Rodney Cromwell

Rodney Cromwell was born at Weymouth Falls on June 19, 1888. His father was George E. Cromwell.

At the time of the interview in 1982, Rodney Cromwell was the oldest resident in Weymouth Falls at the age of 94 years.

Rodney Cromwell began his working life when he was twelve years old. He worked for many people and tried his hand at many things. He did a bit of farming, picking apples, tending cattle and breaking in oxen. As the years went by, he did more:

             "I went to work with families in the community

              of Corberrie (approximately six miles from 

              Weymouth Falls).  I worked in the woods at 

              age 17, cutting wood for twenty cents a day 

              and eventually fifty cents a day.  I went on the

              river drive when I was 17."

Rodney Cromwell had to have special boots made to walk on the logs and to keep him from slipping. The boots he used had to have special corks fitted on for this purpose.

He also worked in a sawmill and pulp mill as an edgeman. What this entailed was that he would remove the bark from the edge of boards with a machine and shape the edge into a square. He claimed that he was one of the best edgers around:

             'I worked as an edger at Harry Wagner's, 

             Tupper's, Calbert's, Dunbar's, Kempt's, 

             Robicheau's and at Taylor's Mill.  

             The longest and last I edged at was Harry

             Lewis' mill.  That goes down now at the 

             beginning of the road- I worked at

             Lewis' until I was 74.'

When asked what he received 'as a gift for his work', Rodney Cromwell said:

           "A gift, nothing.  When you knocked off

            you knocked off and went home.  No 

            pension or nothing.  I made five bucks a

            day, five days a week for ten years.

            In the pulp mill I worked on the tying 

            machine.  I used to tie up the bundles of 

            wet pulp that had been pressed.  There were

            bundles of 100-200 pounds of pulp and we 

            would put them in the tying machine, press them,

            pull the wire down and tie it and then push it out

            to be shined.  We did this day in and day out,

            five days a week and on Saturday we had

            a half day.  I made $2.50 a day. 

            That wasn't much.'

Rodney Cromwell recalled that the mill he worked in was owned by Campbell, sold to Becker and re-acquired by Campbell- It was located on the Upper Sisisboo River. This mill came to an inglorious end:

             "it burned down around the summer of 1926

              so they gave it up.  It was not built again.  

              That same year I went to Boston and spent 

              two years with my brother Vernon, working in 

              a box factory, making wooden boxes.  

              I came back to Weymouth Falls.  They had

              sold all the equipment from the pulp mill to

              Tupper Warren in Digby and soon after the 

              power house was built."

Rodney Cromwell then moved into another sphere of employment, one which was called the river drive involving some fifty to sixty men at a time:

             A crowd of men would be put on the lakes

            to guide the logs from Grand Lake, lst Lake, 

            2nd Lake, 3rd Lake, 4th and Sth Lake.

            Then the drive men would start on this

             together on Sisisboo River and work the logs

             all the way to the ban mill or saw mill.'

He recalled that the work was dangerous:

            "I saw some men get killed by falling 

             between the logs.  They were crushed.  

             You had to be careful riding these logs.  

             It was a tough life."

Rodney Cromwell tried his hand in carpentry, too. He taught himself by watching others at work:

            "I worked with different men and watched 

             them.  I worked with white men named 

             Melanson, Gaudet and some fellas in 

             Tusket.  Then after that I went around 

             and did different jobs.  I even built houses

             here on the Falls.  I built four houses. 

             I built my own, Sydney Cromwell's,

             Euney Darren's and Churchill Pleasant.

             After that I worked on shingling,

             repair work, laying floors and roof repairs."

With this varied life and varied skills, Rodney Cromwell lived well and up to a ripe age. He remained content at the end of his days:

            'I brought up a big family, too.  Worked hard. 

             Now I'm alone, but I have plenty of 

             grandchildren and am well taken care of-'

Rodney Cromwell died in hospital of kidney failure in February 1984. He felt fine up to a week before his death, never had an operation or disease before. A small but sturdy man with a big heart, he is sorely missed by his surviving children and grandchildren.

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