At her birthday and family reunion party two summers ago, Mary requested me to try to have her story, in a public forum. With some assistance, Mary had prepared this brief reminiscence intending to provide today's generation with first hand knowledge of Canadian life at the turn of the century. Although her eyesight is failing, Mary has excellent mental faculties and a clear memory of her younger years on Indian Point. She remembers a period that the rest of us can only read about in history books. Here is Mary Wentzell's story of Canadian life in the early 1900's.

Now that I have just celebrated my 100th birthday and the world prepares to turn another century, I would like to tell you something about the life of a mariner's daughter in a small Nova Scotia settlement, Indian Point, at the turn of the last century.

In 1753, ten German families settled the peninsula named Indian Point, about three miles from the town of Mahone Bay on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. This name was derived from the Micmac Indian burial ground that existed on the point. I descended from one of these original families, the Hysons. Among these settlers were a wheelwright, a cooper, who made coffins and barrels, and a shoe cobbler. The remainder consisted of farmers, fishermen and carpenters. Three of these settlers' homes are still occupied today by their descendants.

Mahone Bay contains 365 islands, one for each day of the year; but, only a few were ever inhabited. The waters within the bay and surrounding the Indian Point peninsula were rich with fish and the lives of the people centered around this resource. Almost everyone had a boat and fished. Three larger fishing vessels sailed from Indian Point, each carrying a crew of 27, a captain, a salter, a splitter, a cook, and a flunkie. The remainder of the crew would fish in dories until they had the vessel loaded. Then they sailed for home, to land the fish at locations where the flakes were set up. The fish were scrubbed with scrubbing brushes, then put on the flakes in patterns to dry. After the fish were dried, they were packed and shipped to market. These vessels usually left for the Grand Banks in March, but sometimes the ice was so thick that the Stanley came and made channels and the crew cut the ice with saws and axes. Then the Stanley towed the vessels out to open water.

Daily life was influenced not only by the abundance of the sea but also its perils. In order to bring the island children to school, a government wharf was constructed, where the boats could dock. During the summer, the wharf was used by the children for swimming, diving and boating. The wharf provided a center of fun and enjoyment for the young people. An unfortunate incident with a happy ending occurred one day. Two young boys, aged thirteen and fourteen years from Zwicker's Island rigged up an old boat. The sails were made from burlap bags. The boys sailed their boat from the island to the wharf at Indian Point. When they were just ready to tie up to the wharf a gust of wind blew the sail and spar out of the boat, hitting one of the boys and knocking him overboard. Unfortunately, he did not know how to swim. There were no adults on the wharf at the time; but, the children's screams were heard by my uncle who came to the rescue. He plucked the unconscious boy from the water and called to me for a barrel. I got the barrel and my uncle rolled and rolled the boy on the barrel, but without success. Just one more idea remained to be tried. My uncle put two fingers in the boy's mouth and pressed on his tongue. Two gushes of salt water expelled from the boy's lungs. The boy uttered a cry and my uncle was overjoyed with his success!

Farming was an important part of life on Indian Point. The farmers grew mostly barley grain, as it was hardier than wheat and could withstand the cold Springs. The barley grain was thrashed with flays by hand and also sifted by hand. Then it was taken to the mill to be ground into flour. The barley flour is still used today to make our famous barley bread.

My family was involved with another ingredient in the barley bread, molasses. My father, Jeffrey Hyson, was one of the last sea-captains of a 19th century sailing schooner. He traveled to the Caribbean and South America, bringing down cargoes of salt cod and returning back home with molasses, tobacco and other items. He eventually opened up a little trading store on Indian Point where he traded mainly tobacco and molasses. The Micmac Indians, who lived in and around Indian Point, were some of my father's best customers. They enjoyed sitting and smoking their pipes at the store as they socialized with my father and anyone else at the store.

My father was always very interested in staying in touch with the outside world. One of the events of my childhood memory concerns the Boer War. My father, reading the weekly paper, slammed it on the table and exclaimed, "Damn those Boers". While my father was outside, busy with his chores, I asked my mother, "Who are those Boers?" She explained in the best words she could find to make a five year old understand.

In the summer, life centered around fishing and farming; but, during the long, cold winters working parties were held by the men and women of the community to shingle barns, split wood, quilt, hook rugs, and spin wool. I used to love when my mother would have a spinning wheel party. Eight or ten women would arrive at our house carrying their spinning wheels high on their left shoulders. They would spin all afternoon, then finish with a hardy supper and go home to their families.

The children were involved with school. As there was no schoolhouse, the traveling teacher came and lived for a month with each family, receiving free board. A one-room schoolhouse was opened in the late 1800's with seventy-five students in grades one to nine. Students came from Indian Point and the outlying islands. A group of young people walked the three miles to Mahone Bay to receive musical education (singing lessons). These lessons prepared the students for the annual school concert presented at Christmas.

As time went on, a church was constructed by the community. People raised money by holding socials, bake sales, and dances.

Early in the history of Indian Point the mail was brought from Mahone Bay by boat. In later years the mail was transported by horse and carriage with an occasional passenger. One day on the trip to Mahone Bay a mother and her son were passengers. On the way, the horse was frightened and jumped aside causing the carriage to tumble down the embankment with its passengers. After scrambling up the bank, the mother said to her son, "Johnnie, are you hurt?" and Johnnie replied, "My, my, I'm killed!"

In the early 1900's a weekly boat service from Mahone Bay made calls at Indian Point, Chester, Hubbards, and Halifax. This boat carried both freight and passengers, since there was no train service to Halifax at that time. One Saturday morning the company which owned the boat service planned a paid outing to Deep Cove to help increase their revenue. On the return trip, after a pleasant sunny day, the fog covered everything. The steamer grounded on the gravel beach of Rafuse Island. Since the steamer was overdue, the company feared trouble. An alarm was raised and many small boats joined in the search. Eventually, the steamer was located, and the children were found wrapped in blankets on the floor of the cabin. Most of the night was spent on the boat until the tide arose and the steamer was refloated. Luckily, there was no damage sustained. The people remained on board until families arrived to take them home.

The settlement of Indian Point flourished. A two-story schoolhouse was constructed and two grocery stores and a blacksmith shop were started. A daily mail service was established, and I served as the postmistress for a time. A yacht builder began his business at Indian Point and one of his yachts became world famous.

Now all these things are a part of the past; but, Indian Point is still noted for its scenic beauty, fishing and boating going into the 21st century.