Annie Blanche (Saunders) Felch (1887 - 1970)

Born 4 Oct 1887 in Harmony, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

Ancestors

Wife of James Whitfield Felch — married 5 Oct 1906 in Nova Scotia, Canada

Descendants

Died 1970 at about age 82 in Morristown, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Alan Whitman [send private message]

Biography

Annie Blanch Saunders

Annie was the eighth child of Edmund and Charlotte Saunders. She got her formal education in the Harmony school. Going to school barefoot most of the year was a pleasure but on frosty mornings no time was wasted getting to school. The girls made straight for their seats where they wrapped their long skirts around their feet and sat on them to warm. As there wasn’t enough footwear to go around turns were taken going to school in the colder months and in the dead of winter they stayed home. During this time sewing, knitting and cooking were the lessons learned which stood her in good stead as Annie married widower James Felch at the age of nineteen. James had three children from his former marriage, Dana, Carl and Vera. Over the next twelve years Annie and Jimmie had five more children. Annie was a good wife and mother and the neighbours said Jimmie could be heard singing from morning till dark. When he oldest son was thirteen years old his father died of a heart attack so Annie was left with a great deal of responsibility. She and the children put their shoulders to the wheel and with God as her steadfast guide brought up a wonderful responsible family.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Annie got tired of waiting for her sons to tear out a corner wall in the old house to put in a door to save steps and improve heat circulation. She took on the job herself and at the same time amazed many people by the excellent job she had done.

Annie’s niece Charlotte Saunders Sturk had told her fondest memories of her Aunt Annie, were to visit her and see her in one of her home made dresses and aprons with her pretty white hair, looking very homey but at the same time very lovely. Aunt Annie was witty, and had many a chuckle over humorous incidents. She always used homemade soap, and had a long list of home remedies that really worked. Goose grease, mustard poultices, sugar and kerosene and for the hands cream straight from the cream bucket. Others include soda for indigestion; a chew of spruce gum was a favorite, and great to bring up gas. Cosmetics didn’t impress her greatly; she said “lips painted red looked like a gash in the face”.

Aunt Annie was the first person to send food or clothing to anyone in need in the community, and a generous contributor to charities. Annie was beloved by all who knew her. Her favorite sayings were mercy and fiddlesticks. She was noted to always have her work done in the mornings so the afternoons were free to sew or knit. It was gratifying to see articles she made for other people from hand me downs. Annie was a faithful Red Cross worker and knit many socks and made many quilts for charity.

She lived a full and rounded life enjoying cooking for her family and friends. Only those born to the clan understood the true meaning of the Saunders appetite of which many jokes and comments were made. One of Aunt Annie’s favorites:

Rolled Oats Cookies 1 c. white sugar 2 eggs 1 c. brown sugar ¼ tsp. salt 1 c. shortening 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. soda dissolved in 2 c. large oats flakes ¼ c. hot water 2 c. or more flour

Mix in usual manner with as small amount of flour as possible. Roll on floured board and cut in various shapes. Bake in hot oven (375 – 400).

Jessie Palmer was a neighbor and a good friend of Annie. She had told the story of having know Annie’s due date and had decided to see how things were going on that particular day. Earlier in the day the doctor had been summoned for the delivery but he had wanted to make some house calls along the way. Jessie found the baby had been born and was lying across his mother waiting while Jimmie had taken the horse and wagon down the road to find the doctor to cut the umbilical cord. Jessie sat with Annie who chuckled and cracked jokes about being caught in such a predicament. Everything turned out fine, a healthy baby boy they named John. All this was before the telephone or cars, in “the good old days”.

Annie Kept a Bible on her night stand and every evening all her life read aloud from the Bible before going to sleep. Annie set a good Christian example all her life. Annie was not exempt from hardships, losing her husband early in life, with her husband three children as teenagers, and their own family still young. Dana, s step son was killed in the First World War, and younger son Edmund killed in WW2. Fire destroyed their home in the fifties, which was rebuilt.

With the many changes that have taken place, it is as though each in his time weaves the thread of his personality into the fabric of his environment and passes on. Annie’s lasting legacy was a life spent serving God and man.

Prepared and dedicated to the memory of Aunt Annie by Shirley Sturk.^[1]

=== Obituary=== March 1970

MRS. ANNIE BLANCHE FELCH, 82, of Morristown died Sunday at Ward’s Nursing Home, Aylesford. Born at Harmony, she was the daughter of Edmund and Charlotte (Johnson) Saunders.

She is survived by one son Harry, Morristown; two daughters, Grace (Mrs. William Richardson), Providence, Rhode Island; Margaret (Mrs. Margeson Wentzell), Maplewood, Lunenburg. Co.; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; two sisters, Jennie (Mrs. Arthur Brown), Meadowvale; Ella (Mrs. Jay Minard), Clarence.

The body is at H.C. Lindsey Funeral Home, Berwick. Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the Morristown Baptist Church. Rev. Nelson Metcalfe officiating. Internment will be in the Morristown Cemetery.

Sources

Footnotes

1. ↑ Entered by Alan Whitman.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Alan Whitman for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Alan and others.