Call the Vallican midwife

On July 13, 2023, the Nelson Star carried obituaries on the same page for Bill Hicks and Sid Willford, who had something unusual in common: both were born in Vallican. Then on Aug. 3, an obituary appeared in the same paper for Vi Lister, who was also born in Vallican. Now my interest was really piqued. Was it just coincidence that these three well-known Slocan Valley residents were all born there in the 1930s?

No, it was not, for they were all delivered by the same midwife, Nellie Innes. In fact, I was able to make a list of more than two dozen people born in Vallican (see table at bottom) and I am sure there were more. While I can’t confirm Nellie attended all of those births, I’ll bet she was there for most. 

“Nellie was known as Granny to some and Nurse Innes to a lot of people as she brought so many babies into the world,” said granddaughter Maureen Innes Meier, who was one of them. “She became the doctor to the whole valley and had a gift of healing.” 

While many births took place at her home, she also made house calls. In 1930, she was present when Phyllis Cooper gave birth to a son at West Slocan. In her honour, he was named Innes. “Granny was pleased about it,” Maureen recalled. 

It’s thanks to Innes that we know as much about Nellie as we do, for he grew up to be the one-man Slocan City Historical Group and his dogged efforts formed the backbone of the Slocan Valley Archives. Innes also self-published a series of limited-edition books, including one called Pioneers of the Slocan Valley that featured Nellie and her family. Innes used what his mother told him and supplemented it with memories from Nellie’s descendants in California and Tennessee as well as other sources. This is some of what he found. 

Nellie was born Helen Trail in Scotland in 1883 (the exact location was variously reported as Montrose, Inverness, or Forfar). She married William Innes and they came to Winnipeg by 1905, where eldest son James was born, followed by David, Winnie, and Jessie. Nellie started her nursing career in Winnipeg but we aren’t privy to any details. She was also an excellent swimmer and taught many to swim. 

Nellie in her swimsuit in Scotland, sometime before 1905. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2872)

Her husband, always called “Dad,” was a carpenter who built the commercial block where the family had a small apartment. He left his business in the care of a partner while he served on the front lines during the First World War. Returning home badly shell shocked, Dad discovered his partner had transferred everything into his own name. Dad was furious and ready to do something violent. A doctor advised Nellie an immediate change of scenery was in order.

Sight unseen, and with the help of the Soldiers Settlement Board, they bought a farm at Vallican in 1919. They arrived early the next year to find a tiny house with a tiny amount of cleared land. Making a living was not going to be easy, but Dad worked on the farm and did some carpentry jobs while Nellie found her nursing and midwifery skills in high demand. Cooper wrote: 

Very quickly the widely separated valley settlers found out Mrs. Innes was a nurse and her services were sought out by the sick, the injured, and expectant mothers. Being proud people her patients would try and repay her with produce from their farms as money was scarce at the time. As more land was taken up with newcomers the greater demand on Nurse Innes. 

Nellie’s burden was relieved somewhat with the completion of a telephone line up the valley, for it allowed her to consult with doctors in Nelson and order medicine. 

Nellie around the time of her arrival in the Slocan Valley, circa 1920. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2880)

Nellie perhaps on a duck hunt, circa 1920s. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2930)

Nellie possibly heading out to make a special winter delivery, circa 1930. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2800)

In 1933, lightning struck the old Innes home and it burned to the ground. As the flames died down, bystanders were astonished to see a second lightning bolt strike the smoldering remains. The house was vacant, though, for by this time Dad Innes had built a new home that included a two-room hospital. Presumably one room was a maternity ward. 

The new Innes home at Vallican, 1930s. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2851)

Nellie was not known to have ever lost a patient, but she was not one to take risks. If pregnancy complications seemed likely, she would refer mothers to hospitals in New Denver or Nelson. She would also go to those unable to come to her. “She would stay with the family until the patient was out of danger,” Cooper wrote. “This was especially true in pre-natal, delivery, and post-natal care given expectant mothers.” 

Remarkably, the Hird family kept receipts for a couple of births in their family. It reveals the going rate in 1931 was $82 (the equivalent of $1,640 today), with a $7 discount if paid in cash.

It doesn’t appear Nellie handled any Doukhobor births, for they had their own midwives, although she did provide nursing services to Doukhobors and learned to say Господи благослови (“Hospodi blahoslovi” meaning  “God bless”) and слава хоспадо (“Slava hospado” meaning “Glory to god”). Nellie’s granddaughter Maureen said she was “well paid for her services with an abundance of garden veggies and other food.” 

Nellie in front of her Vallican home, circa 1930s. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2850)

Nellie was said to be very religious, superstitious, and claimed to be psychic. She was called upon to find missing objects, tell fortunes with cards, or locate drowning victims. 

In addition to Nellie’s duties as a midwife, the Innes family was known because son Jim and his wife Effie had a band that performed at dances throughout the valley. Jim played violin, saxophone, and drums, Effie was on piano, and they had a rotating lineup of other musicians.

A sandbar in the Slocan River was also dubbed Innes Island. Here the family and their neighbours spent much of their summers, enjoying the beach and a swimming hole above a log jam. A floating bridge attached to a cable on the bank would swing out, providing a walkway to a picnic ground with long tables under cottonwood trees. Dad Innes would yodel along to records on his gramophone while they drank home-made root beer and generally had a good time. Nellie also taught her grandchildren to swim. “She loved to swim and float and stand on her head in the water,” granddaughter Gerri Deslauriers recalled.

In 1947, William and Nellie moved to Trail, where a son and daughter lived. The community gave them a big-send off with an evening of music and dancing. “Granny so loved the valley and especially her nursing,” said Deslauriers. “It was a big part of her life and she just loved it.”  

Nellie Innes, date unknown, but perhaps 1940s. (Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-2929)

In Trail, Nellie was supposed to take things easy because of a heart condition but could not be kept out of the water. She went swimming all the time. William (Dad) Innes died in 1955 and Nellie in 1958, age 75. The Slocan Valley Archives has the photo below of the Innes house in Vallican in 1994. It is still standing (see comment at bottom from present owner Rebecca Todd).

(Slocan Valley Archives 2013-01-1340)

Below is a chart of 29 Vallican births in chronological order. I have included links to obituaries or burial information where available. Surnames are a mix of maiden and married names. 

Nellie Innes could have been present for all 25 listed births from 1923-42 and probably attended many others, including those in places other than Vallican, such as Innes Cooper (born 1930) and his sister Fern (1931-2022). But it will be another 20 years before birth registrations from the period that Nellie lived in the Slocan Valley start to become public and we find out exactly how many she was present for. 

NAME	BORN	DIED	PLACE OF DEATH
Lasalle, Michel Jean Marie [1]	26 Dec 1899	fl. 1962
Boisvert, Elma Mary	10 Jul 1912	21 Jun 1996	Nelson
Munch, Rose	10 Aug 1914	14 Nov 2011
Sullivan, Kathleen Susan Mary	5 Mar 1923	6 Jun 1923	Vallican
Innes, Jean	8 Nov 1926
Harrison, Mabel June	10 Jul 1928	27 Feb 1972	Victoria
Soucey, Marguerite	27 Jul 1928	14 Oct 1998	California
Hicks, Frances Elizabeth (Beth)	10 Apr 1930	29 Nov 2003	Port Alberni
Hird, Thor	1931
Lister, Viola (Vi) [2]	16 Jul 1931	16 Jul 2023
Pond, Wilma Angeline (Angie) [2]	16 Jul 1931	22 Dec 2021	Oregon City, Oregon
Avis, Walter Barry	7 Aug 1931	1 May 2002	Creston
Hicks, Alan Stanley	9 Dec 1931	25 Mar 1952	New Denver
Innes, Maureen	4 Jun 1932	April 2019
Ewing, Baby Boy	Sept 1932
Harrison, Billy Clifford	21 Oct 1932	31 Oct 2007	Oregon
Hird, Eugenie (Genie)	4 Jan 1933	28 Jul 2023	Parksville
Hicks, William Grant (Bill)	7 Oct 1933	21 Jun 2023	Trail
Willford, Sidney Arnald	10 Sept 1933	10 Nov 1933
Nixon, John Roy	2 Dec 1933	25 Feb 2020	Nelson
Innes, Barbara Gerri	31 Dec 1933
Harrison, Dennis Charles	26 Feb 1936	3 Sept 2021	Redmond, Oregon
Smith, Lawrence	4 Apr 1936	22 May 1987	Barranquilla, Colombia
Strong, Gordon Garth	12 Oct 1936	8 Sept 1992	Revelstoke
Corbett, Anne	17 Oct 1936	12 Nov 2024	Nelson
Wilford, Sid	10 Jun 1937	27 Jun 2023	Castlegar
Willford, Daniel William	7 Feb 1939	18 Apr 1952	Wisconsin
Hird, Zita	1942
Campbell, Agnice Sophia [3]	9 Oct 2005

[1] While Michel Lasalle was said to have been born in Vallican in 1899, his birth was not registered until 1935. The name Vallican was not in use until 1912.

[2] Vi Lister and Angie Pond were twins.

[3] Agnice Campbell was said to be the first Sinixt descendant born in Sinixt territory north of the border in nearly 100 years. However, although her family was able to prove her lineage, her application for Indian status was denied.

Just a coincidence, it seems, that three of these folks ended up in Oregon. Seven of these people have died in the last few years: one in 2020, two in 2021, and four in 2023. I have similarly been tracking the last people born in Phoenix and Fife.

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A postscript: the same page of the Nelson Star that carried Sid Willford and Bill Hicks’ obituaries carried another for Kory McKim (nee Eek), who was born at Rock Creek. A few weeks later, an obituary appeared for Paul Lautard, 100, one of the few people born at Carmi, north of Beaverdell. The only other I know of was Doug Shinozaki (1945-2014). 

— With thanks to Louise Hird Myre

Updated Dec. 3, 2024 to add Anne Corbett to the list.