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Photo of the Month |
Born
in Kansas in 1898, the grandson of pioneers of Kansas and Oklahoma, Clyde
J. Jones and his wife Nellie (Hawley) Jones made their home for
many years in EdCouch, Hidalgo County, TX. While in EdCouch, they owned and
operated the "Jones Repair Shop" seen above.
The
business served served local farmers and others who needed repairs to their
tractors and machinery. A variety of technical skill was needed such as
blacksmithing, and electric and acetylene welding. Interested in the welfare of
his community, Clyde also served for years as the Water Commissioner for the
City of EdCouch.
In the 1970s, Clyde contributed to our family's written knowledge after receiving a letter from cousin Alba (McGirk) Christensen Peck, asking about their family history. He responded with a six-page letter, methodically typed on pink paper. (Click to see the actual document.)
Clyde's landmark letter included a re-telling of stories his mother had told him many years before. These texts describe the hardships of their years as pioneer settlers in Kansas, and then their move into Oklahoma in 1889, entitled "The Big Flood of April 22, 1885" and "Great Land Rush of Oklahoma 1889." He also covered part of his own personal history as well as a listing his own children. In closing, he wrote to Alba: "Sure glad to hear from you & I know you have sure put in a lot of work. If there is any thing else I can do to help let me know."
In 2011, a research trip to south-central Kansas, by cousin Eugene Podraza and the founder of this website, found additional documentation about Clyde's parents, grandparents and great aunts and uncles, who overcame severe obstacles to carve out homesteads in the harsh Kansas prairie of the early 1880s. We thank Clyde and his family for so graciously sharing their precious threads of our family's history, then -- and now.
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Copyright © 2012 Mark A. Miner |
