Tamped
Clay and Saltmarsh Hay - Artifacts of New Brunswick
Cliff
and I followed after Gramp and Dad, as they made their way up the
stairs to the hay mow of the horse barn.
We listened to the discussion of the best way to fix the support for
the carrying beam.
Dad suggested using 5 inch by 6 inch timbers to build a brace.
Gramp said, that was a poor idea. He was adamant they take the saw and
axe and go to the woods behind the church, find a tamarack tree and cut
a knee from the root, as it would be much stronger.
We knew there were “elbows” in piping but a “knee” in a tree was
something new to us.
A construction knee cut from a tamarack tree is just one of the many
illustrations in the 280 page "Tamped
Clay and Saltmarsh Hay - Artifacts of New Brunswick" - by Robert
Cunningham and John B. Price that was published in 1976 and deals
particularly with the Chignecto area.
The axe of the early settler was his most useful and cherished tool.
They came in all sizes and shapes, from the broad axe to the froe, each
designed for a specific task.
The cost of a screw was several times more than a nail, so until about
1830, screws were used mainly for attaching hinges to cabinet work.
Nails were often driven into hinges and bent. To prevent the nails from
breaking off, little pieces of leather were used as a cushion against
the hinge.
Soap was made by placing leftover grease and fat from the kitchen into
a large iron pot and adding lye which was formed from soaking hardwood
ashes in water. Sometimes grease was collected in a barrel that was
kept at the backdoor, lye and a stick were added and passers-by on the
way into the house donated their elbow grease.
Good tallow candles were made from one part beef and two parts mutton
suet. For two hours a day it was boiled gently for two or three days
with the adding of a little beeswax and weak lye. The bayberry was used
in making festive candles.
In 1859, Dr. Abraham Gesner distilled kerosene from local oil bearing
shales in Albert County and this brought a change to lighting with the
improved lamps.
Tamped Clay and Saltmarsh Hay -
Artifacts of New Brunswick - by Robert Cunningham and John B.
Price presents a look at the way our ancestors coped with making the
necessities of life, long before the days of supermarkets, malls and
hardware stores, where anything the heart desires can be purchased.
I found the details given on tin, tinkers, silver, chairmaker’s guide,
wood finishes, glass making, soap, candles, nails, hammermen, trees,
knives, joinery, axe, and much more, very informative.
The hundred or so illustrations add to this publication, that can be
borrowed from or viewed at several libraries in New Brunswick.
Query 1331
Brayall
- Duplisea - Gamblin - Kelly - Estabrooks: I am looking
for a copy of the death certificate and place of burial for my
great-grandmother, Louise Anne (Annie) Brayall, born 1867 and died
circa 1934. Her husbands were, Joseph Duplisea, Robert Gamblin and
Edward Kelly. I also seek the date of death and burial place of
Joseph Duplisea who died circa 1914 in either New Brunswick or Maine.
His first marriage was to Annie Ida Estabrooks.
JOSEPH E. BAKER
1090 China Rd
Winslow, Maine
04901, USA
E-mail
joebaker831@midmaine.com
Query 1332
Anderson
- Turner - Archibald - Byers: Georgia Lillian Anderson,
born 13 Dec. 1887, the daughter of George Muirhead Anderson and Ann
Turner, married in 1906 to Alfred Archibald of Springhill, Nova Scotia.
Their daughter Margaret Archibald was living in Saint John, New
Brunswick in 1948. The second husband of Ann Turner was Robert W. Byers
of Truro, Nova Scotia.
PENNY LANE
144 Montrose Ave.
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada, L8K 4Y8
E-mail plane001@sympatico.ca
