Wawanesa, where Nellie Mooney married Wesley McClung in
a Church that still stands overlooking the Souris River valley, is
proud of its link to the lady and her achievements. The woman who
became known as "Our Nell", was "Their Nell" long before she became
famous.
Nellie Mooney came to the Millford area in 1881 with her family at the
age of ten and attended Northfield School about eight kilometres east
of Wawanesa.
Her memoirs are full of detail about the community where she grew up
and went to school, and roots are important. It is important that
Nellie moved to a pioneer farming community as a small child. It is
important that her parents, and their neighbours, were the sort of
people who would make such a decision and be successful in their
endeavours. It is important that Nellie met a young teacher named Frank
Schultz, who encouraged her to question and to think.
Place and circumstance matter if we are to understand achievement. (And
how can circumstance not relate to place?).
Mrs. McClung’s achievements out there in the world are well documented
elsewhere. Here achievements closer to home and longer ago are worthy
of examination.
The childhood memories she relates in works of non-fiction, such as
“Clearing in the West”, and the other observations she passes along
through her fiction in works such as The Black Creek Stopping House”
and “Purple Springs” serve as a comprehensive social history of the
time and place.
The region, its farmers and teachers, its businessmen and even its
politicians, are brought to life with authority. The sense of place she
conveys is almost photographic. While well served by the writing skills
she developed in adulthood, it was the observation and thinking skills
she developed as a child that form the foundation for a good part of
her writing.
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