Eve Royle Chisholm at the Little House

This is where Eva Royle Chisholm lived from the 1940s
to the 1970s. The house was built by Jack, Irene,
Rod & Bonnie Rose Chisholm, who charged only
for the materials needed.

After Aunt Eve moved from Patterson Creek in 1936, she worked as a live-in nanny for the Nelson's. She was the first to put the clothes on Helma Nelson. She also tied the children to the clothes line to keep them from falling in the river, which was very near to where the Nelson's lived. But eventually, the kids didn't need a Nanny anymore.

Aunt Eve, as she was known to the community by then, moved to her own little house on the corner of the Jack Chisholm property in the 1940s. (Actually, it was Irene Whitfield Chisholm who inherited the land from her grandfather, but I'm trying to keep this easier for people.)

Eve Royle Chisholm & Rowan Chisholm in the garden.

Aunt Eve was forever borrowing me to help her dig in her garden. I'm about four years old in this picture. Fortunately, I loved to dig in the mud at that age. While helping her, I learned that spading up the spaces between plants kept the weeds down. I also found out the secret of her 'good dirt' that no one else had and which really made her garden grow and bloom. You see, she'd bury her food garbage (coffee grounds, citrus peels, etc.) over by the edge of the bank. Later on, after they became part of the soil, she'd be over there, digging up dirt for the garden. Many years later on, people started calling the 'good dirt' by the name of 'compost' and came up with all sorts of fancy boxes and other things to make it.

Here's stepping stones in the garden in
the 1960s or 1970s along with a fine crop
of spring tulips!

This picture of the Little House was taken in the 1970s.
No chimney, unlike the earlier picture!

Aunt Eve sewing with her cat Katie watching.

Aunt Eve sewing with her cat Molly watching.

Among the things Aunt Eve sewed were hundreds of garments and quilts for dolls for the sick children at the Children's Orthopedic Hospital. She was mentioned in newspapers several times for this accomplishment.

Aunt Eve sewing with her cat Katie (white) or Molly (calico) watching. She only had one cat at a time and Molly lived to be quite old (15 years or so). Molly outlived Aunt Eve and ended up as my cat.

Formal portrait from the 1970s.

Links

Eve & Alex
Chisholm
Links

Credits

Photographer: Jack Chisholm

Author/artist/designer/programmer of page: Rowan Ainslie Chisholm