Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Christopher SICKLER

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Descendants of Christopher SICKLER

Generation No. 6

9. RANSOM MELVIN⁷ JONES (ETHEL MABLE⁶ RANSOM, CHARLOTTE LEEDS⁵ SICKLER, NAPOLEON B.⁴, JAZER³, CHRISTOPHER², CHRISTOPHER GOTTHART¹ ZEIGLER) was born 14 Jul 1916 in Oxford, Sumner, KS, and died 12 Apr 1993 in Wichita, KS. He married LEOLA IRENE ROLL 29 Sep 1935 in Oxford, KS, daughter of RALPH ROLL and JESSIE DEWATER. She was born 18 Apr 1914 in Arapaho, Custer, OK.

Notes for RANSOM MELVIN JONES:
Ransom was a Sergeant with the Wichita, KS, police department. He rode a motorcycle and was tough. He had a motorcycle accident and hurt his back so had to retire from the policy department. He sold used cars for awhile then worked for many years as a legal investigator. He was an officer of the NALI.

Ransom was also a "Tin Lizzie" Shriner. He raised lots of money for the Scottish Rite chidren's hospital and also drove a van with children from Kansas to the hospital in St. Louis.

He loved to drive and was restless. He could not sit around and was constantly in motion. He liked to meet peopel and he loved to negotiate "deals".

He loved his family but could be a little difficult to get along with. He had to have his way.

More About RANSOM MELVIN JONES:
Residence: 1930, Oxford, Sumner, Kansas

Notes for LEOLA IRENE ROLL:

Leola Norene Roll

My mother’s people were apparently from England and the Netherlands. They came to America and settled in Michigan. They came to KS by covered wagon.

My father’s people were from Germany in the Baltic area. In Germany, my grandfather was a shoe cobbler and my grandmother, who had a club foot, herded geese. They came to America because of high taxation in Germany. My grandfather told of walking home through the Black Forest after work and saw his friend coming towards him but he disappeared and grandfather heard the friend had died at this exact time some distance away.

They settled in WI and came to KS by covered wagon. They got a homestead from President Ulysses S. Grant. One of the sons (Gus) walked approximately 8 miles to a brick yard to work. They also drilled water wells.

One day my papa was resting under a tree. His father said “Why aren’t you plowing?” My papa replied ‘If I get my work done in ˝ day who’s business is it what I do the rest of the day?” I’m sure he found out.

Growing up in Arapaho, OK

In 1909 Ralph Roll and Jessie Dewater Roll moved their three children, Frieda, Hubert, and William (Bill) by covered wagon from a farm near Peck, KS to a farm xx miles west and xx miles north of Arapaho, OK. Ralph did this so he could raise cattle.

They lived in a two room house with no lights and no running water. Gladys, Lester, twins Leona and Leola, and Pauline were born there. Leona died when she was 6 weeks old of whooping cough. She weighed 4 pounds 4 oz when she was born and I weighed 3 pounds 12 oz. About my name—my parents named me Leola Irene and my twin Leona Lorene. In high school and on my marriage license I used Leola Norene because at that time I did not want my mother’s name and I pretended this name more nearly matched that of my twin. When I was little my nickname was Odie.

When I was 3 years old my folks built a big new house with carbide lights and a coal furnace in the basement. It had 4 bedrooms upstairs and 1 downstairs. Each room had windows on 3 sides. We ate in a large kitchen with boards put together and placed on saw horses. The outside toilet was quite a way down a little incline and the boys often threw rocks at us. We had telephone that hung on the wall and a lot of people were on the same line.

We had 3 cement wells (cisterns) to hold water for drinking. The rain water ran off the roof into the wells. Water was heated on a cook stove and we took a bath on Saturday night.

We attend the Christian church faithfully every Sunday morning and evening. We went 7 miles to church in a wagon with straw quilts to sit on.

All the children except Pauline started school in a one room school called Sunnyside.
We walked to school. By road it was about 2 ˝ miles. My papa built a foot bridge across the creek so it was perhaps 1 Ľ miles. To get drinking water for school we went Ľ mile from the school to get water from the teacher’s pump. We all drank with the same “dipper” from that bucket. There was a coal shed on the side of the school and my friend and I often ate lunch in there.

Our school consolidated for my 2nd year of school and we rode in Model T Ford busses. The seats were one long bench built along each side. Frieda lived in Arapaho with Mr. And Mrs. Applegate to attend high school until Sunnyside consolidated with the Arapaho school.

My mama was very kind to us when we were ill but very strict and sometimes a bit cruel.

My papa was old enough to be my grandfather. I loved to sit on his lap while he read the newspaper. I slept with him and my baby sister slept with my mother until I was about 10 years old. He had a sense of humor and loved his kids. My papa smoked a pipe and we always bought him a can of “Prince Albert” for Christmas. Papa spoke German but it was not used in our home. I loved going to the Hardware Store with my papa. All kinds of harness were hung on the walls. Again, there was a water pump and 1 tin cup from which everyone drank.

My papa raised cattle and hogs and we had an orchard with apples, pears, plums and cherries. We had a good home and plenty to eat. It was sometimes my job to take corn to the pigs. I carried ears of corn by putting it in the full skirt of my dress which was pulled up to make a holder for the corn. We had a pony for riding ľ mile to the mail box or for bringing the cows from the pasture at milking time. I walked most the time. Once, lucky for me, I rode for the cows and one had rabies. It sure scared me! I yelled for my brother to open the gate. He made fun of me for being afraid but he soon found the cow was chasing everything in sight. We had a nice little place down at the creek where we could wade and there also a grove of trees where we could have picnics. The house was on a hill between two creeks. When I was a teenager I liked to go up on a hill and sit on a ledge and dream. In the winter my big brother made a long sled and we all rode it down on an icy hill.

We played dolls and house. We set-up boxes and stakes with string to divide off rooms our under some trees. When I was older we played ball on Sunday afternoons or a game called “New York”. Once when I was very small (about 3) my mama caught 5-year old Lester shaving me with a straight edged razor. Another time I shut Lester in an old oven because he was my chicken on some eggs and it took all day for the family to find him. He was really ready to pass out.

All birthdays were special with a cake and we always received a silver dollar. It would be under our plate or in the cake or anywhere unusual. Once I even had a surprise party.

At Christmas my papa would take a wagon and go 30 – 40 miles from home and bring back a tree that touched the ceiling. We always went to church Christmas eve and had a Christmas program. Santa came and delivered candy and oranges. I remember little pillow shaped mints on the tree- Santa always brought a big bucket of candy that was divided into 4 sections with 4 different kinds of candy. The tree was decorated with real candles and strings of popcorn.

It was around 1918 when we got a REO Touring Car.

I must have been about 10 years old when we got an Edison phonograph. It had cylindrical records. Our first radio came several years later.

I was thinking today of my childhood friends. I went through all grades with Lovella Jones and Marion Spore. It seems I got along best with younger friends Emma Scarce and her sister, Estelle. Velma Dunn, who was my age, and her sister, Charlene, who dated Lester some. There were Almeda Homan and her sister Ethel Mae. I liked Estelle, Charlene, and Ethel Mae best. I kept in touch with Ethel Mae for quite a number of years. Her first child was a boy the age of Ruth Elena. We met in Arapaho when the babies were about 8 weeks old. I met Dorothy Gorsching my first year in 7th or 8th grade. She became a lifelong friend. She died in about 1996.

After High School

When I finished high school in 1931 I went to St. John’s Lutheran School in Winfield KS for one year. That was the year I met Ransom. He went to school in Oxford and I went there on weekends to visit my cousins. After school was out in 1932 I went to Peck and lived with my Aunt Annie until September of 1935 when Ransom and I married. Aunt Annie taught me to piece and quilt quilts.

In later years at a High School Reunion we reunited with 2 men with whom I had gone to HS, Jack Steinberg and Ima (his wife who I had not known) and Leon Dunn. All lived in Oregon. There was a reunion every 3 years so Jack and Ima would come by and play cards. We visited them once or twice. Had a nice trip around there and lots of card playing. Leon moved to Arapaho after his wife died and we kept in touch until his death.

I met Creta Dudgeon at St. John’s College. She married John Snook. They attended our wedding on September 29, 1935, at 9 pm on Sunday night at the preacher’s house. We had them at our house and they had us at theirs. We played cards, cards, cards and cards. Not long before Ransom’s death Creta died so that ended that.

I worked in the auditing department at Sears Roebuck for 23 years and was active in The Daughters of the Nile- an organization that helped the children of the Shrine Hospital in St. Louis.

Frieda married Berna Snider in 1923 and lived in and around Arapaho until her death. There were 10 children. I was very close to the first one, Waneta. Frieda’s life was hard.

Hubert died at age 21 of a burst appendix. This was one of the worst times of my life.

Bill married Claire Smith and had 3 children. They lived near Arapaho until Claire died in 1937. Bill then married Ruby XXX and moved to Clinton, OK.

Gladys married Walter Kinsey and lived in the eastern part of OK. She had 8 children.

Lester married Viva White and lived on a farm NW of Arapaho. They had 3 girls and later moved to Wichita, KS where he was employed by Steffen Dairy and later retired from Safeway.

Pauline married Howard Lauterbach and had 6 children. She lived in the Wichita, KS area and was living in El Dorado at the time of her death in 1975.

Next:

Courtship-dating, why secretly married, eloping, the wedding, how parents found out, When started living together

Life as wife and mother

Friends

Marriage Notes for RANSOM JONES and LEOLA ROLL:

Leola and Ransom were secretly married at the Baptist parsonage at 9 pm Sunday. Creta Dudgeon and John Snook were the only guests. Leola was 21 and Ransom was 19. They had 9 flat tires that day! Ransom made $7 per week

More About RANSOM JONES and LEOLA ROLL:
Marriage: 29 Sep 1935, Oxford, KS

Child of RANSOM JONES and LEOLA ROLL is:

RUTH ELENA⁸ JONES, b. 29 Jul 1936, Wichita, Sedgwick Co., KS; m. KENNETH EUGENE INGLE, 01 Aug 1953, Wichita, Sedwick, KS; b. 15 Dec 1933, Murdock, Kingman County, KS.

More About RUTH ELENA JONES:
Divorce: 1983

More About KENNETH EUGENE INGLE:
Divorce: 24 Aug 1983, Tarrant, Texas

More About KENNETH INGLE and RUTH JONES:
Marriage: 01 Aug 1953, Wichita, Sedwick, KS

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