Written & Interpreted by: Laura McLarty
Ruby Hendriks had two brothers and one sister. Unfortunately they died a year before Mrs. Hendriks was born. Their death was caused by a fire that started in the chimney of their house. A lot of children died this way. A lot of times this would happen if you did not keep your chimney clean. If your chimney caught fire, there were no fire fighters to stop the blaze. They had to rely on their neighbours to bring buckets of water from either their own homes or wells and streams.
Their house was not very big. It had hardwood floors, and no insulation - making it very cold in the winter. Sometimes it seemed as if it was warmer outside than in.
Mrs. Hendriks' father worked at the paper mill. He also helped to build Prince Townshhip bridges. These are located on Town Line and Gagnon Road.
Mrs. Hendriks’ first job was baby-sitting. Though she was not paid, she lived with the family and their eight to ten children. She also enjoyed working as a housekeeper. She found that looking after a house wasn't very hard because of the chore work she did when she was young.
Mrs. Hendriks was married in her early twenties. Because she did not have an opportunity to go to high school, she made sure that all of her children were well educated. This really paid off, for one of her sons. He was able to use his knowledge to help build the Canadian Space Arm.
I enjoyed listening to Mrs. Hendriks tell her stories about her life in Prince Township. Mrs. Hendriks is an important part of Prince Township. Without her and her family, Prince Township wouldn't be the same.
P.S. There were twelve bridges in all that my dad helped to build, using horses and wheel barrows. They mixed the cement in wooden troughs. RE: Base Line, Town Line and Gagnon Road. (Ruby)