| Maudie Jane West, youngest of the John T. West family, of Talpa, vividly
remembers life on the farm (see John T. West). There was something
for everyone to do … always a large garden and orchard to tend to. Besides
fresh fruit and vegetables for the table there were lots of canning and
preserves and jelly making. Cooking was an endless task for the older girls.
In addition to a large family, there were always extra field hands to cook
for. When The National Company came out with the pressure cooker
and can sealer, it simplified and lessened the work and time in the kitchen.
The Maytag washing machine, in later years, was a great improvement over
the rub board and made washday a lot more pleasant. Life on the farm
wasn’t all work, especially for the younger children. Many a day
was spent playing along the creek that ran through the pasture, or building
castles in the cottonseed bin or in the cow lot or riding horses.
Always there were beautiful dolls and a set of little dishes at Christmas
time.
Maudie Jane married John L. (Jack) Jones, Jr., December 26, 1929 (see
John L. and Mary Irene Jones). Jack was a lineman, working on construction,
for West Texas Utilities Company, when they married. He began work
for the company in 1927 and helped build the first power line to McCamey,
Ozona and Sonora. He worked for the W.T.U. Company for fifteen years;
taking a few years out during the depression beginning in 1932. Those
years were spent in the Talpa community where he had the good fortune of
being appointed substitute rural mail carrier for both routes out of Talpa.
During this time their older son, John L. III, was born, May 21, 1933.
Jack was one of the first to be called back to work when the depression
was over and W.T.U. Company construction started again. Jack and
family were living in Rankin in 1942, where he was local manager of W.T.U.
Company, when he had the opportunity to go to work for Shell Pipe Line
Company, as Telephone Maintenance Foreman, at Wink. After five years,
they moved to Colorado City, then to McCamey as Wire Chief and to Midland
as Technician. He retired in Midland in 1970, where they live.
On January 11, 1945, Stephen L. was born at Wink. He has a degree
in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is
employed by U. S. Corps of Engineers at Washington, D.C. as a Senior Mechanical
Engineer, lives in Alexandria, Virginia. He served in Vietnam.
John III married Bonnie Jean Taylor of Slaton, June 24, 1956 soon after
returning from three years of duty with the Marines in Japan and Okinawa.
They had a son, Trevor Lee, May 7, 1957, married Debra Sue Addison of Plains.
They live in Midland. On July 12, 1980, John III died of an acute
myocardial infarction, buried in Englewood Cemetery in Slaton. |
