I remember Grandma Jones as a very kindly person who always had something for us to nibble on when we visited. In her later years, she was seriously ill with diabetes. In about 1950, she had to have her leg amputated because she had poor circulation in her foot and gangrene set in. I do not remember her letting that slow her down much. She had an artificial leg. I remember being fascinated watching her strap and belt the leg to her knee.
Grandma Jone's brother, John A. Reinhardt (born in March 1890) came to live with her. I don't remember the exact year but it was after 1960. Uncle John as we called him, was very mechanical and was also a good carpenter. After Grandma Jones lost her leg, Uncle John took a kitchen stool, cut off the legs, and put ball bearing casters on each leg. Then he made a sort of leather harness that fit on top the stool. Grandma Jones would stick the stub of her leg into the harness and could get around the house very well. Eventually, as often happens with diabetics, she lost almost all of her eyesight and was legally blind. She still lived alone all of her life until her last illness.
Grandma Jones was Maple Hill post master (or mistress as they called lady post masters in those days) from July 1, 1936 until November 30, 1954. I used to go into the post office and she would always give me a Tootsie Roll and send me home with the mail for my Grandmother, Mable R. (Jones) Clark and my parents, John and Lucille Clark.
Susanna J. Reinhardt was the second wife of my paternal great grandfather, Leander Emory Jones. They were married in the home of her father, George A. Reinhardt, on December 24, 1909 in Silver Lake, Shawnee County, Kansas. They immediately moved to Paxico, Kansas where Susanna and her step-daughters, Mabel Rachel Jones and Edith Belle Jones, operated the Central Office.
Grandfather Jones had a steam threshing outfit and crew at the time they were married and during the late spring and summer, harvested wheat from western Kansas to Wabaunsee County, Kansas. During the winter, he played violin for barn dances and house dances. I don't ever remember anyone saying that he helped with the Central Office in any way.
About 1914, a terrible accident occurred which nearly killed Great Grandpa Jones. He was pulling his thresher across the Mill Creek bridge near Strowig's Mill, southeast of Paxico, when the bridge collapsed. He had crossed the stream many times before but either it was weakened from age or from recent flooding. The steam engine exploded but Grandpa Jones was able to jump off the engine before it collided with the cold water.
Sometime after that, the family moved 10 miles east to the little town of Maple Hill, Kansas. There he bought a two-story house on the town's eastern most street, Prairie Avenue.
The Jones were the parents of one son, Elmer Emory "Casey" Jones, who was born January 1, 1911. He grew up in the house on Prairie Avenue and graduated from Maple Hill Grade School and Maple Hill High School. More of Casey later.
Grandfather Lee Jones loved to give everyone nicknames and he named his son, "Casey" after the popular ballad of the day, "Casey At The Bat." It was a tune he played often for dances. He also loved baseball.
On Saturday morning, March 11, 1932, a fire destroyed the Maple Hill home of Lee and Susanna (Reinhardt) Jones. Casey was home visiting and was sleeping on the second floor. He barely got out with his life and had to crawl out his upstairs window and jump off the porch. Lee and Susanna Jones were sleeping on the first floor and were able to get out before the house was engulfed. Very little was saved except a box of pictures and papers Grandfather Jones grabbed as they exited the burning house.
Not long before her death, Grandma Jones felt sorry that the grave of Leander E. Jone's first wife, Virginia Hannah "Vergie" (Miller) Jones was not marked in the Green Cemetery, near Willard in Shawnee County, Kansas. She purchased a tombstone and had it placed on the grave. That was the kind of generous woman she was.
I was listening to my Grandmother, Mable R. Clark and her sister Edith Belle (Jones) Strowig talking when Aunt Edith was visiting us. They both said that they couldn't think of one bad thing to say about their step mother. She treated them exactly as if they were her own daughters. In her last years, my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and my Grandmother Mable R. (Jones) Clark stopped in to visit Great Grandmother Susanna every day to make sure she took her insulin and was eating properly. I remember Grandmother Jones taking me to the kitchen scale, where she weighed every ounce of food she ate, and showing me how the math of scales works. It was fairly convenient for my mother to check on Grandmother Jones because we lived next door. Grandmother Jones gave my parents two lots from her property on which to locate our home in 1959. Grandmother Mabel Clark just lived three houses south of Grandmother Jone's home. We were all residents on Prairie Avenue in Maple Hill.
Here is the Obituary for Susanna Jeanetta Jones:
Born November 24, 1884 at McKay, Ohio she lived most of her life at Maple Hill where she was postmistress for 17 years. She was a member of the Silver Lake Methodist Church, past matron of the Eastern Star Chapter 308 and Oracle of the Royal Neighbors Lodge, both at Maple Hill.
Survivors include a son, Elmer E. "Casey" Jones of Omaha, Nebraska; two daughters, Mrs. Mabel Clark of Maple Hill and Mrs. Edith Strowig of Adelanto, California; a granddaughter; five step great-grandchildren; several great-great grandchildren and two sisters, Mrs. Elmer Clark of Licking Missouri and Mrs. Vera Gordon of Los Angeles, California.
This is a snapshot of Susanna Jeanetta (Reinhardt) Jones standing on the back step of her second home on Prairie Avenue. The house was built on the same location as the first home that burned in 1932, but was only one story. Shown with Grandma Jones are the author's twin brothers, Steven J. and Stanley K. Clark. Grandmother Jones was very proud of Steve and Stan and they played on her enclosed porch (in the background) often. Judging from the age of the twins, I would say that the photo was taken in 1956.Here is some genealogy information about Susanna Jeanetta Jones:
Parents: George A. and Joanna Reinhardt, both born in Ohio. They moved to Shawnee County, Kansas in about 1885, where George farmed on rented farms.
Their children were:
Thomas E. Reinhardt - Born October 1879 in Ohio
Lou E. Reinhardt - Born January 1881 in Ohio
Susanna J. Reinhardt - Born November 1884 at McKay, Ohio
John A. Reinhardt - Born March 1890 in Kansas
Alberta Sarah Reinhardt - Born June 1892 in Kansas
Vera G. Reinhardt - Born 1901 in Kansas
According to the 1910 Census information, Joanna Reinhardt was the mother of 8 children of which 6 were living. In the obituary of Joanna Reinhardt, it states that she moved from Ohio to Maple Hill, Kansas with her husband in 1886. They were living in Shawnee County by the 1900 Census.
I believe that's all the memories about Great Grandma Jones that I'm able to recall---at least today.
Happy Trails!
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