Ervine and Ethelda Myers are the couple on the far right

In 1915, the house and the eight acres of property it sits upon were passed from James H. Myers to his son, Ervine. Born and raised as a second generation inshore fisherman, Ervine already had a wealth of experience fishing on the Eastern Shore when he and his young family inherited the home. Over the next decades, Ervine and his wife, Ethelda, would raise their thirteen daughters in the house. Despite the fact that the girls did not all live in the home at the same time, it’s not hard to imagine what a lively, busy and full place this homestead must have been.

Every year, the need to work would pull Ervine away from his family for extended periods of time. The month of April marked the beginning of the fishing season, which would last right through the summer before finally ending in October. The arrival of winter and the closure of the fishing season did not bring rest, but rather a change of employment as Ervine would instead work at a lumber camp in Musquodoboit Valley, cutting pulp for resale. Because of this, the family’s day-to-day health and comfort rested heavily upon Ethelda and her ability to be frugal, practical and self-sufficient.

With help from her daughters, Ethelda would make clothing for everyone to wear, quilts for all the beds and hooked mats for the floors.  They were also responsible for the preparation, preservation and storage of all of their food. Additionally, Mother and children would plant, weed and harvest the house’s small kitchen garden; growing whatever could be produced in Nova Scotia’s short, cool season. This included hops for yeast, wild blueberries, rhubarb and other common vegetables that didn’t need long, hot summers to ripen.

As the family grew and circumstances changed, the original house changed as well. One notable addition was the construction of a “sick room” after one of the daughters, Ida, contracted tuberculosis in the 1930s. Known as “consumption”, tuberculosis was a deadly disease that many Nova Scotians contracted before antibiotic medicines were discovered. At the time, the only available cure was fresh air, light and lots of rest, so the Myers added the new room to help hasten Ida’s recovery.