EARLY YEARS
I was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi on November 25, 1919 to George Henry and Margaret Elizabeth (Dennis) Jones. My Father was born 21 March 1880 and Married My Mother, who was born in 1884, on August 9th 1903. They were Farmers all their lives. My Mother Died on January 22, 1923. Just about 15 months after moving to Arkansas. My Father Died April 18, 1940, while I was serving on board the Submarine S-45 in the Panama Canal Zone. I was unable to attend his funeral or go home.
My Fore Fathers and Fore Mothers were settlers moving to the Mississippi Territory and helping settle Neshoba County in the late 1700's and early 1800's. They mostly came from Georgia, Virginia and Carolina area’s, with some stopping for a while in the Alabama Territory. If you click on the Petition to Congress from the Alabama Territory, 1817, you will see a George Dennis (Georg P Denis) signed the petition. He was my Great, Great Grand Father, on my Mothers side. He was later believed to have been killed by the Indians.
1921 WAGON TRAIN TO ARKANSAS
In
1921 the Boll Weevil's ate up our cotton crop in Miss. and my Father made a
decision to move to Monroe County Arkansas, about 300 miles away. It took two weeks over dirt roads. My Brother Ethel walked all the way, driving
the Jersey cows that my Father loved so much.
There were three families in a wagon train making this move. We settled near other families from Neshoba
County Mississippi. I grew up in Monroe
County, attending local schools and helping on my family farm. The Town of Clarendon, (Capitol of Monroe
County), was about (7) seven miles to our west and the town of Holly Grove was about
5 miles to our south. There was a large
sawmill and cotton gin with a country store near our first home in Arkansas.
SIMILAR TO MY FATHERS 1st CAR
My
Father bought his 1st car in 1925, a 1925 Model -T Ford. He had never driven a car before, the
salesman started it for him headed him toward home, 7 miles away, and jumped
off the running board. My Father drove
home ok, over dirt roads, but as he approached our house he didn't know how to
stop it so he started pulling back on the steering wheel and hollowing woa,
woa. Luckily a teenager was walking on
the road and jumped on the running board and stopped it for him. Teenagers have all ways known how to drive. We drove it to see my Uncle Walter in Lucy
Tenn. 120 miles away, we left home at daylight and arrived at Uncle Walters
house just as the sunset. It was all
dirt roads and they had to fix 13 flats.
There were 6 of us and I was only 6 years old. At that time West Memphis was all swamps with a wooden bridge, 13
miles long from the steel bridge across the Mississippi River.
MY OLDEST BROTHERS
L.
Henry Ethel Jones. 6/1/1904 to
8/27/1976 Brother Ethel lived most of his life in Clarendon, Arkansas with his
wife Alma and their 5 children. He was
a Telephone Lineman for 43 years. R.
Robert Barron Jones. 5/11/1913 to
9/27/1970. Brother "R.B.” Lived most of his life in Harrison, Arkansas
with his 2nd wife Della and their 3 children but had a daughter
Marie by his 1st marriage.
He spent his last several years in the insurance business.
MY SISTERS
My
sister Pearl (left) to whom I owe so much.
She was only 12 years old and I was just 3 when our Mother died at the
age of 39. Pearl became my substitute
mother. Pearl and my Brothers attended
school in a 4-room schoolhouse. She had
to take me to school with her. I set in
the primer for 3 years before moving to 1st grade, the Teacher wanted to adopt
me, but my Father said "no.”
(There was no Kindergarten).
Pearl lived most of her life on a farm in Monroe County with her now
deceased Husband Tom and their 3 Children (one is now deceased) She now lives
in Brinkley Ark. across the street from her daughter Margo and still goes to
work every day in her daughters store, (at age 90). R. My Sister Margaret. My
Father was married again when I was 6 years old and my sister Margaret was born
from this marriage, unfortunate this marriage didn't last and Margaret and I
didn't get to know each other until she was about 12 years old and I visited
with her, at her school while on leave from the Navy. Margaret and I have kept in touch ever since. Margaret lived most of her life in
Mississippi with her Husband Ross (now deceased) and their 3 children. She now lives in Jackson Miss
FARMING:
Our cash crops were cotton but we also grew corn for feed for our livestock and we would send some of it to the gristmill to make corn meal. We also would have a large vegetable garden and we normally had a large watermelon patch The women would hold a canning day when they would meet and can tomatoes, beets and other items that could be canned. They used quart fruit jars for canning.
GROWING UP IN ARKANSAS
Rear
- My Brother Robert. - See Caption
above. Left Front - My self at about 10
years old. Center - My Father. Right - My Brother Bonnie - Born in 1916 -
just 3 years older than myself. We grew
up close to each other. Bonnie and I
had some good times attending Saturday Night Country Dances together but I
never did learn how to dance. Bonnie
wanted to join the Navy but joined the CCC camp instead and was in a camp in
Idaho when I Joined the Navy, however he did join the Navy later and spent most
of his 30 years with the Sea Bee's.
Married Louise and they had two sons.
Bonnie did a tour of duty in Vietnam.
After retiring from the Navy he settled in Gainesville Florida where he
still lives with his wife Louise.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
My Father had his 1st heart attack in the fall of
1929 (about the same time the stock market crashed) and was disabled from doing
hard work after that. My brother Robert,
Bonnie, and I were doing most of the work farming with my Father doing the
Managing (My Brother Ethel and My Sister Pearl were both married by then). It wasn't the stock market crash that got
us; it was the lack of rain. We looked
forward to making 20 bales of cotton in 1930 but it didn't rain for 90 days
during the growing season and we barely made 2 bales, how ever due to the
market crash, the price of cotton and all other produce fell until it wasn't
worth any thing hardly. During the
great depression, the early 30's, I helped put meat on the table with my 12
gauge shot gun, hunting rabbits and squirrels (even to-day when a squirrel
comes upon my porch looking for a peanut, I say "its a good thing you
weren't around in the 30's or I would have had you in the stew pot"). My Brother Robert got married and left home
about 1932. My Father traded one of his
milk cows for a 1930 Model A, 1 ton ford Truck and My brother Bonnie and I used
it for hauling cotton, wood or any thing else not nailed down, that would help
with income. Luckily no drivers’
license was needed in those days & no age was required as long as you could
reach the gas pedal and brakes.
SIMILAR TO THE 1930 MODEL A,
FORD TRUCK, WE HAD
In 1936 I was hauling 2100 lbs of cotton 7 miles to the gin, when about 1/2 way, one piston blew, I dropped the oil pan and took the piston out in pieces, buckled her up and put oil in and started the engine, it was 4 cylinder with large bore and long stroke, I could only get 2 cylinders to fire, luckily they were 180 degrees apart on the crank. I could get her going pretty fast in 2nd gear, when I shifted to high the speed would slow down, and I would have to go back to 2nd gear. I was able to drive the cotton to the gin and drive the truck home that way. I pulled the head and found that the piston that was not firing had a crack across the crown. Never did get it fixed. I went in the Navy shortly after that.
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