I asked my mother, after my dad passed away, to write down my dad's story. This is dad's life, told in my mother's words.
Bernard John Ingoldsby was born Oct 4 1915 on a farm in
Centreville Ont. County of Lennox and Addington approximately 30 miles from
Kingston Ont.
His parents Charles Ingoldsby and Bernadette Hinch were
small farmers of approx 50 acres, on which they grew wheat and oats, a large
garden and raised beef cattle, pigs and lots of chickens. A larger brick house
was home to Bernie and 4 brothers and 3 sisters. His education was Grade
XI he attended school at Centreville Ontario
and Newbury Ontario, a small village
approximately 3 miles from home. The farm was a place where everyone helped out
in the various chores, haying , harvesting and caring for the animals. The
Ingoldsby's had sugar maples close by. It
was a great event tapping the trees and boiling the sap in large vats which
were placed on a large grate over a wood fire that needed to be fed day and
night. Two older brothers, Jim and Leo
were the carriers of sap pails and cut wood to keep the whole operation going. Bernie, of course took his turn as he grew
older. His first night that he was in
charge to keep the fires burning he fell asleep and all of the vats were cold
with the contents stuck to the bottom.
Maple syrup was used for everything that required sweetening, such as
pancakes, pies and french toast.
During summer holidays, everyone went berry picking so
mother could put up fruit for the winter and bake pies all summer. Wild berries, which were plentiful, plus an
apple orchard out back were the main source of fruit for the family. On one occasion of endless days of berry
picking, Bernie arrived at home with a full pail before anyone else. Mother discovered the bottom three quarters
full of grass, with a few inches of berries on top. He was promptly sent back to pick a proper
pail full.
A berry picking story
One summer day Bernie and Alice were on their way to a berry patch
farther afield. Across the field a billy goat with a fair set of horns came
charging on them. Bernie took off his jacket and spread it across a large rock
close by. The goat charged the jacket while the two took off running for
safety. Some hours later they ventured back and found only a wee stub of the
goat's tail remaining!!!
In his later teens, hunting became an obsession! A near neighbour, who also enjoyed shooting
asked him to join him. Wilfred Whalen also had fox hounds. They spent many days trying to outfox the
fox! They would leave early in the
morning and return at dark. This is the
time that Bernie developed ulcers and eventually had surgery for a perforated
ulcer.
The two older brothers Jim and Leo married and were set up
on farms a few miles from home.
Meanwhile, the sisters, Alice, Josephine and Rose were going through
high school and eventually ended up with teaching careers. Brother, Flavian was also a teacher. Bernie was trying to eke out a living by
doing jobs here and there. During the
30's work was hard to find. In 1936, he
worked for a road construction company
north of Kingston in Barry's Bay.
One winter, he decided to earn extra money, so with help from a
neighbour, they cut a big load of spruce trees and headed for Toronto, about
150 miles away. Going from street to street
they managed to sell very few trees, and returned with most of the load, a big
disappointment.
Always one to tinker and fix things, Bernie would get a
couple of old bicycles and try to get one into running order. A big job was working on two worn out model
T's cars with the same intentions. He
finally got one to move and found a short lived means of transportation. He
found some freedom to get to fishing holes and ponds and marshes to shoot
ducks.
In the summer of 1939, Bernie and a friend decided to go
west. It was a big secret from Mother and Dad, whose only knowledge of Canada
was the small confines of about 25 or 30 miles surrounding home and
family. Mr and Mrs Ingoldsby were born,
raised and worked in the same area. Most
or all of their immediate family settled close by. Born in the early 1880's, the Ingoldsby's,
Hinches and many Irish family came to Canada from Ireland in the 1800's. Bernie's dad always said, My father came from
"county cork and the town of Trim".
Bernie and his friend, who's name escapes me, made their way
to Toronto, and caught a freight train going west, which was the plans of many
young men. "Go west and go
harvesting". With very little money
and many railway police on the alert to stop these free travelers, they would
jump off the freight cars. When slowing down near towns walk on through to the other
side and catch the train again. Bernie arrived in Winnipeg some days later with
10 cents in his pocket and a small bundle of clothes.
During the early 30's the western provinces were in very poor
condition due to dry weather and poor prices, no one was able to raise a crop.
Everyone was in a recession. The latter
part of the 30's saw a turn around and farmers needed help on farms. So it was
that Bernie and hundreds of others were picked up at rail stations and taken to
farms to help with harvest. The area
south of Brandon Manitoba was where B. J. was taken and worked until harvest
was finished. With a few dollars in his jeans, Bernie & friend headed for
Winnipeg to pursue other work.
The S.S. Kresge Co were advertising for help in the store
window. He applied and was hired, and
his career in Kresges was launched.
While "away out west", Mrs. Ingoldsby, being the
caring, worrying kind, wrote weekly letters to convince her son to return
home. The war had broken out and many
boys were enlisting to serve their country.
Bernie applied in Winnipeg and was rejected due to flat feet and his
perforated ulcer condition. So it was,
that he remained with Kresges. He was
transferred over the years to various locations in Ontario and Western Canada.
In 1946, B.J. moved to Saskatoon, where
I met the man, who was later to become my husband and your father.
