Mr. Henry Nelson’s Historic House
Mr. Nelson’s Old
House
Mr. Nelson’s historic house was one of the last of its
kind before it was dismantled in July 2006. It dates back to the mid 1940’s and
was built by Mr. Henry Nelson as his primary residence. It has faced many
perils during its existence including two of the most devastating storms ever
seen in
There was a time when most of the houses were of the same
construction but that time has long gone. The house was so well built that even
after it was dismantled at least 70 percent of the wood was still reusable. The
rest was compromised however due to the deterioration by the weather.
Built on property bought in the early 1940’s the house was
the source of many stories. The original name for the property was “Goulin Pen”[1] and was purchased from Mr. Babu
Duffus. It sits on approximately 6 acres and at one
time was a major hub of activity in the village.
Mr. Nelson, nicknamed Uncle Ben due to his striking
resemblance to the character on the rice package with full head of white hair
and almost similar overall facial features, originally came from Church Pen
during the 1930’s to work in Spring Village on the Thethford
Estate. At the time
As the years ensued, he went to
Over the years, he became one of the most successful
entrepreneurs of the village where his many roles included Farmer, Shop Keeper
and even baker. His bakery supplied bread and other baked goods to
As an active member of the community he also handed out
Farm Work cards to many villagers which enabled them to work abroad.
As a farmer he grew huge quantities of corn on land leased
in
As shopkeeper he was known to operate what was referred to
as “the Red Wooden shop” which stood out due to its maroon color. It also had a
crawl space (cellar) which boys would creep underneath from front to back to
illegally attend events put on in the backyard. The “Nelson Lawn” as it was
called back then, was host to Dances, film shows on Sundays and various other
community events.
During the 50’s it was home to cultural dances such as
Maypole and most often hosted mento bands like Baba
Mac with its raging saxophone sections. Throughout the 60’s into the late 80’s
the Nelson Lawn hosted some of the memorable sound systems in
As one of the principal shopkeepers he was key to
supplying goods throughout trying times. For instance, during the days of
hurricane Charlie (1951) his shop was one of the only ones which survived and
therefore he was still able to operate. It was said that people were so hard
pressed that they depended on him heavily to provide goods that due to the
ravages of the hurricane he went to
“when Mr. Nelson come from town we shall have flour”.
Thankfully he returned so indeed they could have the goods they so desperately
needed.
Mr. Henry George Nelson was married to Adina
V. (Aunt Dye) who passed away in 1962. He never remarried and often lamented
over her long after she was gone. He died in 1982 and had four children James, Delroy (Bullo), Minet and Cookie.
He was a major contributor to the
Today, the Henry
Nelson Agricultural Tuition Assistance Scholarship is offered in his honor for