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Lena Ferguson was born on January 24, 1927 at Woodside, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. Her parents were James Nauffts and Lillian Beatrice (McKinlay), both natives of Spanish Ship Bay, Guysborough County. Lena graduated from high school in 1946 and began teaching in West Dover, Halifax County. After attending the Nova Scotia Normal School, she taught in Dean Settlement, Indian Harbour, and at Clarence Park School. She later attended the Anglican Women's Training College in Toronto, in preparation for a career as a missionary. She was assigned to the Shingwauk residential school in Sault Ste. Marie but decided that she was not suited to the work. She was employed with the Old Age Security Office in Toronto before returning to Nova Scotia to resume her teaching career at Admiral Westphal School in Dartmouth. She also worked at HMCS Shearwater for several years. She married Lorne Ferguson in 1959 at the age of thirty-two and had three children. After her marriage, she and her husband lived on a small farm in West Chezzetcook. She was greatly involved in her community and throughout her life she was a member of the Girl Guides Organi¬zation, Dartmouth Trefoil Guild, Porters Lake Seniors’ Club, Old Hall Wilderness Association of Por¬ters Lake, and St. James Anglican Church in Seaforth. She joined the Chezzetcook Historical Society in 1974 and served as their archivist and researcher. She was involved with the Society for 27 years. She was inspired to become a local historian after a woman from Beverly Hills, CA reached out to her to find information about her grandmother and Captain Peter Ferguson, both of Chezzetcook. She began talking to older residents about their memories and recording them, often taking her young son with her. She also went to all the anniversary celebrations of local churches and other community events in order to gather historical information. She became drawn to documenting the past in this way. She shared the history that she gathered by working as a freelance writer. She had her articles published by the Dartmouth Free Press, Eastern Shore Observer, and the Eastern Gazette. In 1990 she published A History of Porters Lake and later, The Parish of Seaforth in 2010. Lena passed away on August 27, 2014 in Musquodoboit Harbour at the age of 87.
Places
West Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia, 1959-2014
Legal status
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Local historian and member of the Chezzetcook Historical Society
Freelance writer
School Teacher
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Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
“Lena Ferguson obituary.” Halifax Herald, Aug. 29, 2014.
Myatt_Joan_M29, 2001. Lena Ferguson. 2019.014. Eastern Shore Archives.
Maintenance notes
Updated by Laureena Leadbeater, May 23, 2021.