Sara Catherine Lehman (née Jackman), on her great-grandfather, Philip Jackman, 1976

Oral history interview conducted by Don Waite, 1976.
SL = Sara Lehman
DW = Don Waite

SL: He was a strict man except to poor families, they would get a gift of a fish. But when they had set nets he put a pole down on the bottome of the rowboat to catch the sunken that they were cheating with.

DW: When was he fish warden?

SL: After he lived in Aldergrove.

DW: He checked somebody out and if they were pour and they needed…

SL: Food, they got it.

DW: Otherwise he would find them and have them charge?

SL: He was strictly to the law except in severe cases he took it in his own hand to see that they were taken care of.

DW: You were explaining the set nets, would they have these set down?

SL: Yes, but just below the water so you couldn’t see them but he knew they were there.

DW: So he had a long pole?

SL: Yes, he put a pole on the boat so it dragged low and then when he would sweep the line he would run into these nets.

DW: Oh, in his own boat?
SL: In his own boat, yes.

DW: All it would be, would be a pole going straight down into the water maybe, about 20 feet.

SL: This is how he devised a way of catching the cheaters.

DW: Right, he would hold onto his net and just pull it in and confiscate the net and take them to court I would imagine.

SL: I would imagine. I think a lot of court cases were dealt with right on the spot in those days.