Nellie Marie Crichton
Bartlett Mills, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada
Canadian, 1912 - 2000
Canadian, 1912 - 2000
| Death Place: | St. Stephen |
| Death County: | Charlotte County |
| Death Province: | New Brunswick |
| Death Country: | Canada |
| Biography: | Nellie Marie Little Crichton's parents were Theodore Little and Jennie McRae. She attended the local school which only went up to Grade 5. She then stayed home to help her mother with her younger siblings; there were twelve children in total with Nellie being the oldest girl. She started school at age seven as she had to wait until the next sibling was old enough to attend so she would have someone to walk with. Her father bought her a ruby ring as a thank you for her help with the family, she always wore it on a chain around her neck. While working on her family’s farm, she first met Grace Helen Mowat, the founder of Charlotte County Cottage Craft. Mowat purchased wool from her father which she took to St. Stephen to be made into yarn. Nellie started work at Cottage Craft shortly before her marriage. On July 15, 1931, she married Howard Austin Crichton and moved to Bocabec in 1947 to help with his parents. The couple raised nine children; six girls and three boys. The girls were knitters and quilters. Joyce, her daughter, doesn't remember the girls hooking but she herself did make one hooked and one braided mat. Her mother hooked her first mat when a young girl; the pattern was log cabin; her largest mat was 9 x 12 feet which she later sold to buy linoleum for the floor. She did most of her hooking for Cottage Craft. She used wool fabric from a bolt that would have a flaw. She also made chair pads and stair treads. The treads were sold at the Pansy Patch. She also made stuffed animals for Cottage Craft including a squirrel that she stuffed with Spanish moss. The children boiled the moss to kill any pests and dried it in the sun. She also made handbags and sweaters; her snowflake pattern mittens would take her a day to make. Joyce's sisters knitted mittens for Cottage Craft. Braided mats made by Cottage Craft always had a black border and it was Nellie's job to dye all the black material for the mats. Nellie's grandfather made her a hook from an umbrella handle and a steel hook which se used for hooking and crocheting. She was also an amazing seamstress and made babies' rompers from the tails of a man's shirt. Her first knitting needles were made from chicken quills. |
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