"Boz": The Life of Ralph Boswell Jones (1897 - 1976)
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Chapter 6
B.J.Hills and
the Death of Charles W. Jones
B.J. Hills
In 1940 Ralph and his family drove east of Cleveland, hoping to find a farm or summer home. They came upon a 92-acre plot (in two parcels) near the town of Windsor, about 40 miles east of Cleveland in Ashtabula County, Ohio. The farm was owned by one Myrtle Noble, and the following spring Ralph and Dorothy signed a mortgage. To the Orwell Banking Company the couple promised to pay $1,500 for the property. [1] Thus in the summer of 1940 the family moved to the farm and stayed for an entire year, during which time the children attended the local Windsor School and the Methodist church on Sundays. [2]
Although most of the 92-acre property was covered with forest, it included a farmhouse and several outbuildings. The farmhouse was tall, skinny, rustic, and perched on Boyer Hill. Near the house stood two barns—a smaller one used as a garage, a larger one for storing baled hay and farm equipment. Nearby also were chicken and hog houses, a granary (where their hired man, Boyd Henderson or “Hen” lived), and a milk house with a concrete cooling trench. Initially the farmhouse offered no running water and no electricity. As a result, when the family first took up residence they burned kerosene lamps for light, drew water from a porch pump, and answered Nature’s call in a drafty outhouse. In the dining room sat a pot-bellied stove for heat and cooking. The old farmhouse stood in stark contrast to their formal Victorian home in Cleveland, where Dorothy pressed an under-table buzzer to inform the cook that, ahem, the family awaited their next course. [3]
Upgrades to the farmhouse were definitely needed. With help from “Hen” and a few locals, a toilet, bathtub and kitchen pump were added. A man named Gus Rickert tore off old porches and built new ones in front and back. A school bell was attached to a tree stump and the family posted a sign—“B.J. Hills”—to announce the property of Boswell Jones. [4]
The children enjoyed their stays at the farm, visiting it every summer after their return to Cleveland. Tom and Dick Holly, a boy from a neighboring farm, built a cabin containing bunks and an old clock, surrounded by a fence and protected by a large padlock to keep girls out. The kids played “kick the can” and built forts from baled hay in the barn. They raced at breakneck speed down Boyer Hill on their bicycles, and grimaced as Hen scared them with ghost stories in the granary. In the winter they tapped maple trees for syrup; in the summer, raised chickens and picked blackberries with Aunt Maude. [5]
Their father, on the other hand, lived and worked in Cleveland and visited the farm on weekends. After a long week’s work, he would drive to the farm and actually discard suit and tie, donning overalls to conform more closely to the neighbors. This, along with the family’s reluctance to purchase local milk, earned Ralph the nickname “Gentleman Farmer”. In addition, he sometimes invited the orchestra to the farm for corn roasts, and they performed at least once at the local junior high school. [6] As Cynthia recalls, “I was proud that my father was directing the symphony.”[7]
The Death of Charles Jones
Ralph’s brother, Charles W. Jones, was six years younger than Ralph and seemed destined for social and financial success. The Jefferson High School yearbook remarked: “Charles has good principles and the nerve to live up to the them… he has shown natural ability, possessing much business sagacity.”[8] Charles seemed to have that rare combination of talents: a mind for numbers and an outgoing personality. He was part accountant, part salesman; part engineer, part cheerleader.
These traits served him well as he advanced rapidly in the business world. He attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and was graduated from the Indianapolis College of Pharmacy. Thereafter he briefly worked in the statistical department of the Indiana Bell Telephone Company, and by 1924 (age 21) Charles was employed by the Eli Lilly Company in Indianapolis as a time study observer. Two years later he was promoted to supervisor over the firm’s methods and standards department. By 1930 Charles was transferred to the employment department of the firm, and a year later he had been promoted to employment supervisor. At age 33, Charles left Eli Lilly to become the general superintendent for Block’s Department Store in Indianapolis.[9]
Somehow he also found time to marry a wife, Mary Loftin, when he was 22 years old,[10] and the couple raised two children, Nancy Ann and Nicholas Loftin Jones. Nancy, born in 1929, was about the same age as Ralph’s daughter, Barbara; Nick, born in March 1935, was nearly the same age as his cousin Cynthia.[11]
Throughout his years in Indianapolis, Charles lived at numerous residences. In fact, the frequency with which he changed homes seems to indicate an inner restlessness, perhaps the same trait that propelled him up the corporate ladder. In 1925, for example, he rented a home at 109 West 22nd Street; in 1928, he and Mary were living at 1107 West 33rd; in 1930 they resided at 3506 Clifton Street; in 1936, at 3624 Guilford Street; in 1941, at 7951 Morningside Drive. Finally, by 1943, a year before his death, Charles and Mary had moved to 151 East Hampton Drive. [12]
In addition to supporting a family, Charles volunteered for myriad civic organizations. At one time or another over the years he was an associate chairman of the United War Fund; director of the Indianapolis Goodwill Industries; president of the Mutual Hospital Insurance Association; director at the Methodist Hospital; member of the re-employment committee of the Marion County selective service board; president of the board of deacons at the Second Presbyterian Church; president of the Indiana Credit Union League and the Indianapolis Personnel Association; president of the Merit System of Indiana; president of the Delta association of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity; director of the Y.M.C.A.; and instructor in labor administration in Bureau of Social Science Research at Indiana University. With this whirlwind of activity, it comes as no surprise that he suffered several minor heart attacks by age 41.[13]
Charles was a tall handsome man with a winning personality and naturally wavy hair. Ralph’s children and wife uniformly enjoyed Charles. To Ralph D., Charles was a favorite uncle, a soft-spoken man and “a real swell guy.” To Barbara he was loving and happy; to JoAnne, he was someone who laughed easily and teased them kindly. Dorothy remembers that Charles “could get along with anybody”.[14] His employer, Meier S. Block, president of the William H. Block Company, called Charles “a man beloved by everyone who worked for him and under him, respected for his fairness and his calm judgment.” [15]
His death shocked them all. It was Sunday afternoon, October 29, 1944. Charles’s wife, Mary, had traveled to Chicago to visit her aunts; his 15-year-old daughter, Nancy, was away in Cleveland visiting a friend. That day Nancy was scheduled to return to the train depot in downtown Indianapolis and in preparation for Nancy’s arrival, Charles stepped into the garage adjoining his home to make adjustments to the family car, a 1938 Oldsmobile.[16] He started the vehicle, leaving the garage door shut.[17]
Later that afternoon, a friend of Nancy’s, who had come to the house in anticipation of Nancy’s return, found Charles in the garage. What she found led her to call the police and fire departments, both of which attempted to revive Charles with an inhalator. Their efforts failed. At 41 years of age Charles Jones was dead. [18]
The Indianapolis newspapers and the Lafayette Journal and Courier reported that Charles’s death resulted, apparently, from a heart attack because he had suffered several minor heart attacks in recent months. The Indianapolis Star, which carried the story on its front page, stated that the deputy coroner was unable to tell the immediate cause of death, but it was believed to result from a heart attack. [19]
Three days after the death of Charles, on the morning of Wednesday, November 1, 1944, funeral services were held at the Flanner and Buchanan Mortuary in Indianapolis. Ralph Boswell Jones attended and must have been reminded of his embalming school days and employment at that firm. The pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church gave the eulogy, and that morning the Block Department Store remained closed in honor of its deceased general superintendent. Block’s also catered the funeral reception.[20]
That Wednesday as well, R.B. Storms of the Marion County Health Department filed the death certificate for Charles W. Jones. His verdict: accidental death by carbon monoxide poisoning. The death certificate stated that Charles was working on the running engine of his automobile in a closed garage and was “overcome by exhaust fumes.” [21]
In contrast to the verdict of the county health department, a story has circulated for many years within the family that Charles Jones killed himself. The evidence presented is as follows: First, his wife Mary, when she returned home and heard the news, apparently responded to someone that “he did it to himself” or similar words.[22] Second, Charles had his portrait taken before his death, perhaps indicating that he planned the photograph as a memorial for his family.[23] Third, Charles was thought to be mired in debt, having recently purchased a house that he could hardly afford. [24] Finally, Dorothy told her children that Mary did not receive much life insurance because of ambiguities surrounding Charles’s death.[25]
We may never know the full truth about why Charles Jones died, but the case for suicide is weak. What, for example, did Mary actually say when she heard the news? Does anyone know? Why didn’t Charles leave a suicide note? Could Charles have had another motive for having his portrait taken? Charles was known uniformly as even-tempered, loving and happy—not volatile and depressive. In addition, Charles’s estate records show that he was not close to insolvency. Even after creditors were paid, Mary retained securities valued at $1,124 and a car valued at $669, significant assets in those days. [26] His home at 151 East Hampton Drive, while located near several estate-style homes, was relatively modest. [27] He had moved there at least a year prior—the mortgage was not brand new—and Mary continued to live in that location for at least a year after Charles’s death (the bank hadn’t foreclosed on the property).[28] Finally, if the insurance company contested the cause of death, it certainly couldn’t use the health department’s verdict as evidence: the death certificate clearly proclaimed accidental causes. [29]
Regardless of the reason for Charles’s death, Ralph, his brother, appears to have been deeply affected. JoAnne remembers that her father, after returning home from the funeral,
“…sat at the counter in the kitchen of the Carlton Rd. house and talked about all the people who came and cared for Mary and the kids. Block’s sent food & he spoke of individual salt and peppers, the platters of everything, and the people to serve and clean up. No one would do that for him, was his comment. I never heard him sound so lost, wistful, unhappy. I felt so sorry for him.”[30]
Hard times
During World War Two, defense workers’ wages increased dramatically; undertakers’ wages didn’t, and the family could no longer afford two homes. So, in about 1946 Ralph sold the Carlton Road house and moved the family permanently to B.J. Hills. [31] In the late 1940s Ralph also ceased working for DeVand Funeral Home.[32] The DeVand business continued to operate as a family firm until at least 1965. Perhaps Ralph was squeezed out because he was not a member of the family. After all, Edwin, Sr., was Chairman of the Board; Gertrude, his wife, was President and Treasurer; Edwin, Jr., was Vice President; another son, Calvin A., was Vice President; and his daughter, Margaret W., was Secretary.[33]
After leaving DeVand’s, Ralph was forced to take a job as a floor walker at Halle’s Department Store (seller of dry goods, furniture, apparel and other goods) for about a year while starting a new business. He continued in the mortician trade, at first leasing a funeral home from Delford O. Dougherty at 13613 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. [34] Ralph also rented an apartment in Cleveland with his daughter Barbara, who took phone calls for the fledgling business while attending business college. [35] Unfortunately, the family’s financial position continued to decline—a decline felt keenly by the members of Ralph’s family still at home. During high school, for example, Ralph’s son Tom bought slab wood from a local sawmill to keep the farmhouse heated in winter, and the utility company would shut off the electricity monthly. [36] By October 1949 Ralph could no longer afford B.J. Hills, and it too was sold.[37]
[1] Farm documents.
[2] Tom B.
[3] Cynthia; Tom B.; Zero to Twelve.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Cynthia.
[8] Jefferson High School annual, 1921, repository: Tippecanoe County Public Library, Lafayette, IN.
[9] Obituaries of Charles W. Jones in the following newspapers: Indianapolis Star, October 30, 1944, pg.1 and 5; Indianapolis Star, October 31, 1944, p. 12; Indianapolis News, October 30, 1944, part 2, pg.2; Indianapolis Times, October 30, 1944, pg. 1; Lafayette Journal and Courier, October 30, 1944, p. 12. Hereinafter cited as Charles Jones obituaries.
[10] Federal census, 1930, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN; online at Ancestry.com; ED 333, Sheet 12A, pg. 137. The census was taken on April 19, 1930, by which time Charles W. Jones, Mary L., and Nancy Ann are listed at 3506 Clifton St, Indianapolis, IN. Mary’s maiden name is given as “Sharps” in Interview, Dorothy Jones. However, the Memorial Edition of Block’s Booster (November 1944, unpublished; copy c/o Barbara Jones Chaffee) gives her name as Mary Loftin Jones, indicating a maiden name of Loftin.
[11] Cynthia; Federal census, 1930, as noted in previous note; data on Nicholas Loftin Jones listed in gedcom of ivana at rootssearch.net at Ancestry.com as of 23 Sep 2002.
[12] City directories for Indianapolis, 1925, 1928 - 1930, 1942-1943, 1945; also probate file for Laura Boswell gives Charles’s address, as of 18 December 1936, as 3624 Guilford, Indianapolis, IN.
[13] Charles Jones obituaries.
[14] Ralph D.; JoAnne; Barbara; Tom B.; Interview, Dorothy Jones.
[15] “High Tribute to Charles W. Jones Is Paid by Block Store President”, Indianapolis Star, October 31, 1944, p. 12.
[16] Probate records for Charles W. Jones, Marion County, IN, docket 130, pg. 47010, W.R. III, pg. 57.
[17] Charles Jones obituaries.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Indianapolis News, October 30, 1944, Part 2, pg. 2; JoAnne.
[21] Marion County Health Department, Certificate of Death, Charles W. Jones, 29 Oct 1944; Cert. No. 4049; Vol. 45, Pg. 404, filed 1 Nov 1944. Hereinafter cited as Death certificate, Charles Jones.
[22] Interview, Dorothy Jones.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Discussions, the auditor with Cynthia J. Brown.
[25] Barbara.
[26] Probate records for Charles W. Jones, Marion County, IN, docket 130, pg. 47010, W.R. III, pg. 57; copies c/o author.
[27] Author’s observation of the house at 151 E. Hampton Drive and surrounding neighborhood in Indianapolis, IN, June 2002.
[28] City directory, Indianapolis, 1943; probate records for Charles W. Jones.
[29] Death certificate, Charles Jones.
[30] JoAnne.
[31] Tom B.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Cleveland (Cuyahoga County, OH) City Directory, 1958 and 1965, FHL #977.131E4c.
[34] Tom B., Cynthia; also Cleveland (Cuyahoga County, OH) City Directory, 1940, FHL #977.131E4c.
[35] Barbara.
[36] Tom B.