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 door. Just as suddenly, they would run away and, of course, if suspected, would deny any such suggestion.
During the night, chamber pots, one under each bed, were there for use instead of the outdoor privy. Carefully emptying these pots became one of Mary's many daily responsibilities.
Every Sunday, the family, with the exception of Mrs. Jacques, attended St. Paul's, the Anglican church in Innerkip, weather permitting. Not only was it difficult to lift her into the buggy, but she found the half-hour buggy ride into town and back, very, very tiring. However, her church attendance was better in winter when her husband and sons could lift her into the bob sleigh more easily. Somehow the sleigh ride seemed shorter. Mary was rarely invited to join them for church. It was her job to stay home and prepare the Sunday dinner.
The kitchen was large in comparison to the rest of the house and was where the family spent most of their time. The old pine harvest table was worn, yet had a great deal of character. Distress marks, black water rings and gouges in the wood would indicate to even the most casual observer that many meals had been served here. Six chairs of ash, elm or pine flanked the table. Only two matched; the rest had come from various places. As the Jacques family increased, so had the number of chairs at their table. A stool at one end indicated there was a newcomer.
A rocker, Mrs. Jacques' chair, a washstand for Mrs. Jacques pitcher and bowl and a small table were near the hearth surrounding the wood stove. With the exception of a blue and yellow striped knit shawl on Mrs. Jacques' chair, there was virtually no colour in the room. Mary's place when she was not doing chores, was a small milk stool beside the butter churn, near the end of the stove.
Kitchen utensils, pots and pans, compact barrels of salted meat and a basket of potatoes were stored in the pantry beside the kitchen. Mary had never heard of pickling until she came to live with the Jacques. Under Mrs. Jacques' careful scrutiny she would stand at the table and wash and cut quantities of green beans before storing them in brine-filled wooden barrels. She also learned how to preserve fruit in sugar and make cider. The Jacques enjoyed the homemade sweets, especially conserves, a candied fruit sometimes known as a sweetmeat. Like most of their neighbours, the Jacques had a root cellar for storing vegetables in the side of the hill behind the house. Often Mary would be sent there to fetch something for supper.
She peeled potatoes, prepared vegetables and set the table every night. At supper time, she was allowed to sit with the family and permitted to eat once everyone else had been served. As was the custom, grace was said by Mr. Jacques before every meal. After supper Mary was expected to clear the table, and wash and dry the dishes. She also did the family mending in the evening while the others read or played board games after their barn chores and any homework were finished.
Most of Mary's days were spent in the kitchen. Other than to dust and sweep, she was rarely in the other two rooms on the main floor, the parlour and the parents' bedroom. Originally, the bedroom had been a “borning room” where Mrs. Jacques delivered each of her seven children, and then it had become the family dining room. After she became ill, it had been converted to a bedroom. Mrs. Jacques hated to part with her dining room. It was considered a sign of affluence, but when she could no longer climb stairs, there had been no other choice. Lately, she felt she had little say in a lot of issues because of her health problems. This sense of powerlessness combined with daily pain fuelled her discontentment.
The upstairs was not spacious, just a couple of bedrooms and a small alcove. One room was Annie's, while the boys shared the larger one. The tiny space above the kitchen was where Mary slept.
Downstairs, the parlour was hardly ever used. Occasionally, Mrs. Jacques would do her needlework