Inverness County Asylum Cemetery

Mabou Asylum

Inverness County Asylum – Mabou, Nova Scotia

The Inverness County Asylum served Inverness, Richmond and Victoria Counties. It operated in Mabou from 1889-90 until it was destroyed by fire in February of 1947. At that time, the surviving inmates were moved to Mulgrave where the facility remained in operation until about 1961.

Stanley Beaton of Mabou has been researching the Asylum with a particular focus on individuals who died and were buried  in the Inverness County Asylum Cemetery at Southwest Mabou. There were 110 people buried in this cemetery, but to date only 85 have been identified.

Stanley has compiled a partial list of names of those buried there. He is interested in hearing from both those who may have further information about any of the names listed and those with knowledge of others who may be buried in the cemetery. Stanley’s email address is included on the list. Please contact him directly if you can be of assistance.

The list can be accessed here.

 

Celtic Colours at the Museum 2013

Celtic Colours Storytelling 2013On Tuesday, October 15th, the Chestico Museum hosted Storytelling and Afternoon Tea at the museum. The event was part of Celtic Colours Cultural Experiences series.

This year our theme was centered on anniversaries. 2013 marked the 300th anniversary of the founding of Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) and its capital, Louisbourg. Sandstone from quarries on Port Hood & Henry Islands helped build Fortress Louisbourg. The other milestone was the 50th anniversary of the storm of 1963. We had six wonderful storytellers who generously shared their time with us:

Jenna Currie who works as a Heritage Presenter at Fortress Louisbourg spoke of what life would have been like for the French at Louisbourg and Port Hood.

Donald A. MacEachen spoke of his experiences while caught out in the storm of ’63.

Tootsie MacDonald shared her story of giving birth to her daughter Beverly in the middle of the storm.

Helen Cameron told of how the storm affected Port Hood Island.

Charlie MacDonald described his journey home from Port Hawkesbury in the storm.

And Isaac MacEachen rounded out the afternoon with tales of his youth that had everyone in stitches!

We had a great crowd in attendance and they very much enjoyed the day!

Thank you to our storytellers and thank you as well to Chestico Historical Society President Anne Beaton who was our MC and who also shared a few stories of her own!

At the end of the Storytelling we had the draw for the Chestico Tartan Blanket. Our winner was Mary Ellen MacDougall from Port Hood who is a member of the Chestico Museum. Congratulations Mary!

You can view some photos of the day on our Facebook page.

September Slideshow Series

Sept SlideshowsThis September, the Chestico Museum will present a series of narrated slideshows on Thursday evenings beginning at 7 PM. Three of these slideshows are encore presentations as we have had requests to repeat them. The fourth is a new production on the 4-H movement in Port Hood.

Our schedule is as follows:
Thursday, September 5th at 7 PM :
Port Hood: A Look Back to the 1940’s

Thursday, September 12th at 7 PM:
Port Hood: A Look Back to the 1950’s

Thursday, September 19th at 7 PM:
Port Hood: A Journey Back

Thursday, September 26th at 7 PM:
The 4-H Movement in Port Hood

The first presentation in our September Slideshow Series, Port Hood: A Look Back to the 1940’s, is an examination of life in Port Hood in the 1940’s. A few of the topics covered are how WWII affected Port Hood, schools and businesses of the era, the Town Fire of 1942, the Upper South West Fire, the Little Judique train derailment, the wreck of the Sorel and the operation of Hardy’s mill in Dungarry. Running time is 77 minutes.

The second presentation, Port Hood: A Look Back to the 1950’s, is an examination of life in Port Hood in the 1950’s. Topics covered will be schools and businesses of the era, the arrival of electricity on Port Hood Island, the beginning of the Cape Breton Bible Camp on Port Hood Island, Fr. Donald MacPherson’s Golden Jubilee celebration, the establishment of Dr. Water’s Maternity Hospital, the arrival of the vanZutphen family in Port Hood and the 1953 Beer Spill at South West Mabou River. Running time is 63 minutes.

The third presentation, Port Hood: A Journey Back, is a broader look at Port Hood over the years. Among the topics covered are schools, churches and businesses, the changes to the Court House, the boom years of the Old Smith Hotel and the construction of the breakwater. Also touched upon are profiles of some old time Port Hood residents such as Peter Smyth, Fr. Donald MacPherson and John Hart. Running time is 49 minutes.

The fourth presentation, The 4-H Movement in Port Hood, is a video completed by 2013 Chestico Museum summer student Emily MacNeil. 2013 is the 100th anniversary of 4-H in Canada and this video looks at the Port Hood Island View 4-H club. It includes interviews with Doris Carver, Clare Gillies, John Gillies, Lorna Poirier, Jack Redden and Joanne Schmidt. Running time is 67 minutes.

Admission is $5 and refreshments will be served after the show.

We hope to see you at the museum this September!

August 29, 2013 Ceilidh

The final ceilidh of the Chestico Museum’s 2013 summer ceilidh series was held on Thursday, August 29, 2013. We had a great crowd in attendance and they certainly were well entertained by a terrific line up of entertainment. As this was our last ceilidh of the summer it ran a bit longer and there were 6 draws for door prizes!

Shelly Campbell was our fiddler for the evening. Not only is Shelly a beautiful fiddler but she also is quite the storyteller!

The very talented Tyson Chen accompanied Shelly on the piano and also performed some lovely solo pieces.

Lynn Chisholm was our vocalist and she did an amzing job! It was impossible to resist singing along with Lynn!

And we also had Evany Levesconte of the Celtic Touch Dancers back with us for some wonderful highland dancing.

The night ended with Shelly, Tyson and Lynn performing Happy Birthday for one of our ceilidh regulars, Catherine Cannon, who turned 96 on August 28th!

This year, our ceilidhs were organized by Emily MacNeil who was one of our summer students. Thank you Emily for all your hard work! And thank you to everyone who so generously gave of their time to perform at our ceilidhs, to all who baked for our ceilidh teas and to  everyone who came out to support us on Thursday evenings this summer. We hope to see you all again next year!

As always, photos of our can be found on our Facebook page.

Final Ceilidh: August 29, 2013

August 29, 2013 CeilidhThe final ceilidh in our 2013 summer ceilidh series will be Thursday, August 29th at 7:00 PM at the museum.

This week we will feature:

Shelly Campbell – Fiddle

Tyson Chen – Piano

Lynn Chisholm – Guitar & Vocals

Evany Levesconte – Highland Dance

Admission is $5. Tea and light refreshments will be served following the show.

We hope to see you as we close out our 2013 ceilidh season!

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