JENNIE (JONES) JACKSON
JAMES JACKSON

My mother, Grace (Jones) Ferguson Russell, talked about her Aunt Jennie in two audio tapes she made about her life. The following are excerpts from the tapes which include Grace's memories of Aunt Jennie. It has been lightly edited for clarity.

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Grace's memories...

"Daddy had one sister, Jennie Jackson, she lived at Alliance. We always thought so much of Aunt Jennie. She would come every once in a while, she and Uncle Jim. They'd come on the train to Dunning and we'd have to go over to meet them and that was always a great day when Aunt Jennie came. She usually brought us something which we didn't have many things then, so it was always a treat. She'd make apple dumplings and that's one thing I particularly remember about her. She had Margaret and Ruth and Vesper, were her family. Vesper had polio when he was just a child. He used a wheelchair. Later he taught school at Pleasant Valley district. He had an old car, a coupe with a rumble seat and he hauled his chair in the back. There was always people around willing to help him get out."

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My memories...

Grandpa Frank and Uncle Will were both gone before I was born. I do remember Aunt Jennie. She was living with her daughter Margaret (Jackson) Johnson and her husband Don in a "modern" house in Alliance. This was town living compared to country living I was used to. We had hard wood and linoleum floors and a stove in the living room that warmed the whole house, and their living room had thick soft carpet with nice chairs and a sofa. I'm not sure how old I was when we visited, but probably between 6 and 8. I was very interested in getting to know this woman my mom was so excited to visit, but it wasn't really possible to visit with her because of her little chihuahua! He or she sat on Aunt Jennie's lap and barked and growled if I walked close to her. I remember how white her hair was. I know we had a brief conversation across the room but I don't remember what we talked about. I do remember when mom got the call that she had passed away. I was home from school, or maybe school was out already for the summer. The black rotary phone was on the wall a few steps from the kitchen and mom answered and as she spoke with whoever it was she started to tear up. After she hung up she leaned against the kitchen doorway and quietly shed some tears. I asked what was wrong and she said "Aunt Jennie passed away. She was like a grandma to me."