NOTES OF INGONISH AND ITS PEOPLE INGONISH FERRY VOL. II WRITTEN BY MARY HELEN DOUCETTE TRANSCRIBED AND INDEXED BY TOM BREWER 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .........................3 Mary Helen Doucette ......................4 1959 .............................5 1960 ............................ 88 1961 ............................155 INDEX OF NAMES .......................195 2 Introduction This is the second of four volumes of Notes of Ingonish and Its People. These Notes of Ingonish and Its People were originally a number of large scrapbooks. These scrapbooks are located in the Archives Room at the Cabot High School in Neil's Harbour. They contain newspaper articles about Ingonish that were written and collected by Mary Helen Doucette. I have transcribed these articles and indexed the books so looking for a certain name would be much easier. The original clippings contained the month and day of the article, I have added and underlined the year according to where they appeared in the scrapbooks. Most of the articles had a title, the titles, punctuation and spelling were transcribed as they appeared in the scrapbooks. I hope you will enjoy reading these notes of Ingonish and its people. If you would like more information on the families of Ingonish, or would like to add your information to the bank of information I have gathered, I would appreciate hearing from you. A special word of thanks to Pat Bechard and Mrs. Louise Brewer who helped in the transcribing of these articles. Tom Brewer 4456 Hunt Club Cres. Windsor, Ont., N9G 2P6 3 Mary Helen Doucette Mary Helen Doucette was born Mary Helen Lord in Boston in 1899. Her mother was Mary MacDonald from Port Hood, Her father was Charles Lord of Baltimore, Md. Mary MacDonald returned to Inverness, N.S. with her two children and became a housekeeper for the local Parish Priest. Charles Edward Lord, brother to Mary Helen Lord, died in a mining accident in Timmins, Ontario in 1926. In 1918 Mary Helen Lord was accepted as a teacher and, along with two other girls from Inverness, she went to teach at the South Ingonish School Section. There she met Jack (John) Doucette and they were married in 1922. The couple had two children Leo Keats and Gordon Doucette. Mary Helen and Jack moved to Boston for some time. They returned to Ingonish when Jack obtained a job in the gypsum mine. When the mine closed in 1928, the family moved to Halifax. In 1936 Jack who had been in poor health since having been wounded overseas in World War One, developed T. B.. Jack had to go into a sanatorium and the rest of the family returned to Ingonish. Mary Helen returned to teaching in Ingonish and Jack was in and out of hospitals until his death in 1956. Mary Helen was always interested in what was going on in the community and contributed articles to The Victoria-Inverness Bulletin. Most of these articles along with a number of others and some hand written notes were kept in her scrapbooks and following her death in 1981, her son Gordon donated the books to the archives On the first page of the first scrapbook Helen Mary writes, NOTES OF INGONISH AND ITS PEOPLE FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN 4 1959 INGONISH BEACH INGONISH BEACH, January 3, 1959, May we begin our notes today by wishing the Editor, his staff and all our friends of the Bulletin a very happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year. New Year's Day was indeed a lovely sunshiny day up here. Young and old alike were out of doors enjoying skating, car driving or visiting their neighbors. If it is true that coming events forecast their shadows the days to come will surely be happy ones for this little village. Many get-togethers and parties were held during, the past week. Among those very much enjoyed was a party held by Mary Barker on Saturday night at her home at North Ingonish. Old times and stories of Ingonish were told by William Dunphy, Peter MacLean and Gladstone Buchanan. A sing song was enjoyed by all and a lunch was served by the hostess. Among those attending from Neil's Harbor were Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone Buchanan and daughter, Miss Sandra and Mr. and Mrs. Jim Lynch; from North Ingonish, Mr. and Mrs. Allistair MacLeod, Mrs. Mary Burke of "The Spruces", Patsy Stockley, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stockley and Mr. and Mrs. William Dunphy; from Ingonish Ferry, Mrs. Annabelle MacDonald with her daughters, Mrs. Fred MacDonald and Mildred MacKinnon, and from North Sydney, Mrs. Jean Moulton. Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Donovan motored to Sydney for the Christmas holidays and were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Nicks. Miss Louise MacNeil of L'Ardoise motored to Ingonish and spent the week-end the guest of Mr. and Mrs. James Brewer. Peter H. Dauphinee of Ingonish Centre left for Montreal where he will spend the holidays the guest of his daughter, Miss Marie. He will return the last of January. George Hussey motored to Sydney Tuesday evening on a business trip. Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Doucette and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Doucette left today for North Sydney to see Mrs. Theodore Doucette who is seriously ill at North Sydney Hospital. Mrs. Doucette was rushed to St. Elizabeth's from Neil's Harbour Hospital on Monday. Tuesday, Mrs. Elizabeth Gillis of Ingonish Centre spent the day visiting Mrs. Mary Lord. Although Mrs. Gillis celebrated her 85th birthday on Christmas Day she is as smart and healthy as anyone around and can do all her own housework. Attending the New Year's Eve party at Allistair MacLeod's were Mrs. Mary Burke of the Spruces and her sister, Mrs. Jean Moulton, of North Sydney. Visitors at the home of Mrs. John Doucette during the week were Mr. and Mrs. William Dunphy, Mrs. Joseph Young, Mrs. Peggy Martin, Mr. and Mrs. James Doucette, Mrs. Dan R. MacDougall, Mrs. Sadie Williams and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Whitty. 5 Leo Doucette and his son, Gene, motored to North Sydney on New Year's Day to see Mrs. Theodore Doucette who is in St. Elizabeth's Hospital critically ill. Mrs. Gene Moulton left for her home in North Sydney on Thursday after spending the Christmas holiday the guest of her sister Mrs. Mary Burke. Miss Monica Robinson has been home for the past two weeks visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Robinson. Miss Robinson is employed in Sydney. Pearson Richardson has returned from Sydney to resume teaching at North Ingonish. Mr. Richardson is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Richardson. Ruben Hawley motored to Sydney on a business trip Tuesday. He returned Wednesday evening. We are very pleased to know that the Detroit Cribbage Team will take us on next summer. Please give us a few days notice to gather the clans for the battle. Happy New Year to all Down Easters in Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. William Dunphy motored to Dingwall Wednesday to spend New Year's Day with friends. Mr. and Mrs. Michael MacDougall motored to Dingwall New Year's Eve for the dance held in his hall, the Stardome. Mr. MacDougall says a large crowd attended and all had a good time. A get-together was held in the Parish Hall here on New Year's Eve. Dancing, games and a sing song was held, after which a lunch was served by the ladies. At midnight the party broke up with all singing "Auld Lang Syne" and wishing each other a Happy New Year. Congratulations are extended to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Powers on the birth of a girl at Neil's Harbor Hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stockley of North Ingonish are to be congratulated on the birth of a daughter at Neil's Harbour Hospital last Monday night. Mr. and Mrs. George Robinson motored to Sydney Wednesday on a business trip. Fire Destroys House At Ingonish Beach INGONISH BEACH, January 9, 1959, Despite the efforts of neighbors and the C.B. Highlands National Park Fire Dept. the home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph MacDonald was destroyed by fire Monday morning, January 5. The fire is believed to have been started by an overheated stove pipe in the upstairs. Only a small part of the home's contents were removed before the flames destroyed the building. INGONISH BEACH 6 INGONISH BEACH, January 10, 1959, On Saturday afternoon, January 3, Freeman Whitty and his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. George Whitty, motored to Sydney with Miss Agnes Whitty on her return to Truro, where she is a student at the provincial Normal College. Mr. Whitty and his parents returned home Sunday afternoon. Mr. Whitty is a teacher at the Beach Consolidated School. The many friends of Sister Agatha were delighted to see her down from Antigonish for a visit during the yuletide. While here Sister Agatha called on many of her relatives and former friends at Ingonish Ferry. Rev. Charles Brewer of Ingonish Centre returned to Holy Heart Seminary, Halifax, after spending the Christmas holidays the guest of his father, Harry G. Brewer. Father Brewer on his return motored as far as Sydney with Gene Doucette, then called in Antigonish to visit with his sister Sister Mary Collette, who is with the Sisters of Martha. Miss Virginia Doucette, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Doucette, Ingonish Centre, celebrated her fourth birthday on January 5 at a party given in her honor by her little cousins at the home of her grandmother. The afternoon was spent in singing, playing games and story telling. A lunch was served by Miss Virginia's grandmother, then later the birthday cake holding four lighted candles was cut by Miss Virginia.