Cape Breton's Magazine

guess so. Couldn't been a broken heart, but.... And her sister died--one of her sisters--I think it was Kate. She died of TB. So maybe the mother died of TB, too. You know, it was raging in those days. (Did Nana--Dolena--talk much about her parents? Did she tell you much about them?) No. No, The only one she talked about was this Aunt Kate Brown. And Aunt Kate Brown used to come for a visit. And she was one of those funny women, you know, joking and everything like that. And she'd have all the children laughing, and she used to say, "The only time you chil? dren laugh is when I come." Charlie Thurgood Recorded September 2,1992, in the living room at C. & L. Thur- good's cottage, Augustine Cove, P.E.I. Ranald Thurgood: Charlie Thurgood is my father, i/larie Williams' brother, and the son of Dolena (MacDonald) Thurgood • daughter of Murdoch MacDonald. He grew up in Cape Breton and lives in Windsor, Ontario. (Ranald Thurgood: What do you know about Murdoch MacDonald's drowning?) Charlie Thurgood: Oh, I think it was on a fairly clear day. He was fishing with his --what was it?--cousin, I think. Cousin or brother. And, I think, a fellow from Four? chu by the name of Severance. They were out hand-lining, and they were offshore, just a few miles offshore. They could be seen from the shore. I don't know what kind of a boat they were in. It was proba? bly just a big dory or something, a small dinghy-type boat. They said there was a sudden squall came up and a huge--fairly large--wave or series of waves hit the "We Ve people you can talk to" Celebrating 10 j iMusic-Filled Yearslj Dealers for: Electronic Keyboards Pianos • Guitars • Violins Music Books & Accessories Piano & Guitar Instruction Boutiliers' Music Shops OPEN MONDAY through SATURDAY l'usic Keyboards Guitars Reeds Strings Horns Violins Bagpipes Chanters Amplifiers PA Systems All Supplies INIIIIIIIIIIIilllllllll j Cape Breton Shopping Centre 39 Keltic Drive I Sydney River, N. S. raUNIart B1S1P4 . _ ''''562-0018 '""""''''' III iini ~ Cape Breton's Finest Locally-Owned Musical Outlet - Lois and Charlie Thurgood boat. And they eventually overturned. And I think he and the other fellow were drowned. And Severance, I think, he hung onto the boat or something, and eventually somebody got to him, saved him. But they never did find the bodies of the fellows that drowned--Grandfather and.... I think it was his brother-in-law. It was Effie's brother (Murdoch's wife, Effie Ferguson MacDonald)--Grandmother's brother. So it was kind of a double family tragedy there, at that time. So that left Grand? mother with this family of seven, and some of the health problems that were there. I don't know what she died from. But by the time she died, three of the girls had died before her. She died in the early 1900s, not too long after Murdoch was drowned-- only about four years, I think. ' SYDNEY PHYSIOTHERAPY t'o 336 Kings Road • Phone/Fax 564-1155 'Qj'f Mt. '/.g ISLAND PHYSIOTHERAPY M''' 196 Kings Road • Phone/Fax 539-2220 ' 'Post MVA & Work Injury Programs 'Covered by WCB, DVA, & Insurance Plans Out Patient & Home Care Services 'Sporls Injury Care All Types of CoHision Work! AUTO BODY Specializing in (' Spot Repair j SYDNEY'S COMPLETE COLLISION REPAIR CENTRE 539-2848 • 539-1033 61 BEECH • SYDNEY BIP 6R7 17