Book Review: Women of Western New Brunswick, by Anne Murphy

Frozen Lake in Canada, From the LMAC Image Library

_{Photo credit: @redheadpie}

Extracts from Women of Western New Brunswick

Mother had no idea of the vastness of the land and had never seen so much forest. She thought the trees would never end on the long train ride to McAdam
_{From the essay, Catharine (Kay) McAndrew-Coolicott, by Joanne Collicott McGuigan.}

Things got a little easier for Mother with indoor plumbing. A pipe extending three hundred feet inside Scott Mountain brought cold water to the kitchen sink and was replaced by a set of taps offering both cold and hot water.
_{From the essay, Florence McGillicuddy-Murphy, by Anne Marie Murphy, her daughter}

Women of Western New Brunswick is a compilation of experiences. The women featured all lived in New Brunswick, Canada, at some point in their lives. Many of them lived in or near Canterbury. Some of their lives were brief. Some were long. All had challenges, at times severe.

Canterbury, New Brunswick, Canada: Main Street

_{P199 on Wikimedia. Licensed under CC 1.0.}

There are 22 contributors to the book, in addition to the author, Anne Murphy. Almost all the contributors are women. One of those contributors is Hive's very own @redheadpei, who lives on Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Picture of the Book Cover

_{I took this shot of the cover last night}

Ms. Murphy explains in her introduction that the women profiled came from diverse backgrounds, "all walks of life". Death was a frequent visitor. Children died of diphtheria with cruel frequency. And tuberculosis robbed families of young and old members. Food was sometimes in short supply, electricity not always a given. Money was often wanting and husbands left families for long periods at times to earn an income in distant locations.

Despite the hardship experienced by many, there predominates overwhelmingly a spirit of courage, and love. The profiles are drawn with such tenderness, respect and admiration that reading the book is inspiring.

There are consistent influences and themes in the book. Several of the women became teachers, at an early age--some as early as 17. There was WWII, which loomed large in many lives. Some fought and came home. Some went to war and did not come back.

Then there is the proximity to the U. S., with easy excursions to Maine. There were times of temporary residence in Maine and then a return to Canada.

Map of Canada/US Border

_{Mapgrid. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.}

I took particular interest in the early years of New Brunswick's history. Many of the settlers traveled to the province at the end of the American Revolution. These 'Loyalists' had never signed on to the cause of the war for independence, and after the war had property confiscated in the U. S. Some even faced criminal prosecution. These Loyalists were offered help to resettle in Canada.

Among these settlers were families with the name 'Deveaux', or 'Devoe'. One of my ancestors was named Devoe. It is possible that some of my distant relatives live in New Brunswick today.

One of the essays in Women of Western New Brunswick relates the story of a Loyalist, Hannah Ingraham, who settled in New Brunswick:

The government of what would become New Brunswick the following year provided the new settlers with a tent, flour, butter and pork.
_{From the essay, Hannah Ingraham. Ms. Ingrahm was an ancestor of the author, Anne Murphy.}

With the coming of the first snow, the Ingraham family moved to more permanent quarters, "four walls and a roof." Hannah is quoted as saying as she settled in her new house, "Thank God we are no longer in dread of having shot fired through our house."

The Coming of the Loyalists

_{Oil by Henry Sandham (1842-1910). Credit for image: Black Loyalists in New Brunswick. Public domain}

Women of Western New Brunswick is rich in personal narrative and it is also rich in history. This book is a treasure. There is no intermediary, no analyst or reporter to filter our understanding of the events and people described. The profiles have the truth of immediacy and personal testimony. This for example:

Then it was commonplace for parents to accept a grandchild and no one knew the difference. After her death, many people, including my father, told me Pauline was not his sister but his mother.
_{From the essay, Pauline Collicott-Atherton: Advocate for Animals, by Joanne Collicot McGuigan}

Or this piece, Living off the Land:

"Everything that could be made on the farm was....nobody had any cash. Every family had big gardens and canned produce for the winter...Each kid would be given...a tomato soup can--of kerosene. 'You have to get every bug in those two rows into your can,' my mother might tell me. We had to do this over and over".
_{From the essay Madelyn Stairs-Crawford-Perkins, by Barbara McGillicuddy Bolton}

Voices from the past reach across the years and tell the stories of a place and time, of individuals--those voices transmit history in its most genuine form.

Wood-burning Iron Stove, Typical of Stoves Used by Early New Brunswick Residents

_{Victorgrigas on Wikimedia. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license}

Toward the end of the book there appears an essay entitled Cecilia Adelia Van Tassel-Veysey, written by Lawrence Farrell. The relationship of Mr. Farrell to Ms. Van Tassel-Veysey is not clear, but his depiction of her particular struggle is memorable. As may happen in families across the world, the husband in this marriage was violent and terrorized his wife. The portrait of this woman is a different sort of profile in courage. The essay is a valuable addition to the book because it represents a reality lived by many women in New Brunswick and elsewhere.

Conclusion

This book is the sort that one can pick up and put down when time permits. The stories of the women are addictive, though, and one is more likely to pick the book up and not put it down.

I related to the individuals profiled. Of course, I am a woman. That's a good beginning. But there is more. New Brunswick is located entirely on the Appalachian Mountain range. I lived further south, in the foothills of that range.

The first cake I ever baked was made in a stove that looked very much like the iron stove pictured above. My brothers chopped wood and my mother stoked the fire in the stove--the only source of heat in our Hudson Valley home. My mother had the grit demonstrated by so many women described in the essays.

This is a great, relatable book. I highly recommend it.

The book may be purchased on Amazon in paperback, for $16.24.
292 pages.

Thank you for reading my blog
Hive on!