VISITS WITH MY MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

VISITS WITH MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER JONES

This is me with my paternal grandparents, Granderson Monroe (Dutch) and Eva Mae Attaway Jones.  I am under one year old in this photograph, which dates this picture in the spring or summer of 1942.  The photo is at the back of my grandparents’ home at the intersection of Pine Street and East Fourth Street in Junction City, Louisiana.  Yes, it is Louisiana.  They live one block south of the Arkansas/Louisiana border, which is known as State Line Road.

My grandfather died when I was nine years old and my grandmother died when I was nineteen.  Therefore, my memories of them are cloudy.  I knew them as Granddaddy and Grandmother Jones, even though my grandfather had the nickname of Dutch.  This is the name that was in the 1930 Federal Census and also on his tombstone.  Even though I have asked all of my family, no one has any idea where this nickname came from.

We would travel from Unionville to Junction City on Sunday afternoons and they would always greet us with a warm welcome and open arms.  My favorite memory on our visits was to come into the kitchen door and peek under the heavy white muslin table cloth on the kitchen table that covered the leftovers from the larapin meal that grandmother had cooked.  There was always my favorite hot water cornbread cooked just right and stewed potatoes that had the most scrumptious taste of anything I had ever eaten.

Since my grandfather Jones died when I was about nine years old, I have fond memories of him, just not too many of them.  I remember my grandfather Jones as a small man who was in a wheelchair and was always seated by the fireplace in the living room of their home.  I remember him as confined to the wheelchair and with very poor eyesight.  I have tried to remember him earlier in our lifetimes at a time that he was active and able to move around.  But, sadly that is too early in my childhood for me to be able to remember.

My grandmother Jones died when I was about nineteen years old; therefore, I have more memories of her.  I remember her when she was active and was able to move around with very little trouble.  Later on in life it was difficult for her to get around and she was confined to her favorite chair in her bedroom.  After grandfather died she was always glad to see us and still was a very good cook.  One thing that stands out in my memory about grandmother was she dipped snuff.  She always had a dip in he lip and had her spit can setting down next to her chair so that it was always handy.

Since we lived with and next door to my maternal grandparents I have many more memories of them.  But I still loved and cherished both sets of grandparents equally.  By the grace of God, I have lived to see all five of my grandchildren and two of my great grandchildren.  I try to have those memory making moments and events with them that will last them a lifetime.

SPOOL FURNITURE

HOW MANY PEOPLE REMEMBER SPOOL FURNITURE?

This picture shows my younger brother, Richard, and me enjoying some time outside on a warm summer afternoon.  Pictures such a these bring back pleasant memories of our youth that we have forgotten about.  Sometimes, if we study these pictures in detail, we will see items that give a special meaning to us about the picture.  In this picture, notice the table and chairs that my brother and I are using.  These pieces of furniture were known as spool furniture and were just two of the many pieces of this furniture at my maternal grandparents house in Unionville.

Spool furniture was constructed using simple basic materials: empty wooden sewing thread spools, wood, nails, all thread metal rods, washers and nuts.  During the years after WWII, times were hard and people were very frugal and used materials similar to how we recycle today.

My grandparents constructed this furniture from materials that they found around their house and store in Unionville.  The wooden spools came from the many spools of thread that my grandmother, Dell, emptied while sewing clothes for the family.  The wood that was used in constructing this furniture probably came from the wooden crates used for shipment of fruits and vegetables for the store.  (Side thought - My grandfather, Tut, carved out some of the coolest slingshots from the end pieces to these crates)  The rest of the material used for the furniture was found in the store stock.

Some years before my grandparents house was sold and torn down, I was exploring the root cellar underneath the back bedroom and rescued the only two pieces of spool furniture that were remaining.
Below are pictures of these that I have rebuilt to be as near to the original construction as possible.

We use these two corner tables on our back patio and I always enjoy telling the story of how I rescued them from being thrown in the trash.  They bring back memories of my growing up in Unionville and I hope that some of my descendants will appreciate them in the same way that I do.

A VISIT BACK TO UNIONVILLE

My daughter, Lynne, and I made a day trip back to the Unionville area this last week.  The purpose of the trip was to visit several of the cemeteries in the area where our Colvin ancestors are buried and get record photos of tombstones for our research.  Lynne has become addicted to family history research just like her mother and father.  We are so thankful.  Now my wife and I will know that there will be someone to take care of all of our research and it will not be thrown out as happens so many times.

We visited four cemeteries: Old Colvin Cemetery, Thomas R. Colvin Cemetery, Colvin-Barmore Cemetery and Unionville Cemetery.  The first four were small cemeteries and we got photographs of all of the tombstones in these.  The Unionville Cemetery is quite large and I have many photos that I have taken there before, so we just tried to fill in the missing ones.  Only one more cemetery that we need to visit, the Katy Cemetery.  We will have to make that another day.  This cemetery is off the main road and quite a hike for an old man.

We went by our old Colvin and Jones store for a visit.  The above picture is the way it looks now - many memories in that place.  Mr brother Richard has cleaned around and inside the store and opens it up on most Saturday mornings in the summer for the eldery men that grew up around Unionville to gather, drink coffee, and reminisce about the good ole days.  I made a trip over one Saturday last year and really enjoyed visiting and talking with people that I went to school with and knew when I was growing up.

Whenever I visit Unionville, I get nostalgic and begin to think how different life was back in that time.  Many of the things that we experienced our children will never get to enjoy.  Later, we stopped at a service station in Dubach to get some nurishment to keep up our strength.  As I browsed the shelf looking for something to snack on, I ran across a "Stage Plank".  How many remember "Stage Planks" and "ROC Royal Crown Colas".

As we were getting back in the vehicle, my daughter asked me what I got to snack on.  When I replied a stage plank, she had no idea what I was talking about.  Our young people today are missing out on some of the better things of life.  By the way, they did not have a "Power House Candy Bar" so I had to settle for a Snickers.

Family History Research is Fun!!!!

Happy Ancestor Hunting.