Interview with Ann (Strachan) MacDonald Nov 26/19
Where Anne Worked
JEANETTE: Annie. you were saying that you worked at the cook house. You would have been in your twenties then, barely.
ANNE: Oh yeah. I was twenty when I got married. You know how old I am now? I’ll be 90 in June.
JEANETTE: That was almost 70 years ago that you started working there.
Where Anne Worked
JEANETTE: Annie. you were saying that you worked at the cook house. You would have been in your twenties then, barely.
ANNE: Oh yeah. I was twenty when I got married. You know how old I am now? I’ll be 90 in June.
JEANETTE: That was almost 70 years ago that you started working there.
The cookhouse, Stirling Mine, Richmond County, Nova Scotia
PICTURE OF THE COOKHOUSE
ANNIE: That’s where I worked. My it was a hard time working there.
JEANETTE: So how long did you work there?
ANNE: A couple of years.
JEANETTE: Do you remember what you got paid?
ANNE: Oh, it wasn’t very much- a dollar something an hour. I guess at that time, it wasn’t bad. That was a lot at that time.
JEANETTE: I think they paid people (there) better than what you’d get paid other places.
ANNE: It was hard work. I mean you were running all the time.
JEANETTE: So, you were a cook’s assistant, right?
ANNE: Well I was general.
JEANETTE: And were the people nice?
ANNE: Oh, yes. They were appreciative and very nice. The ones from Quebec were nice too. They were very polite. A lot of them didn’t speak English.
JEANETTE: What was your routine there? Were you waiting on tables, peeling potatoes, cleaning dishes, clearing off tables?
ANNE: We did everything. We had this big dishwasher. It was a commercial dishwasher.
JEANETTE: Do you remember some of the people who worked there?
ANNE: Well I remember Louis; he was the Chef. They had beautiful meals. Really good. He was young then. He was full of the devil. He was teasing the girls all the time. Do you remember the margarine when we used to mix it?
JEANETTE: Yes, it would have a little color in it, and you would squeeze it (the bag).
ANNE: We’d be all full of grease. He did something, I don’t know. We got him in a corner, and we smeared him with the margarine.
JEANETTE: That oily stuff. Oh
ANNE: Oh, it was gross.
EARL: What about Judy’s aunt, Anne, you said she got married to somebody up there. She worked with you in the kitchen.
ANNE: Yeah, she worked in the kitchen too.
ANNE: Maddox. She was Mary Maddox. She married a French guy, I think. I’m pretty sure she did. There were three of them who married French guys.
JEANETTE: They would have met them coming in for lunch?
ANNE: Yes, yes, and breakfast shift. They’d come off shift at 8 in the morning. And we had all them for breakfast and you had to get cleaned up before the lunch/dinner came – they had a big meal at dinner time then we’d go home and then we were back for suppertime. Then we had to make all the lunches for the underground. It was about 8 o’clock at night before we got home after cleaning everything up.
JEANETTE: So, the men who were going down in the morning for the 8 O’clock shift, they must have eaten early.
ANNE: They started breakfast at 6 (am).
JEANETTE: 6 O’clock and then they’d go down and they’d take a lunch too, right?
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: They wouldn’t be coming up again until 4 O’clock.
ANNE: 4 O’clock, then it was suppertime.
JEANETTE: And then they’d have their supper and you’d make a lunch for however was going down for the night shift?
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: And then, for lunch it would be everyone else that worked around there (on the surface)?
ANNE: Some of the ones that came off shift, would come back in for lunch, too. They’d be sleeping but they’d come in for lunch.
JEANETTE: They paid for their meal?
ANNE: I don’t remember. I think they signed for it.
JEANETTE: It came off their pay, perhaps?
ANNE: It came off their pay, yeah. It went to the office, anyway, because, they couldn’t do it any other way.
Where People Lived in Stirling
JEANETTE: We're just going to go over where some of the people lived in Stirling.
ANNE: Yes, a lot of people.
Map of around the lake
ANNIE: That’s where I worked. My it was a hard time working there.
JEANETTE: So how long did you work there?
ANNE: A couple of years.
JEANETTE: Do you remember what you got paid?
ANNE: Oh, it wasn’t very much- a dollar something an hour. I guess at that time, it wasn’t bad. That was a lot at that time.
JEANETTE: I think they paid people (there) better than what you’d get paid other places.
ANNE: It was hard work. I mean you were running all the time.
JEANETTE: So, you were a cook’s assistant, right?
ANNE: Well I was general.
JEANETTE: And were the people nice?
ANNE: Oh, yes. They were appreciative and very nice. The ones from Quebec were nice too. They were very polite. A lot of them didn’t speak English.
JEANETTE: What was your routine there? Were you waiting on tables, peeling potatoes, cleaning dishes, clearing off tables?
ANNE: We did everything. We had this big dishwasher. It was a commercial dishwasher.
JEANETTE: Do you remember some of the people who worked there?
ANNE: Well I remember Louis; he was the Chef. They had beautiful meals. Really good. He was young then. He was full of the devil. He was teasing the girls all the time. Do you remember the margarine when we used to mix it?
JEANETTE: Yes, it would have a little color in it, and you would squeeze it (the bag).
ANNE: We’d be all full of grease. He did something, I don’t know. We got him in a corner, and we smeared him with the margarine.
JEANETTE: That oily stuff. Oh
ANNE: Oh, it was gross.
EARL: What about Judy’s aunt, Anne, you said she got married to somebody up there. She worked with you in the kitchen.
ANNE: Yeah, she worked in the kitchen too.
ANNE: Maddox. She was Mary Maddox. She married a French guy, I think. I’m pretty sure she did. There were three of them who married French guys.
JEANETTE: They would have met them coming in for lunch?
ANNE: Yes, yes, and breakfast shift. They’d come off shift at 8 in the morning. And we had all them for breakfast and you had to get cleaned up before the lunch/dinner came – they had a big meal at dinner time then we’d go home and then we were back for suppertime. Then we had to make all the lunches for the underground. It was about 8 o’clock at night before we got home after cleaning everything up.
JEANETTE: So, the men who were going down in the morning for the 8 O’clock shift, they must have eaten early.
ANNE: They started breakfast at 6 (am).
JEANETTE: 6 O’clock and then they’d go down and they’d take a lunch too, right?
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: They wouldn’t be coming up again until 4 O’clock.
ANNE: 4 O’clock, then it was suppertime.
JEANETTE: And then they’d have their supper and you’d make a lunch for however was going down for the night shift?
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: And then, for lunch it would be everyone else that worked around there (on the surface)?
ANNE: Some of the ones that came off shift, would come back in for lunch, too. They’d be sleeping but they’d come in for lunch.
JEANETTE: They paid for their meal?
ANNE: I don’t remember. I think they signed for it.
JEANETTE: It came off their pay, perhaps?
ANNE: It came off their pay, yeah. It went to the office, anyway, because, they couldn’t do it any other way.
Where People Lived in Stirling
JEANETTE: We're just going to go over where some of the people lived in Stirling.
ANNE: Yes, a lot of people.
Map of around the lake
JEANETTE: This is a map I have of Stirling. This is the Lake. This is the main road, and this is where you were.
JEANETTE: Spinner’s Men’s wear was right here on the main road.
ANNE: Yes
JEANETTE: And John G’s was back here.
ANNE: Yes
JEANETTE: And Mary Ann and Malcolm Dan Macintosh were in this little house here.
ANNE: Yes.
JEANETTE: After Mary Ann was Jean Taylor and Harry.
ANNE: I remember them.
JEANETTE: They would have been on the same side of the road that you were on.
ANNE: They were almost across from Murdock Dan’s Road (Five Island Lake Rd).
JEANETTE: There was Dan Alex’s old mill over here, do you remember that?
ANNE: Yes, indeed I do.
JEANETTE: And Angus Morrison, Mamie’s father, would be over here.
ANNE: “Mercy, Mercy”
JEANETTE: Is that what he would say?
ANNE: All the time.
ANNE: There are lots of people in Stirling that I didn't know from away. Melvin and Dan lived in that house and Mamie.
JEANETTE: And then as you went around the Lake there was Lauri Fanning. Would you say that's approximately where he lived?
ANNE: Laurie Fanning, we knew him.
JEANETTE: And then across the road, up a hill there was a whole bunch of little houses where Enos Sampson, Martin Sampson, the Potties, Carpenters, and Farrels lived.
ANNE: Jim Mitchell, he was the First Aid Man.
JEANETTE: Yeah, and he was up a little farther and then Joe Carter and Bella.
JEANETTE: Now, Donald Morrison was saying that there were more people over by where Joe Carter was but
ANNE: Yes, there were a lot of people over there. They were from somewhere else though.
JEANETTE: Kenny MacEwen and his wife, Cecelia they were along this road somewhere.
JEANETTE: And this is past the lake and all around here to Murdock Dan’s (MacLeod, then there were the Pattersons and the MacDonalds.
ANNE: And the MacKenzies.
JEANETTE: And the MacDonalds, do you know where Mary and Bella and John Dan, where they lived?
ANNE: I believe they were across from Murdock Dan’s on the left, right opposite the lake.
Jeanette: Do you remember the Pattersons?
ANNE: Oh yeah, I remember Mary Patterson.
JEANETTE: They’d be on the right-hand side of the road.
ANNE: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: Back here (on the other side of the lake) on the way back to Angus Archie’s (MacQueen’s) there was:
ANNE: Donny Shaw.
JEANETTE: But before that there was Angus MacLeod and Lily, I think.
Annie: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: Then you came to where Donnie Shaw was.
ANNE: He wasn’t too far away from where we were in Stirling
JEANETTE: On his driveway, would Norman Johnson be on the other side of the road?
ANNE: She (Aurora) was close to our place. She used to come to visit me every afternoon for tea. She lived across the driveway from Donnie and then we were down further (in the direction of Loch Lomond).
Jeanette: Donnie Shaw was a little further toward the mine, he and Doreen? Then Norman Johnson would be on the other side of Donnie’s, closer to your place.
JEANETTE: On our side, yeah.
JEANETTE: Then there was a road going up. I’m not sure if it’s the same driveway as Donnie Shaw and Norman but there was Neilly Hector MacAskill.
ANNE: He lived on that road too.
JEANETTE: On that same road as Donnie Shaw and them?
ANNE: Yes.
JEANETTE: Then there was Kilowatt Dan and Alice MacDonald. They would have been up in the woods on that road.
ANNE: They weren’t far from the bungalow where we lived.
Jeanette: They were on the same road as Neilly Hector and them?
ANNE: Yes. That was a little community there.
JEANETTE: Yes, and then Angus and Marion MacDonald were over closer to you. Do you remember them?
ANNE: Oh yeah, they had two of a family. They lived on the same road as ours.
JEANETTE: Yeah, were they up closer to you then Donnie Shaw was?
ANNE: They were between our place and Donnie Shaw’s.
JEANETTE: Was that a long driveway or were they right on the road?
ANNE: I think they were a little off the road, not too far. Everyone of the houses there were close to the road.
Jeanette: And Buddy MacLeod and Dolena, I think they were closer, again, to you.
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: And you were down the bottom of the driveway
ANNE: At Angus (Archie) MacQueen’s Road. We were right at the bottom of his house. It was his property that we were on.
JEANETTE: On the mine side of it?
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: And then Dan Alex and Catherine (MacLeod) and then the Catholic church was back there.
ANNE: Yes, it was up a little way toward the wilderness on the Stirling Rd.
JEANETTE: up past the lake.
ANNE: You couldn’t see the lake.
JEANETTE: And George and Mary Strachan were across (the lake).
ANNE: Yes.
Map of Stirling from the lake to four corners (AKA Barker’s corner)
JEANETTE: Spinner’s Men’s wear was right here on the main road.
ANNE: Yes
JEANETTE: And John G’s was back here.
ANNE: Yes
JEANETTE: And Mary Ann and Malcolm Dan Macintosh were in this little house here.
ANNE: Yes.
JEANETTE: After Mary Ann was Jean Taylor and Harry.
ANNE: I remember them.
JEANETTE: They would have been on the same side of the road that you were on.
ANNE: They were almost across from Murdock Dan’s Road (Five Island Lake Rd).
JEANETTE: There was Dan Alex’s old mill over here, do you remember that?
ANNE: Yes, indeed I do.
JEANETTE: And Angus Morrison, Mamie’s father, would be over here.
ANNE: “Mercy, Mercy”
JEANETTE: Is that what he would say?
ANNE: All the time.
ANNE: There are lots of people in Stirling that I didn't know from away. Melvin and Dan lived in that house and Mamie.
JEANETTE: And then as you went around the Lake there was Lauri Fanning. Would you say that's approximately where he lived?
ANNE: Laurie Fanning, we knew him.
JEANETTE: And then across the road, up a hill there was a whole bunch of little houses where Enos Sampson, Martin Sampson, the Potties, Carpenters, and Farrels lived.
ANNE: Jim Mitchell, he was the First Aid Man.
JEANETTE: Yeah, and he was up a little farther and then Joe Carter and Bella.
JEANETTE: Now, Donald Morrison was saying that there were more people over by where Joe Carter was but
ANNE: Yes, there were a lot of people over there. They were from somewhere else though.
JEANETTE: Kenny MacEwen and his wife, Cecelia they were along this road somewhere.
JEANETTE: And this is past the lake and all around here to Murdock Dan’s (MacLeod, then there were the Pattersons and the MacDonalds.
ANNE: And the MacKenzies.
JEANETTE: And the MacDonalds, do you know where Mary and Bella and John Dan, where they lived?
ANNE: I believe they were across from Murdock Dan’s on the left, right opposite the lake.
Jeanette: Do you remember the Pattersons?
ANNE: Oh yeah, I remember Mary Patterson.
JEANETTE: They’d be on the right-hand side of the road.
ANNE: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: Back here (on the other side of the lake) on the way back to Angus Archie’s (MacQueen’s) there was:
ANNE: Donny Shaw.
JEANETTE: But before that there was Angus MacLeod and Lily, I think.
Annie: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: Then you came to where Donnie Shaw was.
ANNE: He wasn’t too far away from where we were in Stirling
JEANETTE: On his driveway, would Norman Johnson be on the other side of the road?
ANNE: She (Aurora) was close to our place. She used to come to visit me every afternoon for tea. She lived across the driveway from Donnie and then we were down further (in the direction of Loch Lomond).
Jeanette: Donnie Shaw was a little further toward the mine, he and Doreen? Then Norman Johnson would be on the other side of Donnie’s, closer to your place.
JEANETTE: On our side, yeah.
JEANETTE: Then there was a road going up. I’m not sure if it’s the same driveway as Donnie Shaw and Norman but there was Neilly Hector MacAskill.
ANNE: He lived on that road too.
JEANETTE: On that same road as Donnie Shaw and them?
ANNE: Yes.
JEANETTE: Then there was Kilowatt Dan and Alice MacDonald. They would have been up in the woods on that road.
ANNE: They weren’t far from the bungalow where we lived.
Jeanette: They were on the same road as Neilly Hector and them?
ANNE: Yes. That was a little community there.
JEANETTE: Yes, and then Angus and Marion MacDonald were over closer to you. Do you remember them?
ANNE: Oh yeah, they had two of a family. They lived on the same road as ours.
JEANETTE: Yeah, were they up closer to you then Donnie Shaw was?
ANNE: They were between our place and Donnie Shaw’s.
JEANETTE: Was that a long driveway or were they right on the road?
ANNE: I think they were a little off the road, not too far. Everyone of the houses there were close to the road.
Jeanette: And Buddy MacLeod and Dolena, I think they were closer, again, to you.
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: And you were down the bottom of the driveway
ANNE: At Angus (Archie) MacQueen’s Road. We were right at the bottom of his house. It was his property that we were on.
JEANETTE: On the mine side of it?
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: And then Dan Alex and Catherine (MacLeod) and then the Catholic church was back there.
ANNE: Yes, it was up a little way toward the wilderness on the Stirling Rd.
JEANETTE: up past the lake.
ANNE: You couldn’t see the lake.
JEANETTE: And George and Mary Strachan were across (the lake).
ANNE: Yes.
Map of Stirling from the lake to four corners (AKA Barker’s corner)
.
.JEANETTE: Here's another map coming from Stirling heading to the four corners aka Barker’s corner). There’s Morrison’s store.
ANNE: Yes, yes.
JEANETTE: And then my father's garage (Strachan’s) was right across the street from that and then the Stirling school was down the road on the left and then there was a little Rd across from the school.
ANNE: The Dutch family (reading from the map).
JEANETTE: Do you remember them.
ANNE: Seems to me I do but I can’t put a name on them. (Note: Walter Martell has identified this family name as Devriendt.)
JEANETTE: We have a pair of wooden shoes that this man made. They were in the house all these years. I have a picture of them on the website.
JEANETTE: Then we are going down the road on the right-hand side of the road heading to Framboise. So Alex MacDonnell, and his wife Ruby and Archie.
ANNIE: Archie, he died.
JEANETTE: Yes, he went up to another mine after he left here, and he died there.
JEANETTE: Lloyd MacRae from Oban
ANNE: I remember him, yeah.
JEANETTE: Joe MacLean and Calvin Hastings. He had a little Volkswagen, one of the first ones in 1953 and he drove very fast (As per Pearl (MacLeod) MacDonald and Wendell Holmes Interviews).
ANNE: Calvin Hastings I remember that name but there were so many there from Quebec that I can’t put a name on too many of them.
JEANETTE: I don’t know where they stayed. In the bunkhouse, I guess.
ANNE: A lot of them in the bunkhouse
JEANETTE: And then there was Power. I’m not sure where they were from. Patriquin, I believe he was there.
JEANETTE: Did you remember Patriquin?
ANNE: Yeah, he was married to a girl who worked in the office. She was going out with him during the Stirling mine. Then they got married.
JEANETTE: Do you know what he did?
ANNE: He worked underground I think.
JEANETTE: Now on the other side of the road heading to Framboise, Dan Alex Burns and Adelaide and Howard Burns.
ANNE: They were from Gabarus.
JEANETTE: I think Howard may have had a little house back there somewhere. They lived in the first house going in, I think.
JEANETTE: And Elsie and John Archie Munroe. She (Elsie) said they were on the same lot as Dan Alex Burns.
JEANETTE: And then there were the Langley’s.
ANNE: I knew one of the Langley girls. I forget her first name. I knew them, the Langleys. They lived up on the hill I think, above the mine.
JEANETTE: This is going toward Framboise on the left-hand side of the road.
Jeanette: Then there is Lugo from Gabarus. That’s a nick name, I think.
JEANETTE: Then there was John Martell and Gladys.
ANNE: I remember the name.
JEANETTE: And Then there was a log cabin there - Angus and Billy (Red John) MacLeod, Lawrence Morrison and DK MacLeod (stayed there) and then Roddy John Alec MacLeod and Annie.
ANNE: From Soldier’s cove Rd
JEANETTE: Then there was a schoolteacher named, I believe, Aucoin, on the corner there, on Barker’s corner.
ANNE: I didn’t know him.
JEANETTE: Then heading down The North Framboise road there was Bernie Gillis and Mary, and then Collie MacKenzie and Vie.
ANNE: Collie MacKenzie, he worked in the mine.
JEANETTE: He was a mechanic, I think.
ANNE: I think he was. He moved to Eliot Lake. A bunch of them moved to Eliot Lake at that time. He died out there. He never came back.
JEANETTE: And that was a mining place.
ANNE: Oh yeah. It was a Uranium mine. See we left in 1956. Ken (Ann's first husband) had a job waiting for him. They transferred a lot of them into Eliot Lake, because that mine was just opening. Most of them went there. That’s how Collie MacKenzie got shipped out there. And Ken knew him very well.
People who died at the mine
EARL: Anne, what was the name of the fellow who died at the mine?
Anne: Howard Burns. He was 18.
JEANETTE: He got caught on the pulley.
EARL: And was his father working there, too, at the time?
JEANETTE: His father was Dan Alex Burns. He worked in the mill too.
ANNE: Yes, he did.
JEANETTE: He wasn’t working that night, I don’t think.
ANNE: I don’t think he was working that night, no.
ANNE: He worked with Ken. Ken felt terrible.
ANNE: That was the saddest thing I ever heard of. That poor fellow, he was only young. I remember the night he was killed. I think he was an only child.
JEANETTE: Apparently he was, and they were devastated by that.
ANNE: I’m sure they were.
JEANETTE: Wendell was working on that shift when it happened.
ANNE: We were to Sydney to a movie and on our way home we met the ambulance. We didn't know it then until we got back home.
JEANETTE: Besides Howard there were two other guys who died in the mine (when it ran in the 50’s)
ANNE: Yeah, there was - underground. There was one French guy.
JEANETTE: Was it a Bedard Fellow? Does that ring a bell?
ANNE: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: And Wendell was saying one of the guys, he was a cop first then he left that and went mining. He was from Stellarton.
ANNE: I wonder what his name was.
JEANETTE: I don’t know.
ANNE: I know Ken worked with a fellow from West River I think. He was not too far from Stellarton. We spent a weekend one time with them, he and his wife. He died when the mine was working but he wasn’t killed, I don’t think. He died of a heart attack.
JEANETTE: Bennie Laforte? Did he die in the mine?
ANNE: No. I remember him. He was only a young fellow. I think he worked underground. He was from Cheticamp.
JEANETTE: Kenny MacLeod died in 1935
ANNE: That was Ena’s brother.
JEANETTE: I think it was his first shift.
ANNE: His first, yes. He was only young.
JEANETTE: And there were two people who were next to him. I remember my father telling me about it. I think Kenny Angus Morrison was one of them.
Map of the Road going down to the mine.
.JEANETTE: Here's another map coming from Stirling heading to the four corners aka Barker’s corner). There’s Morrison’s store.
ANNE: Yes, yes.
JEANETTE: And then my father's garage (Strachan’s) was right across the street from that and then the Stirling school was down the road on the left and then there was a little Rd across from the school.
ANNE: The Dutch family (reading from the map).
JEANETTE: Do you remember them.
ANNE: Seems to me I do but I can’t put a name on them. (Note: Walter Martell has identified this family name as Devriendt.)
JEANETTE: We have a pair of wooden shoes that this man made. They were in the house all these years. I have a picture of them on the website.
JEANETTE: Then we are going down the road on the right-hand side of the road heading to Framboise. So Alex MacDonnell, and his wife Ruby and Archie.
ANNIE: Archie, he died.
JEANETTE: Yes, he went up to another mine after he left here, and he died there.
JEANETTE: Lloyd MacRae from Oban
ANNE: I remember him, yeah.
JEANETTE: Joe MacLean and Calvin Hastings. He had a little Volkswagen, one of the first ones in 1953 and he drove very fast (As per Pearl (MacLeod) MacDonald and Wendell Holmes Interviews).
ANNE: Calvin Hastings I remember that name but there were so many there from Quebec that I can’t put a name on too many of them.
JEANETTE: I don’t know where they stayed. In the bunkhouse, I guess.
ANNE: A lot of them in the bunkhouse
JEANETTE: And then there was Power. I’m not sure where they were from. Patriquin, I believe he was there.
JEANETTE: Did you remember Patriquin?
ANNE: Yeah, he was married to a girl who worked in the office. She was going out with him during the Stirling mine. Then they got married.
JEANETTE: Do you know what he did?
ANNE: He worked underground I think.
JEANETTE: Now on the other side of the road heading to Framboise, Dan Alex Burns and Adelaide and Howard Burns.
ANNE: They were from Gabarus.
JEANETTE: I think Howard may have had a little house back there somewhere. They lived in the first house going in, I think.
JEANETTE: And Elsie and John Archie Munroe. She (Elsie) said they were on the same lot as Dan Alex Burns.
JEANETTE: And then there were the Langley’s.
ANNE: I knew one of the Langley girls. I forget her first name. I knew them, the Langleys. They lived up on the hill I think, above the mine.
JEANETTE: This is going toward Framboise on the left-hand side of the road.
Jeanette: Then there is Lugo from Gabarus. That’s a nick name, I think.
JEANETTE: Then there was John Martell and Gladys.
ANNE: I remember the name.
JEANETTE: And Then there was a log cabin there - Angus and Billy (Red John) MacLeod, Lawrence Morrison and DK MacLeod (stayed there) and then Roddy John Alec MacLeod and Annie.
ANNE: From Soldier’s cove Rd
JEANETTE: Then there was a schoolteacher named, I believe, Aucoin, on the corner there, on Barker’s corner.
ANNE: I didn’t know him.
JEANETTE: Then heading down The North Framboise road there was Bernie Gillis and Mary, and then Collie MacKenzie and Vie.
ANNE: Collie MacKenzie, he worked in the mine.
JEANETTE: He was a mechanic, I think.
ANNE: I think he was. He moved to Eliot Lake. A bunch of them moved to Eliot Lake at that time. He died out there. He never came back.
JEANETTE: And that was a mining place.
ANNE: Oh yeah. It was a Uranium mine. See we left in 1956. Ken (Ann's first husband) had a job waiting for him. They transferred a lot of them into Eliot Lake, because that mine was just opening. Most of them went there. That’s how Collie MacKenzie got shipped out there. And Ken knew him very well.
People who died at the mine
EARL: Anne, what was the name of the fellow who died at the mine?
Anne: Howard Burns. He was 18.
JEANETTE: He got caught on the pulley.
EARL: And was his father working there, too, at the time?
JEANETTE: His father was Dan Alex Burns. He worked in the mill too.
ANNE: Yes, he did.
JEANETTE: He wasn’t working that night, I don’t think.
ANNE: I don’t think he was working that night, no.
ANNE: He worked with Ken. Ken felt terrible.
ANNE: That was the saddest thing I ever heard of. That poor fellow, he was only young. I remember the night he was killed. I think he was an only child.
JEANETTE: Apparently he was, and they were devastated by that.
ANNE: I’m sure they were.
JEANETTE: Wendell was working on that shift when it happened.
ANNE: We were to Sydney to a movie and on our way home we met the ambulance. We didn't know it then until we got back home.
JEANETTE: Besides Howard there were two other guys who died in the mine (when it ran in the 50’s)
ANNE: Yeah, there was - underground. There was one French guy.
JEANETTE: Was it a Bedard Fellow? Does that ring a bell?
ANNE: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: And Wendell was saying one of the guys, he was a cop first then he left that and went mining. He was from Stellarton.
ANNE: I wonder what his name was.
JEANETTE: I don’t know.
ANNE: I know Ken worked with a fellow from West River I think. He was not too far from Stellarton. We spent a weekend one time with them, he and his wife. He died when the mine was working but he wasn’t killed, I don’t think. He died of a heart attack.
JEANETTE: Bennie Laforte? Did he die in the mine?
ANNE: No. I remember him. He was only a young fellow. I think he worked underground. He was from Cheticamp.
JEANETTE: Kenny MacLeod died in 1935
ANNE: That was Ena’s brother.
JEANETTE: I think it was his first shift.
ANNE: His first, yes. He was only young.
JEANETTE: And there were two people who were next to him. I remember my father telling me about it. I think Kenny Angus Morrison was one of them.
Map of the Road going down to the mine.
Jeanette: This is a map going down the mine road
JEANETTE: This is Hughie’s (bus driver)
ANNE: He was married to my Cousin, May.
JEANETTE: He had a nephew, Buddy.
ANNE: Buddy, yes. I saw his death in the paper not too long ago. He used to tease me something terrible.
JEANETTE: Were they right on the corner there?
ANNE: Hughie was on the corner. He lived in Stirling right across from the Morrison’s store in Stirling.
JEANETTE: So, he’d be right up there.
JEANETTE: And there seems like there was building down near Charlie Hooper’s store.
ANNE: Charlie Hooper. He was on the road down to the mine.
JEANETTE: After Hughie, I think there may have been another building right on the edge of the road and then there was Charlie Hooper’s store. And then there was Danny Shaw’s store. And then Tom’s Tea room
ANNE: Yeah. The Chinese were doing that.
JEANETTE: Then there was MacDougall. He had a little white house. Was he Charlie? No, that was the guy whose son drowned.
ANNE: Charlie was his father. I remember the day he drowned in the little lake at the back of the mine.
JEANETTE: There were two MacDougalls. I think Charlie lived over where Mary and Bernie Gillis were. They bought their house from him.
The Movie theater
Jeanette: Then as you go down the road there was a theater across from the tearoom.
ANNE: Yeah, I used to go there all the time, every Friday night.
JEANETTE: Do you remember any movies in particular.
ANNE: No, no. the movies were kind of second rate.
JEANETTE: Some of them were pretty current though (according to Donald Strachan and Pearl MacLeod MacDonald – see their interviews re the theater).
JEANETTE: That theater was an old bunk house and there is another next to it as you go down the road.
ANNE: Yeah, yeah.
The company houses
ANNE: It was well populated there. All the managers and there were the company houses there too.
JEANETTE: Do you know how many there were?
ANNE: Oh, there were quite a few.
JEANETTE: There were three on the left-hand side.
JEANETTE: This is Hughie’s (bus driver)
ANNE: He was married to my Cousin, May.
JEANETTE: He had a nephew, Buddy.
ANNE: Buddy, yes. I saw his death in the paper not too long ago. He used to tease me something terrible.
JEANETTE: Were they right on the corner there?
ANNE: Hughie was on the corner. He lived in Stirling right across from the Morrison’s store in Stirling.
JEANETTE: So, he’d be right up there.
JEANETTE: And there seems like there was building down near Charlie Hooper’s store.
ANNE: Charlie Hooper. He was on the road down to the mine.
JEANETTE: After Hughie, I think there may have been another building right on the edge of the road and then there was Charlie Hooper’s store. And then there was Danny Shaw’s store. And then Tom’s Tea room
ANNE: Yeah. The Chinese were doing that.
JEANETTE: Then there was MacDougall. He had a little white house. Was he Charlie? No, that was the guy whose son drowned.
ANNE: Charlie was his father. I remember the day he drowned in the little lake at the back of the mine.
JEANETTE: There were two MacDougalls. I think Charlie lived over where Mary and Bernie Gillis were. They bought their house from him.
The Movie theater
Jeanette: Then as you go down the road there was a theater across from the tearoom.
ANNE: Yeah, I used to go there all the time, every Friday night.
JEANETTE: Do you remember any movies in particular.
ANNE: No, no. the movies were kind of second rate.
JEANETTE: Some of them were pretty current though (according to Donald Strachan and Pearl MacLeod MacDonald – see their interviews re the theater).
JEANETTE: That theater was an old bunk house and there is another next to it as you go down the road.
ANNE: Yeah, yeah.
The company houses
ANNE: It was well populated there. All the managers and there were the company houses there too.
JEANETTE: Do you know how many there were?
ANNE: Oh, there were quite a few.
JEANETTE: There were three on the left-hand side.
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ANNE: Yeah, I worked in every one of them, cleaning their houses.
ANNE: That looks like the house I worked in (see pic above). |
Angus and Alice MacLeod's house, Marion Bridge. Picture taken summer 2019
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JEANETTE: And this house (the one in the middle) looks like the one that Angus Alex and Alice(MacLeod) has (see picture on right).
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ANNE: They were all the same. They had two windows upstairs.
JEANETTE: But this one (to the right) has the front door in the middle and this one (to the left) the door is on the end.
ANNE: It has the same shape and roof. They were nice houses inside.
JEANETTE: Douglas Landry thought that Michaelson’s was this house here (note you can see the shadow of the third house on this house).
JEANETTE: So, you were saying you worked at Bunclarke’s, Michaelson’s, and Barswich.
ANNE: Bardswich,
ANNE: Michaelson, he was Assistant Manager too.
JEANETTE: Yeah, he was in the main office. He had his office there.
JEANETTE: Was Michaelson’s the first one, then Bunclarke.
Annie: I think so. (Editor's note - The house on the right has been identified by family as being where Tony and Dell Bardswich and family lived).
Jeanette: I understand she was a nice lady.
ANNE: Yes, she was nice. They were all nice to me, I can’t say they weren’t.
JEANETTE: So, when you cleaned the houses, was that while you were doing the work in the cookhouse?
ANNE: Well, on my time off. Between dinner time and supper time, we had a couple of hours off.
JEANETTE: Do you remember anyone who lived on the other side of (the mine road).
ANNE: Roddy K (MacLeod). I can’t place where it was. It was back there. Roddy K was a boss too at some part of the mine. He was in a company house. I remember his wife too.
ANNE: I never worked in those houses on the other side of the road, but I worked in those three, up on the hill.
JEANETTE: There were about 17 houses up there (on the right side going down the mine road).
ANNE: Yes, there were. Most of them went to Sydney. Dan Alex (MacLeod) towed them in. I remember them going by our old place in Loch Lomond. He had them on rails or something. He’d take one house at a time. That’s the way he went down over the mountain.
EARL: Willie Shaw’s house went down that way.
ANNE: Yes, Willie Shaw’s house went down.
JEANETTE: Chisholm, he was on the right-hand side of the (mine) road.
ANNE: Was he the Assistant Manager?
JEANETTE: He was the big guy.
ANNE: The big shot, yeah.
ANNE: I remember one time, there was a dance up in the hall and all the wives, the big shots, wives were there. And they made a punch, and somebody poured a bottle of something in it. Laughter. Everyone of the big shots wives was loaded.
JEANETTE: Laughter.
ANNE: I never laughed so much in my life. The other devils poured a quart of, I don’t know, whiskey, or something in the punch.
Recreation
JEANETTE: So, the hall - that was the hall that was at the mine, right? You’d cross over the brook and you’d go over to the left-hand side.
ANNE: The left-hand side, yes. It was a nice building.
JEANETTE: I wonder what ever happened to that one?
ANNE: They must have torn it down. I don’t know.
JEANETTE: In the picture I have of the 50’s mine, there seems that there are a few houses there and a bigger building. Is that where the baseball field was?
ANNE: Yes, it was. They had a baseball diamond there. They had a baseball team. That LaForte fellow, he was one of the best players they had.
JEANETTE: Is that right?
JEANETTE: And they used to play against St Peter’s and places like that.
ANNE: Yeah, local.
ANNE: There was a lot of stuff going on there.
JEANETTE: Do you remember a guy - he was probably a student. His name was Eddie Murin? He was from Glace Bay. Diddy (Marjorie Johnson/MacLeod) was telling me he kind of spearheaded some of this recreation stuff.
EARL: He may have been one of Eric’s brothers.
JEANETTE: This man died in Feb (2019). I’m pretty sure it’s him. I found an obituary. He went to St FX University.
EARL: Oh, that’s his brother. He had a lot of education.
JEANETTE: He would have been 94 when he died.
ANNE: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: Yes, well his obituary was very impressive. It was all about sports.
Fast Drivers
ANNE: It was wild, it wasn’t safe to drive on the road there, Malcolm MacDonald, you remember Malcolm?
JEANETTE: Yeah.
ANNE: Well he was coming from work and I was just learning how to drive then. We had a brand-new Mercury car, I think. Everybody had a new car.
JEANETTE: Yeah, it seemed like it.
ANNE: I don’t know if I had my license or not but anyway, I came down Barker’s corner. Malcolm used to drive like the devil. He was going as fast as the car would go and I put him off the road.
JEANETTE: You put him off!
ANNE: Well I didn’t get out of his way in time.
JEANETTE: Oh. Laughter.
ANNE: I’ll never forget that.
JEANETTE: So, there were some fast drivers, right?
The men from Quebec
ANNE: The French, from Quebec, oh.
JEANETTE: So, they had their own cars down there, too?
ANNE: Oh, yes.
JEANETTE: They stayed in the bunkhouse, a lot of them, right?
ANNE: Yes, all of them did, I think.
JEANETTE: But this one (to the right) has the front door in the middle and this one (to the left) the door is on the end.
ANNE: It has the same shape and roof. They were nice houses inside.
JEANETTE: Douglas Landry thought that Michaelson’s was this house here (note you can see the shadow of the third house on this house).
JEANETTE: So, you were saying you worked at Bunclarke’s, Michaelson’s, and Barswich.
ANNE: Bardswich,
ANNE: Michaelson, he was Assistant Manager too.
JEANETTE: Yeah, he was in the main office. He had his office there.
JEANETTE: Was Michaelson’s the first one, then Bunclarke.
Annie: I think so. (Editor's note - The house on the right has been identified by family as being where Tony and Dell Bardswich and family lived).
Jeanette: I understand she was a nice lady.
ANNE: Yes, she was nice. They were all nice to me, I can’t say they weren’t.
JEANETTE: So, when you cleaned the houses, was that while you were doing the work in the cookhouse?
ANNE: Well, on my time off. Between dinner time and supper time, we had a couple of hours off.
JEANETTE: Do you remember anyone who lived on the other side of (the mine road).
ANNE: Roddy K (MacLeod). I can’t place where it was. It was back there. Roddy K was a boss too at some part of the mine. He was in a company house. I remember his wife too.
ANNE: I never worked in those houses on the other side of the road, but I worked in those three, up on the hill.
JEANETTE: There were about 17 houses up there (on the right side going down the mine road).
ANNE: Yes, there were. Most of them went to Sydney. Dan Alex (MacLeod) towed them in. I remember them going by our old place in Loch Lomond. He had them on rails or something. He’d take one house at a time. That’s the way he went down over the mountain.
EARL: Willie Shaw’s house went down that way.
ANNE: Yes, Willie Shaw’s house went down.
JEANETTE: Chisholm, he was on the right-hand side of the (mine) road.
ANNE: Was he the Assistant Manager?
JEANETTE: He was the big guy.
ANNE: The big shot, yeah.
ANNE: I remember one time, there was a dance up in the hall and all the wives, the big shots, wives were there. And they made a punch, and somebody poured a bottle of something in it. Laughter. Everyone of the big shots wives was loaded.
JEANETTE: Laughter.
ANNE: I never laughed so much in my life. The other devils poured a quart of, I don’t know, whiskey, or something in the punch.
Recreation
JEANETTE: So, the hall - that was the hall that was at the mine, right? You’d cross over the brook and you’d go over to the left-hand side.
ANNE: The left-hand side, yes. It was a nice building.
JEANETTE: I wonder what ever happened to that one?
ANNE: They must have torn it down. I don’t know.
JEANETTE: In the picture I have of the 50’s mine, there seems that there are a few houses there and a bigger building. Is that where the baseball field was?
ANNE: Yes, it was. They had a baseball diamond there. They had a baseball team. That LaForte fellow, he was one of the best players they had.
JEANETTE: Is that right?
JEANETTE: And they used to play against St Peter’s and places like that.
ANNE: Yeah, local.
ANNE: There was a lot of stuff going on there.
JEANETTE: Do you remember a guy - he was probably a student. His name was Eddie Murin? He was from Glace Bay. Diddy (Marjorie Johnson/MacLeod) was telling me he kind of spearheaded some of this recreation stuff.
EARL: He may have been one of Eric’s brothers.
JEANETTE: This man died in Feb (2019). I’m pretty sure it’s him. I found an obituary. He went to St FX University.
EARL: Oh, that’s his brother. He had a lot of education.
JEANETTE: He would have been 94 when he died.
ANNE: Yeah, I think so.
JEANETTE: Yes, well his obituary was very impressive. It was all about sports.
Fast Drivers
ANNE: It was wild, it wasn’t safe to drive on the road there, Malcolm MacDonald, you remember Malcolm?
JEANETTE: Yeah.
ANNE: Well he was coming from work and I was just learning how to drive then. We had a brand-new Mercury car, I think. Everybody had a new car.
JEANETTE: Yeah, it seemed like it.
ANNE: I don’t know if I had my license or not but anyway, I came down Barker’s corner. Malcolm used to drive like the devil. He was going as fast as the car would go and I put him off the road.
JEANETTE: You put him off!
ANNE: Well I didn’t get out of his way in time.
JEANETTE: Oh. Laughter.
ANNE: I’ll never forget that.
JEANETTE: So, there were some fast drivers, right?
The men from Quebec
ANNE: The French, from Quebec, oh.
JEANETTE: So, they had their own cars down there, too?
ANNE: Oh, yes.
JEANETTE: They stayed in the bunkhouse, a lot of them, right?
ANNE: Yes, all of them did, I think.
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The people from Germany
ANNE: They had a lot of German people there. EARL: After the war. ANNE: A lot of them came then. JEANETTE: There was a man from Germany. He worked at the assay office. Duncan identified him as Harry Bayers. |
Back view of the 50's Stirling MIne site.
Picture of Assay Office
JEANETTE: I think this is the assay office.
ANNE: I remember Mamie (Morrison/MacMaster) working there.
JEANETTE: That’s in back there.
ANNE: It was a dangerous place underground there. They were lucky. That would never pass now.
JEANETTE: Did people say they had close calls there?
ANNE: Oh, there were a lot of rock falls there.
The Stirling Bus
JEANETTE: Do you know how often the Stirling bus ran when the mine was going.
ANNE: Oh, it ran 3 x’s a week, I think.
JEANETTE: I think this is the assay office.
ANNE: I remember Mamie (Morrison/MacMaster) working there.
JEANETTE: That’s in back there.
ANNE: It was a dangerous place underground there. They were lucky. That would never pass now.
JEANETTE: Did people say they had close calls there?
ANNE: Oh, there were a lot of rock falls there.
The Stirling Bus
JEANETTE: Do you know how often the Stirling bus ran when the mine was going.
ANNE: Oh, it ran 3 x’s a week, I think.
1950's mine site with old 30's shaft in the background used before #2 shaft was sank.
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A close up shot of the old 30's mine shaft used in the 50's before #2 shaft was sank.
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Picture of the old shaft
JEANETTE: That’s up on the hill across the way.
ANNE: Another shaft went down there, I think. They had another shaft up there.
Jeanette: Yeah, there was, it’s over here(see circled area). Actually, Wendell was saying they ran that old shaft before they got the other one going.
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: That’s up on the hill across the way.
ANNE: Another shaft went down there, I think. They had another shaft up there.
Jeanette: Yeah, there was, it’s over here(see circled area). Actually, Wendell was saying they ran that old shaft before they got the other one going.
ANNE: Yeah
Glory Hole before being pumped out around 1949 by Dept of Mines
Picture of glory hole
Jeanette: This is a picture of the Glory hole ANNE: Oh yeah. What happened to that. JEANETTE: It’s full of water again. ANNE: That would be a terrible place to fall into. It is deep. JEANETTE: Yeah, even standing near it. ANNE: Why did they call it the Glory hole? JEANETTE: It’s a term they use in mining. It was an old shaft that collapsed (as per Elmer MacGilivary’s interview) |
Glory Hole after being pumped out around 1949 by Dept of Mines
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JEANETTE: That’s what they used to pump it out. Dept of Mines used this Mining Plant.
JEANETTE: Initially the people who worked at the cook house were paid by the Dept of Mines. ANNE: Yeah, I think so. Jeanette: There is a brook that goes through the mine. It is called Strachan’s Brook. And it goes all the way down past where Claussen’s used to live (Framboise end of Stirling Rd). It (the tailings) killed everything along the way down there. JEANETTE: Even up to 25 years ago - there’s a settling pond where the water accumulates there- the chemicals were leaching out into the brook. (Click on Links to view settling pond restoration project) EARL: They used a lot of Cyanide there, didn’t they? JEANETTE: Yes, that’s what I understand. EARL: It never came back. ANNE: It killed everything across the Baron Rd. It had to be poisonous. JEANETTE: It is starting to grow back a little bit now. ANNE: Is it? |
Going down the mine Rd. 1951 likely summer
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Going down the mine rd, likely the next winter
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Picture going down the mine rd. in winter
JEANETTE: There are two old bunkhouses here (on the left). One was used as a theater.
ANNE: They used to have movies every Friday night.
JEANETTE: It was right across from the Chinese restaurant. This is the roof of it. It was an old school.
JEANETTE: And this is Danny Shaw’s store.
ANNE: I remember Annie, Danny Shaw’s wife. She ran that store.
JEANETTE: He didn’t work at the mine, did he?
ANNE: No, he had the store in Loch Lomond. He owned the store.
People who worked at the mine that Anne remembers
ANNE: Spenser Bagnell, I remember him. He was from Gabarus.
ANNE: Oh yeah Joe Carter. He was on the gate. He lived in Grand River.
EARL: He had a long way to walk to work.
Jeanette: He didn’t walk from here (Grand River)!!!
EARL: Somebody would pick him up and give him a rive, I guess.
JEANETTE: I didn't know he was on the gate.
ANNE: He was at one time, on the gate.
JEANETTE: Jim MacDonald and Enos Sampson - those were the two main guys and I think Murdoch Dan (MacLeod) worked on the gate too.
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: Callaway, he worked at the mill
ANNE: Yes, I remember him.
JEANETTE: Do you know his first name?
ANNE: No
JEANETTE: Christian Clausen
ANNE: I remember Christian Clausen.
JEANETTE: That must be how he got to be in Framboise, working in the mine.
ANNE: I don’t know, probably
JEANETTE: His house down the Stirling Rd was from the mine too.
ANNE: Ray Dunphy, I remember him
JEANETTE: He was from Soldier’s Cove, then?
ANNE: Yeah, yeah.
JEANETTE: Laurie Fanning
ANNE: I remember him, he was shift boss. He was Ken’s boss.
ANNE: Willie Ferguson. He was from Grand River. He was a fiddler.
ANNE: Fontaine. That rings a bell, too. He worked in the Machine Shop.
JEANETTE: George Fontaine
ANNE: (Fornier) -he was the Warehouse Manager.
JEANETTE: Gaudet.
ANNE: He was the boss of the main office.
ANNE: Alex Graham. He worked in the Mill. He worked with Ken too.
ANNE: I remember Kenny MacEwen. He worked in the office.
JEANETTE: And then there was Greg Johnson. He worked in the engineering office.
ANNE: I remember the Johnsons. They went out to Eliot Lake.
JEANETTE: He lives up in Sudbury now.
ANNE: I knew him. He got transferred to the Uranium mine. He got married up there.
JEANETTE: There was another Johnson, (Norman) who was Diddy’s (Marjorie MacLeod) brother.
ANNE: They lived close to our place in Stirling.
JEANETTE: Dan MacAskill. Gus Sampson said this man lived on the road going to Framboise, by the lake.
ANNE: That was Annie MacAskill’s husband, Dan, wasn’t it? He lived on the road to Framboise.
JEANETTE: And was he over in one of those places in Newfoundland?
ANNE: I think he was.
JEANETTE: Because Gus (Sampson) said when he was in NFL the first fellow he came across was this Dan MacAskill.
JEANETTE: Angus MacDonald.
ANNE: Yeah, he moved to Big Pond.
JEANETTE: Big Jim MacDonald. He was a gatekeeper. Do you remember him
ANNE: yes.
EARL: They were from Soldier’s Cove.
ANNE: Malcolm Dan (MacIntosh), he was a carpenter. I knew that.
JEANETTE: Leslie MacDonald from Gabarus.
ANNE: I remember him.
ANNE: There were three MacDonnell’s. They all went to Eliot Lake, the three of them.
ANNE: Burt MacDougall, I remember him.
JEANETTE: Charlie MacDougall. It was his son who drowned in the Lake.
ANNE: I remember that very well.
JEANETTE: Chrissy MacLeod (MacMillan), she worked there
ANNE: Chrissy Murdoch Dan. I don't know if Murdoch Dan worked there.
JEANETTE: Apparently, he worked as a Janitor and on the gate there.
ANNE: Mary Ann Troke. She worked in the Assay office
JEANETTE: She also worked in the Cook House initially.
ANNE: I don’t remember her in the Cook House though.
ANNE: Blaze MacKenzie. I remember him.
ANNE: Collie MacKenzie. He died up in Elliot Lake.
JEANETTE: Dan Hughie MacKinnon. My friend, Elizabeth, whom I worked with, - that was her father. He was from Iona or little narrows.
ANNE: Joe MacLean. I remember him.
JEANETTE: Archie MacLeod.
ANNE: That was Dan Angus’ son, Archie.
JEANETTE: Dick MacLeod.
ANNE: That was Dick MacLeod from Grand River. He must have worked in the mine before he went to Hamilton.
JEANETTE: Ian MacLeod. He was one of the first guys working down there.
ANNE: Yes, he was.
JEANETTE: Jimmy Dan E (MacLeod). I don’t know what he did there.
ANNE: He worked there. I remember him.
JEANETTE: Walter MacLeod. He worked for a short time in the Cook House.
ANNE: I remember Walter.
JEANETTE: Working in the cookhouse?
ANNE: He was in there, but I forgot what he did.
JEANETTE: MacLeod, Dept of Mines.
ANNE: I remember him
JEANETTE: Johnny MacMaster. That was Mamie’s husband.
ANNE: Yeah, he was from Port Hood.
JEANETTE: Johnny MacMillan, Dept of Mines - Chrissy married him. A lot of people met their husbands there.
JEANETTE: Joe Mason
ANNE: I remember him. He was married to Peggy Red John (MacLeod).
JEANETTE: He was a surveyor, I think.
ANNE: Presseau. I remember my dad talking about Presseau. That was the first time it worked.
Jeanette: Kenny John Strachan.
ANNE: Ken (Ann's first husband) was a foreman there at the mill.
Jeanette: So, did he like working there?
ANNE: Oh, yes.
JEANETTE: Tremblay - he married a girl who worked in the Assay office, Dolena MacLeod.
ANNE: Dolena MacLeod was a pastry cook.
JEANETTE: I believe she worked in one of the offices (Assay).
ANNE: She may have after that.
JEANETTE: And her sister, Florence, married Biron, from Sydney.
ANNE: Oh: Claude Biron. He drove a truck. His wife was Kenny William’s daughter.
Anne's Thoughts about living and working in Stirling.
I liked working at the mine in Stirling. I met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. I moved to Ontario the week after the mine closed and was there for 32 years. We returned in 1994. It was great to be back in Cape Breton again.
JEANETTE: There are two old bunkhouses here (on the left). One was used as a theater.
ANNE: They used to have movies every Friday night.
JEANETTE: It was right across from the Chinese restaurant. This is the roof of it. It was an old school.
JEANETTE: And this is Danny Shaw’s store.
ANNE: I remember Annie, Danny Shaw’s wife. She ran that store.
JEANETTE: He didn’t work at the mine, did he?
ANNE: No, he had the store in Loch Lomond. He owned the store.
People who worked at the mine that Anne remembers
ANNE: Spenser Bagnell, I remember him. He was from Gabarus.
ANNE: Oh yeah Joe Carter. He was on the gate. He lived in Grand River.
EARL: He had a long way to walk to work.
Jeanette: He didn’t walk from here (Grand River)!!!
EARL: Somebody would pick him up and give him a rive, I guess.
JEANETTE: I didn't know he was on the gate.
ANNE: He was at one time, on the gate.
JEANETTE: Jim MacDonald and Enos Sampson - those were the two main guys and I think Murdoch Dan (MacLeod) worked on the gate too.
ANNE: Yeah
JEANETTE: Callaway, he worked at the mill
ANNE: Yes, I remember him.
JEANETTE: Do you know his first name?
ANNE: No
JEANETTE: Christian Clausen
ANNE: I remember Christian Clausen.
JEANETTE: That must be how he got to be in Framboise, working in the mine.
ANNE: I don’t know, probably
JEANETTE: His house down the Stirling Rd was from the mine too.
ANNE: Ray Dunphy, I remember him
JEANETTE: He was from Soldier’s Cove, then?
ANNE: Yeah, yeah.
JEANETTE: Laurie Fanning
ANNE: I remember him, he was shift boss. He was Ken’s boss.
ANNE: Willie Ferguson. He was from Grand River. He was a fiddler.
ANNE: Fontaine. That rings a bell, too. He worked in the Machine Shop.
JEANETTE: George Fontaine
ANNE: (Fornier) -he was the Warehouse Manager.
JEANETTE: Gaudet.
ANNE: He was the boss of the main office.
ANNE: Alex Graham. He worked in the Mill. He worked with Ken too.
ANNE: I remember Kenny MacEwen. He worked in the office.
JEANETTE: And then there was Greg Johnson. He worked in the engineering office.
ANNE: I remember the Johnsons. They went out to Eliot Lake.
JEANETTE: He lives up in Sudbury now.
ANNE: I knew him. He got transferred to the Uranium mine. He got married up there.
JEANETTE: There was another Johnson, (Norman) who was Diddy’s (Marjorie MacLeod) brother.
ANNE: They lived close to our place in Stirling.
JEANETTE: Dan MacAskill. Gus Sampson said this man lived on the road going to Framboise, by the lake.
ANNE: That was Annie MacAskill’s husband, Dan, wasn’t it? He lived on the road to Framboise.
JEANETTE: And was he over in one of those places in Newfoundland?
ANNE: I think he was.
JEANETTE: Because Gus (Sampson) said when he was in NFL the first fellow he came across was this Dan MacAskill.
JEANETTE: Angus MacDonald.
ANNE: Yeah, he moved to Big Pond.
JEANETTE: Big Jim MacDonald. He was a gatekeeper. Do you remember him
ANNE: yes.
EARL: They were from Soldier’s Cove.
ANNE: Malcolm Dan (MacIntosh), he was a carpenter. I knew that.
JEANETTE: Leslie MacDonald from Gabarus.
ANNE: I remember him.
ANNE: There were three MacDonnell’s. They all went to Eliot Lake, the three of them.
ANNE: Burt MacDougall, I remember him.
JEANETTE: Charlie MacDougall. It was his son who drowned in the Lake.
ANNE: I remember that very well.
JEANETTE: Chrissy MacLeod (MacMillan), she worked there
ANNE: Chrissy Murdoch Dan. I don't know if Murdoch Dan worked there.
JEANETTE: Apparently, he worked as a Janitor and on the gate there.
ANNE: Mary Ann Troke. She worked in the Assay office
JEANETTE: She also worked in the Cook House initially.
ANNE: I don’t remember her in the Cook House though.
ANNE: Blaze MacKenzie. I remember him.
ANNE: Collie MacKenzie. He died up in Elliot Lake.
JEANETTE: Dan Hughie MacKinnon. My friend, Elizabeth, whom I worked with, - that was her father. He was from Iona or little narrows.
ANNE: Joe MacLean. I remember him.
JEANETTE: Archie MacLeod.
ANNE: That was Dan Angus’ son, Archie.
JEANETTE: Dick MacLeod.
ANNE: That was Dick MacLeod from Grand River. He must have worked in the mine before he went to Hamilton.
JEANETTE: Ian MacLeod. He was one of the first guys working down there.
ANNE: Yes, he was.
JEANETTE: Jimmy Dan E (MacLeod). I don’t know what he did there.
ANNE: He worked there. I remember him.
JEANETTE: Walter MacLeod. He worked for a short time in the Cook House.
ANNE: I remember Walter.
JEANETTE: Working in the cookhouse?
ANNE: He was in there, but I forgot what he did.
JEANETTE: MacLeod, Dept of Mines.
ANNE: I remember him
JEANETTE: Johnny MacMaster. That was Mamie’s husband.
ANNE: Yeah, he was from Port Hood.
JEANETTE: Johnny MacMillan, Dept of Mines - Chrissy married him. A lot of people met their husbands there.
JEANETTE: Joe Mason
ANNE: I remember him. He was married to Peggy Red John (MacLeod).
JEANETTE: He was a surveyor, I think.
ANNE: Presseau. I remember my dad talking about Presseau. That was the first time it worked.
Jeanette: Kenny John Strachan.
ANNE: Ken (Ann's first husband) was a foreman there at the mill.
Jeanette: So, did he like working there?
ANNE: Oh, yes.
JEANETTE: Tremblay - he married a girl who worked in the Assay office, Dolena MacLeod.
ANNE: Dolena MacLeod was a pastry cook.
JEANETTE: I believe she worked in one of the offices (Assay).
ANNE: She may have after that.
JEANETTE: And her sister, Florence, married Biron, from Sydney.
ANNE: Oh: Claude Biron. He drove a truck. His wife was Kenny William’s daughter.
Anne's Thoughts about living and working in Stirling.
I liked working at the mine in Stirling. I met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. I moved to Ontario the week after the mine closed and was there for 32 years. We returned in 1994. It was great to be back in Cape Breton again.