North Cumberland Historical Society

 

Lewis Thom (1879 - 1955)

 

Lewis Thom was born at a Mi'kmaw reserve in Pictou Landing. He married Annie Wilmot in 1900. They had a son Frances Thom who married and had at least 3 daughters and a son. When Lewis was 39 and his motherless son 16, he joined the army as a woodsman. He was sent to France where he served for three years.

 

On his return to Canada, Lewis lived for many years near Pugwash Junction. His legs were badly bowed, and in later years, he walked with a cane. There are several stories as to how his legs became deformed. One is that he was injured in a mine accident near New Glasgow and when taken to the hospital, the doctor said he was only an Indian and didn’t do a proper job of setting his leg. Another story is that he was stepping over a log which rolled and caught his leg and broke it. Since he lived alone and couldn’t walk to a doctor, he just put a splint on it and fixed it up as best he could himself. The third story said he was injured in the First World War.

 

He with several other men of the area served in the war and he would proudly show medals and ribbons which he received. He always marched in the Remembrance Day Parade.

 

As to his home, he lived a quarter mile or so up the railway track from Pugwash Junction. Harding Stevens had logged there many years before by a brook – steam-powered sawmills needed water for operating. The cook camp was bought by Lewis Thom for a house. He lived there until the old camp almost fell around his ears. Harding’s son, Clayton Stevens, had married a daughter of Charlie Angevine. Clayton built a camp for his father-in-law Charlie to stay in. After Charlie died, they let Lewis Thom live in it. This camp was in a very nice spot with big hemlocks near the brook. It was tucked in a small gulley almost completely hidden and well sheltered from the wind. It was 4 by 3 meters and contained a stove, a bed with a straw mattress and a table. You could get to it by railroad or on a cart road through Clarence Brown’s property. It was situated at the base of a small knoll that overlooked a sharp bend in Docherty’s Creek.

 

To support himself, he made axe and hammer handles and wove baskets. He also made rings for the lobster fishermen’s traps and snowshoes. There were lots of poplar, ash and hemlock around for him to use. He could be seen coming by train to Pugwash - down on the morning train and back on the afternoon one. He brought huge bundles of rings which he would sell to the fishermen or bundles of baskets which he would peddle around. In Pugwash he would stop at the tea room for a complimentary ice cream cone or visit in the legion. He also worked on the lumber boats in Pugwash.

 

He was helping Williams at Hartford one time and while there he made woven ash bottoms for four old chairs they had. He also made several half bushel baskets for them.

 

He was a widower when he joined the army in WWI, Annie having died of consumption.  His son Frank and his wife and small children came up from the reserve at Pictou Landing and put up a tepee and stayed with him. The daughter-in-law made a lot of baskets. Once when Frank was out hunting on the ice, he fell through and got pneumonia and died. His wife stayed a while and then went back to Pictou Landing. Every year in the spring she would return with her daughters and they would make baskets from the plentiful ash and pick berries for him.

 

He was a regular visitor at the Williams near the crossing. He would get eggs and occasionally a chicken. He often came down for a cup of tea and piece of fruit cake. This was his favourite and Mrs. Williams tried always to have some on hand. He also traded regularly with the Stewart family for eggs and milk.The section men and the railway realized that they hadn’t seen him puttering around for a while so stopped in to see if he was all right or if he had gone down to visit his folks. They found him dead.

 

He was buried a Pictou Landing. The Pugwash Legion got Bill and his Uncle Curtis Williams to take a cross down to mark his grave. They were not permitted to go to the Indian burial ground as it was sacred ground. The chief told them he would look after it.