The story of Della's iron horse

 

Imagine a day when the pace of life in Wolfville was slow enough for a small herd of cattle to move single file across Main Street from the dykes, along Willow Avenue to the Babbling Brook Dairy tended only by a child.

That child was Della Regan Phinney, who by the time she told me the story, was a tiny, elderly widow. Stooped, she said, from years of carrying milk. Della fondly recalled the patient cows filing home.

Her father, William Regan, was born on board ship when his parents emigrated from Ireland. He built the family home and started the dairy in 1894. Regan’s wife, Bella, and their 16 children primarily operated it, but Della remembers him coming home from a day’s work at his harness shop only to milk cows.

One of only three militia men from Wolfville who went to fight in the Boer War in South Africa in 1899, Regan later served as a town councilor from 1910 – 1919.

According to legend, he had an almost life size horse model inside his shop to display his harness craftsmanship. The shop was located where Piccaso’s Pizza is today. Regan sold the shop during the 1930s, but the dairy continued to supply the community.

The Regan family had five acres of pasture above Willowbank Cemetery on Gaspereau Avenue and another 19 of dykeland. With their herd, which numbered 15 at its peak, the family kept Wolfville supplied with butter, milk, and buttermilk. They also had hens and sold eggs.

Della Regan Phinney

The youngest of all the children, Della was the only one surviving when we chatted. She recalled delivering milk in large tin cans. Later they were replaced with glass bottles.

It is truly amazing to consider in the light of large market economies of scale today that one small dairy, like that modest one on Willow Avenue, once supplied most of the needs of a town like Wolfville.

As Heather Davidson, who was once employed compiling Wolfville’s built heritage records, said the history of the Regans shows the ingenuity of a family determined to survive.

Another uniquely family tale concerns the family’s pet monkey. It had reached Wolfville via a brother of Della’s who served in the Second World War. At the end of the conflict, he wrote to tell his folks that he was bringing someone special home with him.

The Regan’s were anticipating a bride, but the surprise turned out to be Jennie the monkey. She was an entertaining pet. So much so that the kindergarten teacher at Wolfville School brought her class to meet Jeannie every year.

One day as a child, however, the late Lawrence Welton ran foul of Jennie. Sent for a quart of milk, apparently Jennie bit him. He told that tale to current homeowner Barb Campbell.

The Babbling Brook Dairy ceased operation in 1942 after Della’s doctor ordered she sell it, but the two-story barn that housed the herd wasn’t demolished for over 40 years. The paint that read Babbling Brook Dairy just kept fading.

Della cherished a small iron horse that her father had given her. It sat on the lawn outside the house until 1987 when she had to enter into the Wolfville Nursing Home. The little horse accompanied her. It is there still.