown, 1950. Ingenium digital archives Archival Number X-32690

The Roaring Twenties, and the modernity which was taking hold in the region was short lived, ended by the dark days of October 1929 and the beginning of the great depression. The Depression would force old fashioned making do and old fashioned molasses back in to the lives of Sarah, Ethel and Maud, as they provided for their families. Did Maud, Sarah or Ethel develop molasses doughnuts? Probably not, but without doubt a home cook, a lumber camp cook, a cook somewhere in the region did. Someone who saved on expensive white sugar by replacing it with molasses, brown sugar and adding ‘molasses spices’.

Miramichi River Lumber Camp dining hall c. 1935 Photo courtesy of the Our Miramichi Heritage Family FB site.

That a recipe for Molasses Doughnuts is found in many family cookbooks across Atlantic Canada (and elsewhere), that they are prepared as Christmas treats and that they reflect the role molasses played in the lives of ordinary Canadians…makes it ‘Canada’s Doughnut’.

My Mother’s Cookbooks … Molasses Doughnuts

Ingredients:
1) 1 cup brown sugar
2) 1 cup molasses
3) 3 eggs at room temperature
4) 5 Tbsp melted butter
5) 1 tsp each nutmeg, ginger, ground clove, and cinnamon
9) 1 tsp salt
10) 1 tsp vanilla extract
11) 1 1/2 cup soured milk with 2 tsp baking soda dissolved
12) 2 tsp baking powder
13) 4 – 5 1/2 cups flour
Method:
1) Prepare your fryer and oil to a temperature of 350 degrees F. (Objective is to keep the oil between 350-360 degrees F while frying);
2) In a large bowel mix brown sugar, molasses, eggs (slightly beaten) butter and vanilla and mix well;
3) In a second bowl combine flour, salt, and spices, mix well;
4) In a liquid measure add baking soda to the soured milk and mix to dissolve;
5) Alternate adding milk and flour to the other ingredients until all of the milk and at least 4 cups of flour has been added. The batter should be thick and sticky, cover and set aside in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
6) Place about 2 cups of batter on a generously floured surface, and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick, cut with a doughnut cutter. (additional flour may need to be added to make the batter workable.
7) Fry doughnuts until done, flipping once. Molasses doughnuts can be difficult to cook well, start by test frying for 3 minutes per side, remove and check.
8) If desired roll the hot doughnuts in white sugar before cooling, a paper bag containing the sugar can be used to sugar the batch at once.

A final word about modernity and disease… Pneumonia killed many people through out history, including during the Flu pandemic of 1918-1919, it would take until the development of antibiotics at the end of the first quarter of the 20th century for modernity to remove it as a regular and frequent cause of death. Sadly, Maud Blanche Tufts Mauger died in 1938 of pneumonia, leaving Isaac to raise their young family.

Explanations and Resources:

1. A Puncheon of Molasses – A wooden barrel of molasses which commonly weighted between 1,120 to 1,344 pounds.
2. House girl – a young woman employed as domestic help in the homes of wealthy citizens. By the 1900s the term ‘servant’ was replaced by the more genteel house girl, the work remained.
3. Petites, NL is a resettled community, but efforts continue to restore the Petites Methodist Church, reputed to be the Oldest Methodist Church in North America. https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=petites%20church%20newfoundland%3A%20restoration

Christmas stockings, a potato and lemon nut loaf

My first Christmas stockings were Dad’s socks repurposed for the night. Don’t get me wrong I was not disadvantaged nor was I unusual, it was the 1960’s, and my parents believed Santa was not really what Christmas was about. Despite that, in the weeks leading to Christmas eve, I heard reminders about Santa’s naughty list and the threat of getting a potato and stick instead of an orange in the toe my Christmas stocking.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

I am not sure how the potato and stick family tradition began, (our family’s version of a lump of coal), but I know it started with my Mum’s family since Dad had no tradition of Christmas stockings. The Walls family of Blackville, NB were a tight knit group who loved to laugh and enjoyed playful interaction even as adults, with potatoes playing their part.

The William and Edith Walls family c. 1955 William (Billy) seated far right; Edith (Edie) seated front center, next to Edie, Ben, and Ted. Second row, left Dorothy, Elsie, Evelyn (peeking over Elsie shoulder) Louise, Royce, George, Steward and Ike.

Of course the potato was a logical choice as a booby prize at Christmas time. The humble and ordinary tuber compares poorly with the treat most often found in my Christmas stocking. Citrus fruits, lemons and oranges are not really ordinary or humble despite their being readily available to us.

The Tiny Tattler – 13 December 1933 vol 1 issue 19 Photo courtesy of the NS Archives.

The origin story of citrus fruits is a difficult one, there are various theories on where the fruit trees grew naturally and when their spread began. Regardless of where and when we know the sour sweet fruits have been valued and pursued for thousands of years. Citrus trees were introduced to North America early, probably by the Spanish, by the mid 1800’s oranges and lemons were growing in Florida and other southern US states. It would take major developments in refrigeration and transportation for citrus to become the available fruits they are today.

And yet citrus fruits have had a long association with Christmas despite the challenges of transportation and storage. Citron or candied citrus peel appeared in recipes for Christmas cake as early as 16th century. Drying with sugar preserved the fruit but required careful attention to avoid quality issues from variances in temperature and moisture during storage. Available, known and pricy added to their exotic and special nature, helping solidify citrus as prized holiday fare for north eastern North Americans.

Christmas morning, Irish Cove,, Richmond County, NS c,2015 Elizabeth Lyons Morrison

Potatoes have a world wide prevalence, citrus will never have. Despite being introduced to the wider world much later than citrus, their ability to retain freshness through months of storage made them a logical choice for seafarers. The ease at which potatoes grow in acidic soil made them a logical choice for settlers too. It took time for potatoes to grown in popularity in Europe but in North America need saw potatoes playing a key role in preventing starvation and hunger.

Nicholas Doucette, farmer-fisherman, harvesting his potatoes. Near Mavillette; November, 1950 Photo courtesy of the NS Archives Alexander H. Leighton Nova Scotia Archives 1988-413 negative number 819-d

Growing conditions in Maritime Canada are extremely varied, from province to province, county to county, farm to farm, field to field the variability in soil and weather seriously limits variety and productivity. Microclimates do aid in growing some temperature sensitive crops in specific locations but not lemons and oranges. Potatoes on the other hand grow readily provided the soil is well drained and a bit of sunshine is available.

Of course potatoes do make an appearance at Christmas, even when you have been a good child. They play their role in the traditional turkey dinner, and they are important ingredients in traditional feast foods like Poutine Râpée, Latkes, etc. It is likely that potatoes work well as the consolation Christmas prize in part because of their ordinariness, but the potato’s much darker association with hunger and famine, the Irish potato famine in particular plays a role too.

Four of the six bothers and tricksters – sharing a laugh. Left to right – Royce, Isaac, Ted and Steward Walls

The appearance of oranges, fresh oranges in Christmas stockings had to wait for transportation and temperature controlled storage improvements. By the late 1890’s fresh lemons and oranges began to appear most every where ships and trains served, including central New Brunswick. When Grandmother Edie was preparing for her family Christmas fresh oranges and lemons were well established as Christmas fare. Special and exotic oranges got tucked in to the toes of Christmas Stockings, and fresh lemons got made in to Christmas baking like Lemon Nut Loaf.

Food, Drink and the Pleasures of Eating in Old-Time Nova Scotia
Catholic Church Picnic Photo courtesy of the NS Archives Alexander H. Leighton Nova Scotia Archives 1988-413

My Mother’s Cookbook’s

Grandmother Edie’s Lemon Nut Loaf

Ingredients:
5 tbsp melted butter
1 c. white granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs at room temperature
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 c lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
Method:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C.
2. in a medium sized bowl blend butter and sugar
3. add eggs and beat well;
4. in a second bowl sift flour, baking powder, salt;
5. alternate adding flour and milk, (ending with flour) to egg butter mixture, fold gently after each addition; toss nuts in with the last flour addition and mix until blended. Over mixing will cause the loaf to be tough;
6. place in a parchment lined 5 x 9 in loaf pan and bake, until nicely browned and the top springs back from a light touch, about 40 minutes;
7. remove from the oven and let cool only while you mix lemon juice and sugar together in a bowl;
8. using a tooth pick poke holes in the top of the cake and then poor the lemon sugar slowly over the loaf,
9. Let the loaf cool completely before removing the loaf from the pan.

Grandmother Edie’s Lemon Nut Loaf.

Merry Christmas






Miner’s Wives and Mothers…

There are a number of recipes in My Mother’s Cookbooks which are traditionally associated with mining and mining communities…Welsh cakes, Cornish pasties, Welsh pasties, hand pies, etc. Although mining of various minerals is very much a Northern Appalachian/ Acadian regional reality, in some areas coal was king.

Child Miner c.1890 Photo courtesy of the Public Archives of Canada

Canadian mining communities which thrived during the early 1900’s and even during the depression, attracted skilled workers and labourers from Europe and beyond. A ready supply, miners from Wales/ Cornwall, tradesman from Italy, Lebanese merchants, labourers from Poland, the Ukraine, the Caribbean etc. filled the need in mining towns. The communities which became home to these diverse populations developed food traditions which combine all of the community’s offerings. Polish sausage, Italian cured meats and mid-eastern flatires combined with the more prevalent northern European traditions to create a diverse diet.

For country born women like Margaret McDougall McNeil Morrison in Glace Bay, NS and Jessie Blanche Vye Gaudine(i) in Minto, NB cooking on a coal fired stove required a new skill. Coal fired stoves were the norm in communities like Glace Bay, NS and Minto, NB unlike the surrounding rural farm communities where wood remained the primary fuel source.

A group of Children learn the traditional craft of egg decoration Ukrainian style c. 1950

Wood stoves were more predictable, coal stoves notoriously difficult to control. So much so a tradition of “Roof Coal Bread”1 developed in some communities. The bread which is scorched and heavy crusted on top (sometimes all over) is still made at local bakeries in Cape Breton. Many mining town cooks have been heard to exclaim…”Oh No, the bread burned…Oh well good it’s enough for the pit.” Alluding to the coal dust which contaminates everything in the mine.

Miners, men and boys entering the pit for their shift in Cape Breton C. 1890 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives

Jessie Blanche Vye Gaudine(i) was born on her family farm in South Nelson, Northumberland county, New Brunswick. Jessie’s husband Domenico Gaudini2, a machinist took work with the mine owned by Miramichi Lumber Company3 bringing the family to Minto.

Mining company towns were not easy places, although the coal seam at Minto, NB was considered a stable seam, risk of injury and death was ever present, this in addition to risks posed by poor housing, poor sanitation, and poverty. The Sydney coals fields were more gassy, and with greater overburden issues, the living conditions were similar although more crowded.

Company homes in the Sydney coal fields c1890 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives

For Flossie Jane Williams Stackable, coal was a familiar fuel. She also understood better than some the risks inherent in coal mines and coal mining towns. In her home country of Wales coal was a major industry. Flossie would have prepared foods in her Welsh tradition pasties, and Welsh Cakes, possibly combining them with her husband John’s family’s Finnish traditions.

14 year old boy miner Photo courtesy of Public Archives of Canada C. 1900

For Maggie’s whose career as a miner’s wife would turn to miner’s widow and almost immediately to miner’s mother, what she baked would have been dictated by what she had. Flour, oats, lard, sugar were available from the company store and other stores provided of course one had the money.

Flossie’s choices would have been even more restricted after her husband John Stackable4 was killed in the mine in 1925. The challenge facing widows like Flossie and Maggie was daunting… they had little choice, take in laundry, open their modest home to borders and send boy children to the pit to work.

Pit pony, driver and miners in Cape Breton Coal mine c.1890 Photo courtesy of the Nova Scotia Archives

Young boys were valuable as trappers 5 and drivers6, jobs which did not ‘require’ adult strength could be done by boys whose families were desperate for their meager wages. Wages less than half that of adult miners. Bartholomew Stackable and Allan McDougall would enter coal mining early, their boyhoods cut short by the need to feed their family.

Young boys who spent 10 hours a day six days a week in the dark, wet, dusty, rat infested pit opening ‘traps’ and driving ponies instead of attending school and enjoying the sunshine… young boys sustained and comforted by the food lovingly prepared by their Mother’s despite meager means…oatcakes, hand pies, maybe even a slice of Bonnach sweetened with molasses or Welsh Cakes.

My Mother’s Cookbooks Welsh Cakes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup each butter and lard (or shortening)
2 cups Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of nutmeg or mace
pinch of cinnamon
1 egg at room temperature
1/2 cup currents
2 to 3 Tbsp milk
Method:
1) Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and add fat, working it into a fine crumb with your fingers;
2) Add currents;
3) Add slightly beaten egg and only enough milk to create a soft dough;
4) Wrap the dough in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes;
5) Remove the plastic, roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick, cut into 11/2 to 2 inch rounds;
6) Fry in a small amount of butter, until slightly browned on each side and cooked through about 3-4 minutes;
7) If desired the cakes can be cooled slightly and then rolled in sugar for added sweetness.

My Mother’s Cookbooks Bonnach

Ingredients:
6 cups of flour
6 level tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup of melted lard/butter or oil
3 eggs at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk or soured milk
Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Mix together sugar, oil and eggs;
3) Assemble dry ingredients in another bowl
4) Add dry ingredients to the sugar / fat mix, alternating with the milk until incorporated.
6) Place in a greased 8 inch x 11 inch baking dish and bake 35 -45 minutes until done.

Minto, Sunbury County, NB – Miramichi Lumber Company Mine Shaft # 10 Tragedy

28 July 1932 – Three young boys ranging in age from 9 to 12, lay motionless at the pit bottom, some 35 feet from the surface. A forth child fled back up the wooden latter at the sight of his three friends passing out and falling. He raised the alarm and within minutes help began to arrive.

Sadly, there were no plans for such an event. Instead a haphazard rescue fueled by concern for family and close friends was mounted. Miner after miner attempted to enter the pit only to be over come, 11 in total, only 9 would be successfully retrieved.

Five died at the bottom of the #10 shaft on that warm July morning…

three curious children:
1) Allan Gaudine, s/o Domenic and Jessie Gaudine, 9 years old;
2) Vernon Stack (able) s/o John Stackable and Flossie Williams Stackable Gormley, 10 years old;
3) Cyril Stack(able) s/o John Stackable and Flossie Williams Stackable Gormley, 12 years old

and their attempted rescuers:
4) Thomas Gallant 43 year old miner originally from Summerside PEI
5) Vernon Betts 32 year old miner from Hardwood Ridge, Sunbury county, NB.

The events of 28 July 1932 in Minto would begin the transformation of safety in New Brunswick coal mines and lead to the establishment of long over due safety improvements. June 11th mining communities in Canada mark Miner’s Memorial Day…May they rest in peace.

Explanations and Resources:
1) Roof Coal Bread is available at Ropak’s bakery in New Waterford, NS.
2) Domenico Gaudini born Italy would change the spelling of his name to the more familiar sounding Gaudine after he and Jessie married.
3) Miramichi Lumber company owned by US based International paper operated a mine in Minto which served various pulp mills and factories in New Brunswick.
4) James Stackable was born in Hardwood Ridge, Sunbury county, NB of Finnish ancestry, after his death the family would shorten the name to Stack.
5) Traps are doors used to control the ventilation in the mine. Trappers were employed to open and close these doors as the mine operation required. It involved long hours in the cold, dark, wet and rodent infested pit
6) Older boys moved from trapper to pony driver, slightly better pay but even greater risk. Pit pony’s were key to removing coal from the mine to the surface and materials to the working face. Drivers were responsible for their pony, assuring it was fed and watered. Pit pony’s were more valuable than miners, and better fed. A hungry driver caught eating his pony’s oats was fired without investigation.