start the fire from the coals the minute you rise. Of course, it isn't necessary in the warmer months. Only time you'll need a morning fire then is when we bake bread, every Wednesday.” Within a short period of time, Mary would come to dislike Wednesdays. Baking bread was no job for a young child. “You'll find the woodpile out back.” Mrs. Jacques continued and pointed towards the door. “Make sure the woodbox is always full. There are two pumps outside, one for the cistern and one for the well. Fill the reservoir in the stove with water from the rain barrel and fill the kitchen pail with well water morning and night.”
Without pausing, but looking Mary right in the eye, she went on, “I expect the kitchen floor swept every morning once the fire is lit. There are two brooms in the shed outside the door, a corn broom and a hickory one. I don't care which one you use. The dogs need to be fed every night by five. Set the table for six and a place at the end for you.” Mrs. Jacques pointed to the far end of the pine table. “I laid out one place so as you could see how it's done. I expect it to look like that. Dishes are on the shelf.” Mary's eyes followed the woman's hands as she issued the orders and pointed in various directions.
“Have you ever made oatmeal?” Mrs. Jacques asked.
“No.”
“It's no, Ma'am.”
“No, Ma'am,” Mary replied.
“I'll show you tomorrow. I can't do everything today. Breakfast must be ready by seven. The boys leave for school at seven-thirty. Do you have any questions?”
“Can I go to school too, Ma'am?” she asked in a quiet, apprehensive voice.
“Not much point starting now. There's only a week or so left and I don't imagine much learning is going on. We'll see about it in the fall.” She paused. “And besides, you'll be real busy right here.”
Taken from the census records of 1891, showing the names of the Jacques sons. Courtesy National Archives of Canada, T-6360.
Mary's eyes dropped. Disappointed by this news and overwhelmed by her array of abrupt orders, she had difficulty hiding her dismay.
“Don't be sulking, Girl. Get yourself some oatmeal, sit on that stool by the corner and I'll explain your other chores,” she said with a slight smile. And so the day began.
Mary was walked through a routine that would soon become all too familiar. Her days would seem endless and her whole being consumed by repetitive, tedious tasks. When one chore was complete, another was waiting to be done.
Mary was not formally introduced to the Jacques children until several days after her arrival. It was Sunday morning and the family was getting ready to go to church.
Annie Marie, the eldest and the only girl, was eighteen and a dutiful daughter. She had dark hair like her mother but was taller and smaller boned. Annie had a forceful, abrupt manner which matched her height. Having finished elementary school, Annie was working in James Malcolm's cheese factory nearby, returning home from work each night. It was considered improper for a girl to leave home for any reason other than to get married. By the time a girl was eighteen she was referred to as a spinster, but Annie's mother refused to acknowledge the fact that her only daughter was an “unclaimed treasure.” She'd had two quilting bees for her and the quilts were stored in a cedar chest anticipating the arrival of an acceptable suitor. It was a subject that was not discussed.
THE JACQUES FAMILY TREE 6
Annie's one love was to work in the garden, and even though she worked long hours at the cheese factory, she still found time to manage a large vegetable garden of corn, beans, squash and potatoes. She also liked to cook and had been a great help to her mother in the last few years. However, the day-to-day food preparation would now become Mary's responsibility and would leave Annie more time to tend her garden or make the family favourites like johnnycake and apple snow.
Annie's first comment to Mary was, “You're awfully small. I sure hope you're strong or what possible good will you be to my mother?” She turned toward her mother for approval as she spoke.
The three boys, even finer boned than their sister, included sixteen-year-old Thomas who said very little, thirteen-year-old Christopher who was even quieter, and Daniel who had just turned eleven. Daniel, named after his father, was the most outgoing. He was also the animal lover, which explained the two dogs. Tiny was a scrawny hound that Daniel had found last winter in a field, dying of starvation, and Ben, a brown and white spotted beagle, was one of the Skillings pups, given to him on his ninth birthday. Neither animal was allowed in the house, much to Daniel's disappointment. His mother had allergies to animal fur. So the dogs stayed in the barn at night, if in fact they decided to come home at all. By day they wandered at will.
Mary felt perhaps Daniel might become her friend. She was sorry that there were not more girls in the family since a friendship with Annie seemed obviously out of the question.
Very quickly, Mary learned the routines of the Jacques family. On Saturday night, baths were taken by each member of the family. It was believed that bathing too frequently would remove those body oils which helped to prevent people from getting sick. Besides, heating the water required much time and effort. Since there was no bathroom in the house, they took turns taking a bath in the dubious privacy of the kitchen which was the warmest room in the house. A large wooden tub was set in the middle of the kitchen floor, half filled with warm water. Mr. Jacques was first and a little warm water was added for each newcomer, beginning with the oldest child, Annie, then descending in chronological order to the youngest. Mary was always last. On bath evenings, Annie helped her mother with a basin of water in her bedroom.
Monday was “wash day,” but clothes were worn many times before they were considered dirty. The Jacques were cautious not to wash things unnecessarily since they would wear out faster and need to be replaced.
The outhouse, or privy as the Jacques called it, was a little log shanty, “just a piece” removed from the house and used year round. Since outdoor work fell to the men, it was the job of one of the Jacques boys to throw a cupful of Gillett's lye down the hole and see that there was an outdated Eaton's catalogue and a supply of old newspapers there at all times. With the exception of Mrs. Jacques, the entire household used this privy.
Mary witnessed lots of outhouse pranks. Thomas and Chris would lock their younger brother in on a regular basis, but he outsmarted them as he got older. Mary would never forget the time he scaled the walls, got out by scrambling through a hole in the roof and hid in his room until supper. When his brothers went back to unlock the door, much to their amazement, he was not to be seen. They were convinced he had fallen in. Daniel appeared at the dinner table but not until after they had confessed to “losing” him down the hole in the privy. Both boys had to do Daniel's chores for a week.
Gillett's lye was used to keep the privy or outhouse sanitary during the summer months. For over 100 years, their advertising slogan has been : ‘12 ways to “Lye” effectively’ will show you what a big difference a “little white Lye now and again can make in your life.” Courtesy Joseph Aziz, President, Gillett's Cleaning Products Inc.
The boys also loved to tease Annie when she was in there after dark by making weird animal noises in the woods or suddenly banging on the
