Nelson's Songbook

When the Bamfield Cable Station was decommissioned in 1959, Nelson and Mina picked up a number of furnishings for their new house on Copper Island—for a song. One item was a pump organ that came from the staff music room. When the house burned down, the organ was one of the few things saved from the fire (who knows why, when all his beautiful carvings were lost). The organ took up a good bit of space in the tiny living room of Nelson's new house, and occasionally a visitor would play it for him, since he didn't play himself. Resting on the pipe organ was a songbook that Nelson had carved from wood. 

Recently, Inger was going through boxes in preparation for a move and discovered the songbook, which she has since sent to Nelson II. Before she put it in the mail, she emailed me some photos:

Writing at top: Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

Writing at bottom: Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. 1 John 4:7

Writing at top: Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the Law happy is he. Proverbs 29:18

Writing at bottom: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: No man cometh to the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Back Cover: Writing at top: May 4 1799  |  John B. Dunkin  |  Donegal  |  March 12 1876

This is a bit of a mystery, as these are not the names or birth dates of Nelson's parents. Since the dates are 77 years apart, it could be that John B. Dunkin was his grandfather and Donegal is an Irish ancestral name—hence the shamrock (clover leaf)—and the older year an emmigration date.

Photo: Nelson Edward Dunkin at age 2 or so (from comparison to another photo).

Writing at bottom: Jan 22 1909  |  Nelson Edward Dunkin  |  Born Near McKinley School  | Olympia

This is the only indication I have found of Nelson's specific birthplace. Since his family moved with the logging camps and often lived in a tent, perhaps it was at a camp near the school that he was born. 

The book is bound with a long metal hinge and has a metal clasp that Nelson probably fashioned. I never heard Nelson sing, but he dearly loved to have someone play and sing to him. I often brought my guitar to the run-down apartment in Maillardville and sang Nelson the old Irish hymn "Be Thou My Vision."