in the late 1830s, was commodious: siX bedrooms, five upstairs and one 
     
     down, a large kitchen with a pantry off to the side, a dining room, and a 
     
     parlour, all connected by a large hallway. The floors were wooden, and the 
     
     kitchen and dining room featured a tin ceiling. There was a five—piece set 
     
     of furniture in the parlour, finished in red plush. (The love seat must have 
     
     been a bit of a rarity in the community; it would frequently be used as a 
     
    
   
   
    
     prop for plays in the local hall.) 
     
    
   
   
    
     While the house had no running water, the enterprising Earl had installed 
     
     a barrel outside to collect rain water. This was elevated, with a pipe 
     
     running into a basin in the kitchen. The water from the basin could be 
     
     drained back outside. 
     
    
   
   
    
     As a child, Kathleen never had her own room. She shared a room with 
     
     her sisters Mary and Marion and they all slept in the same bed. Her sister 
     
     Marion left home when Kathleen was 13, and Mary left to teach school 
     
     later, but Kathleen would continue to share the room with her two sisters 
     
     whenever they were home. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The family was hard—working 
     
     and enterprising. John raised 
     
     crops and livestock on the 
     
     185 acre farm, cut firewood 
     
     in the winter and served as 
     
    

    
     . _ a trustee on the local school 
     
    

    
     ’ ' ‘ ’ ' .. 7 board and the cheese factory. 
     
     '7 ' ' A progressive farmer, he 
     
     belonged to the 30 member 
     
     Farmers Institute in Kinkora 
     
     which promoted improved 
     
     livestock and crop production 
     
     practices with support from 
     
     the provincial Department of 
     
     Agriculture. Relatively speaking, 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
    
   
   
    
     A . . the Keefe family was as well 
     
     Kathleen with her older brother Johnny. off as most other families in 
     
    
   
   
    
     In the background is a cousin, Nancy the community. John bought a 
     
     Goad-7 "fph‘h‘d‘lphm car in the mid—20s which was 
     
    
   
   
    
     44 KATHLEEN MURPHY, MAITRIARC