By Karen Donato
Staff Writer
The Ralph and Bernice Rooney family lived on the County Road, now called Smyrna Street just beyond the railroad trestle. Together they had seven children, twins Lawrence and Leona, Ethel, Laura, Jack, Ralph, Jr. and Marim. Lawrence was killed in W. W. II and Laura has also passed away. The boys moved away from Houlton, but Leona and Ethel stayed here and raised their own families. Leona is 90 years young now and Ethel is nearly 86. Here are their reflections of their own childhood and raising large families themselves and now enjoying grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Leona Rooney Clark
Being the oldest in the family, Leona remembers doing a lot of chores. Her father believed the girls should do housework and the boys went to the fields, however the girls did help pull mustard in the potato fields, but didn’t pick potatoes as children. They did after they grew up, though.
Leona said, “We would sweep the floors, do the dishes and gather the laundry. Mom would always do the washing with the wringer washer and she always cooked.”
As the girls got older they learned to cook some simple dishes. Leona took Home Economics in high school. Their grandmother Rooney lived next door and helped their mother with the children and also the cooking.
Leona remembers Grammie making baked beans and making clothes for her brothers and sisters. She had a Singer sewing machine. She taught Leona how to embroider, to sew and knit mittens and socks. Later Leona learned to crochet.
Before settling in the County Road home, the Rooneys moved back and forth between Houlton and Littleton. Leona started school at the Logan School in Littleton and remembered toasting bread on the wood stove.
“It was so good,” she said.
At home in Littleton they didn’t have any electricity, but at their home in Houlton they had electricity in the kitchen and they would run an electric cord to other rooms.
“At Christmas we didn’t have much money, Dad sometimes would give us a couple of dollars and we would shop. At that time you could buy handkerchiefs for five cents and some beads for ten,” said Leona.
“My grandmother Haggerty gave me stamped embroidery cloth when I was 12 years old and I still have it. I have done a lot of embroidery since then,” she said.
The children did their studying at night around the dining room table. There was no TV, but our grandparents had a Victrola and we listened to music, especially on Sunday.
“We thought that Victrola was magic,” Leona said.
Saturday nights in Houlton were fun she recalled, “our family would go downtown. There were always big crowds and the sidewalks were so crowded it was hard to get through,” she said. She remembered shopping at Riley’s Market, Woolworth’s, the Chain Apparel and Newberry’s.
Mrs. Rooney sold butter and eggs to a number of customers in town to help buy groceries for the family. The girls helped churn the butter and gather the eggs. Leona did some chores in the barn which she didn’t mind, but she hated cleaning the out the henhouse. The Rooneys had cows, horses and mules to care for.
Remembering her mother, she said, “Mama always made sure our clothes were clean and she cooked things we liked. Leona’s favorites were corn cake and biscuits and she made wonderful doughnuts.
They always had a big garden and her mother canned a lot of vegetables to last them through the winter.
Leona’ s uncle Don Haggerty owned a popular social spot called the Burdock located on the Ridge Road in Littleton. All the young folks gathered there for dancing and musical entertainment. That is where she met her husband-to-be, Milford Clark.
She and her Milford were married in 1939 and raised seven children, Bernice Tidd, Sharon Lycette, Joan Russell, Lawrence (Buddy), Mary Grant, Jane Stile and Milford.
Leona and her late husband settled in Littleton on the Ridge Road where she lived until four years ago when she moved to an apartment in Houlton. While raising her family she made it a point to read to them and play games.
“I would line the chairs up and we would make believe it was a bus, Buddy always had to be the driver and sometimes we put a tablecloth over the chairs to make a tent,” she said. “I also made sure the children attended Sunday school and church, something as a child I wasn’t able to do.”
As a child she only went to church on special holidays. Now she attends St. Mary’s Mass every day and twice a day when offered.
Along with being the mother of seven, Leona picked potatoes and helped the neighbors cut seed. She also did painting and wall papering for some. Leona continued her sewing skills, making clothes for her children. She said the girls would look in the catalogs at the new styles and she would take their old clothes and with a pattern she made herself create a new outfit. Leona made the wedding dresses for her five daughters and all of the brides maids’ dresses, too.
She always made Christmas gifts for the family such as, clothing, dolls, doll clothes or teddy bears.
Leona’s life centered around the local community and not farther than Bangor until later in her life. Now she has had the opportunity to travel as far away as California. After the family was grown Leona worked at the Houlton Shoe Factory for 12 years and then for Davis Fruit & Produce Company for 20 years, retiring at the age of 73.
“I really wanted to work until I was 75,” she said, “but the business closed so I had to get done.”
All of her girls live here; her oldest son Buddy lives in Florida and her youngest son Milford in Tennessee.
Leona’s daughters shared their “Why my mother is special” in this way.
“My mother is a wonderful lady and I am blessed.” “She always made special occasions like holidays and weddings wonderful memories.” “She is a generous and caring person. Even though she is 90 years old she often bakes biscuits for her neighbors and has them hot and ready for their breakfast. She is my mother, she is my friend.” “My mother’s finest qualities include her work ethic and she instilled that in all seven of us children. She is compassionate and gives freely of her time to her family and friends. Her spiritual guidance is an inspiration to many. She is truly a lady.”
Ethel Rooney Schools
Ethel too became a seamstress learning at an early age. She made doll clothes, first making patterns from newspapers. She still makes some of her own patterns today. Both she and Leona started by sewing everything by hand even though there was a sewing machine in their home; they weren’t allowed to use it at a young age for fear that they might break it.
Ethel remembers picking raspberries in the patch behind the house alongside of her mother. She too remembered that her mother did most of the cooking, but when her mother was in the hospital having one of the younger children Ethel made baked beans for her father.
“I kept checking them and they didn’t seem to be browning up very fast, so I kept adding molasses. When they were finally done they were rock-hard, but my father ate them anyway,” laughed Ethel.
“I was a fussy eater as a child,” she said, “but in those days we were supposed to eat everything on our plate or at least try it.”
“We didn’t have much money, but we always had plenty to eat,” recalled Ethel.
The Rooney family attended Bowdoin Street School where the students had a special day called, Banking Day. Everyone would bring a little change to put in a bank; her brothers and sisters might take a penny or sometimes a nickel.
Ethel remembers having to make her bed and do the dishes before going off to school every day. She dried the dishes and Leona washed them.
One Christmas Santa brought her a good size doll. It was in her Christmas stocking pinned with horse pins that were used for the horse blankets. Ethel thought that Santa had gotten them from the barn just to use for that purpose, so the doll wouldn’t fall out of the stocking.
Ethel loved to go on picnics with her parents and grandparents. They would often drive across the border to Woodstock’s Connell Park when it was on the island in the St. John River. Ethel loved the 4th of July parades and her parents would always take the family to the park for the rides the night before.
She too met her future husband Lawrence Schools at the Burdock. They lived in Littleton on the Schools farm located on U.S. Highway 1 just north of the Littleton School. Together they had six daughters and four sons, the late Tom, Judy Williams, Hannah Glidden, Ruth Plourde, Ethel V. Mersereau, Alice Fann, Joyce, Larry, Greg and David. Ethel V. and the three youngest boys still live here.
Lawrence and Ethel also took their own family on picnics, piling all the kids in the car and setting out for a drive along a country road.
Ethel became a great cook, as I know first-hand. My family often visited the Schools family. It was a big treat for me, not having any sisters and getting to play with the Schools girls that were my age. Ethel always had a dessert or two on hand for company. She also made doughnuts three times a week.
Lawrence passed away in 1989. After raising her children Ethel worked for the Littleton Glove Factory, Smith & Wesson and Andy’s IGA.
Living in Houlton now, she continues to sew, making aprons of all kinds and kitchen towels to hang on cupboard drawers.
Here are some of the things that her family wanted to share about their special mother.
“Mom is special because, she raised 10 children. It was a busy life and we all worked hard. Mom would sing and play games to make the work seem fun. She cooked meals for the farm hands, our cousins and us. Chocolate cake was her specialty and the kids at Littleton School always wanted to trade their snack for a piece. Mom made her own bread, churned butter and preserved all our vegetables. Mom worked in the fields and the potato house and we remember her staying up counting tickets from the potato barrels so she could tabulate how much to pay each picker. After our brother took over the farm and mom started working outside the home she went back to school to get her GED and drove to Presque Isle to attend clerical classes.”
“Mom is very strong in her faith, attends Mass regularly and is a member of the Houlton Council of Catholic Women. In retirement, she has volunteered at the hospital gift shop and Good As New thrift store. She participates in the Greater Houlton Christian School Christmas Fair where she is known as the ‘apron lady’. Mom is the heart of our family and loves getting together with everyone. She has a positive spirit and a great sense of humor. Our mother is special.
One of Ethel’s granddaughters summed her up in this way. “Whenever I attend a wedding or family gathering I feel a lot of love from a lot of great people. And then I look at Grammie and I know it’s all because of her.”
Happy Mother’s Day, Leona and Ethel..you are special.
