Martin Frank Jones - His Blog Part 10

 His Words - His Blog

GRANDDAD’S LIFE PART 10               Posted on January 15, 2013 by Martin Jones

Daddy was a generous man. He was a deeply religious man. He was a deacon in the church and was very active in the Masonic Lodge. In those days the church and the Lodge were influential in helping people, and there were plenty of people to help. I remember one family in Thalia that had about ten kids. I know that Daddy bought many of their groceries. I know of one time he brought two older men to live with us through the winter. They stayed in the cellar. All they had to do was keep wood for the stoves. Us kids thought they were OK. One of them played the Jew’s Harp, and the other would sing folk songs to us. Another time he brought home a young couple who stayed in the cellar. The woman was pregnant. They stayed with us until she delivered, and he bought them a ticket on the bus to get to where they needed to go. I relate this stuff to illustrate the kind of man my daddy was. My mother would sometimes complain that if he did not give everything away, we could have more. But I remember that we did not want for anything.

Daddy bought groceries by the case... and flour and sugar by the 50-pound bag. He always had a hog to slaughter, and a cow for milk. Mother made sure that every old hen that wanted to set was able to do so and raise a bunch of little chickens. We had plenty of meat and milk and eggs. Looking back, it is easy for me to see why we did better than most of the people at that time. My daddy was a hustler and a provider.

The depression began to let up, and Daddy bought a refrigerator that ran on kerosene. It was a huge thing that had 3 burners under it that had to be lit every night. When they were lit, we had to leave home because of the heat. I cannot tell you how that silly thing got cold and made ice, and even ice cream from heat of the burners. But it did. It must have exploded while we were gone one evening. We had gone down to our grandparent’s house. You could see the fire from their house, and we loaded up and started home. When we got there the whole house was afire. Daddy was able to reach through the front room door and drag out the sewing machine, which was sitting beside the door. That is all that we saved. All we had was the clothes on our backs. I had come in from plowing and took off my shoes and shirt. I did not even have a shirt or shoes.