1946 -1965
Chapter 21 of 23

It was just twenty years, but everything was changed forever.

When these two decades began everyone was eager to settle down after the war - to have fun, raise a family and make some money. By the time 1965 rolled around, men were walking in space, and everyone was watching it on television.

It was the generation of the baby boomers. Soldiers, sailors and airmen came home, planning to pick up lives where they left off. There was the laughter of good times - of dances, quiet fishing trips and getting used to jobs, and family . There was an optimism which carried everyone along. Everyone wanted good times, and expected good times.

And there were babies, lots and lots of babies but only two, three or four to a family. Curiously, families were getting smaller.

There were promises out there of electricity coming to the ridges. By the mid-fifties the lines were running up and down the roads, bringing changes to everything.

For thousands of families electricity brought the loss of the outhouse - changed for the convenience of indoor plumbing with the hook-up of an electric pump. And there were dozens who made their living going door-to-door up and down the ridges, selling those electric pumps, and other devices no one had used before. There was drinking water which came with the turn of a faucet now and even phones.

Cars were more than transport. They were part of a culture which included Murphy's Dance Hall and the St. Croix Drive-In in Baring. Through the 50s more families than ever took the plunge, bought an automobile, and were forever hooked on the freedom of the highway.

Not everything about this was good. The family farms were having a tough time. It was in part the roads and the cars which let people give up the land, still live in the country, and work in town. More and more families gave up the farming of lands which had been tilled for a century and a quarter. Charlotte county began turning back into woodlands as fields grew up with poplar and birch.

The rural schools were dying. In the 50s the one room schools had been given electricity. Then came the bussing. At first it was a beat-up old panel truck for the kids off to high school. Then as the one room schools closed, the buses multiplied.

And people ate differently. In the late 1950s convenience foods were all the rage. People were happy to drink an artificial product like Tang instead of orange juice. TV dinners made a hit. And prepackaged cakes were in almost every house. It was the modern way.

In 1948, Robert(#13) McGowan passed away. The St. Croix Courier recorded the obituary as follows:

The death of Robert McGowan, a well known lumberman of Rollingdam, occurred suddenly at his home the morning of Thursday, Oct. 7. Apparently in his usual good health he had accompanied his son, John, to Fredericton, and upon returning home passed away very unexpectedly.

He was born at Rollingdam Oct. 10, 1870, the eldest son of John and Mary (McCann) McGowan, and was a life-long resident of Rollingdam and well and favourably known all over Charlotte County. A good friend and neighbour, he will be greatly missed in his home and community. Well read in all subjects, he was a sage and entertaining gentleman and his home was always open to welcome relatives and friends.

He was married in 1898 to Mary McConnell of Rosedale, Illinois, and is survived by seven children of this marriage, also by his wife, the former Dorothy O'Brien of St. Andrews, to whom he was married in 1924. His children are Raymond of Cornwall, New York; Margaret of Wellesley, Mass; Mrs. Delmont Merrill (Florence) of Wellesley, Mass; Robert of Oak Bay; Mrs. Otto Kennedy (Lillian) of Cambridge, Mass; John, of Rollingdam; and Mrs. John Tierney (Marion) of Somerville, Mass; all of whom were present at their father's funeral. Surviving also are a sister, Mrs. Edna Canavan of Milltown, and two brothers, George of Warm Springs, Oregon and Frank of Niles, California, also 17 grandchildren.

High mass of requiem was held in St. Patrick's Church, Rollingdam Monday, Oct. 11. Interment took place in St. Patrick's Cemetery.

There were numerous spiritual and floral tributes. The pall-bearers were his three sons, Raymond, Robert and John, two sons-in-law, Delmont Merrill, Otto Kennedy, and Earl Wahl.