January 2007 The Megaphone Page 6
What You Find When You Are Not Looking!
by Nancy Sumner
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Anderson Herald
April 24, 1937
Elwood To Pay Tribute to Lavina Jenkins, 90, Today
Interesting Career From Wales to Adopted Home She Loved So Well
Special to The Herald:
Elwood, Ind., April 24 – Elwood has lost one of its oldest and most interesting citizens by the death of Mrs. Lavina Jenkins, age 90, widow of Sidney Jenkins, for who funeral services will be conducted at the Baptist church by the Rev. Robert W. Sage at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Burial will be in Elwood cemetery. The body will rest at the York chapel until the funeral hour.
The Cambrian Society, composed of Welsh singers of Elwood, Anderson and other cities, will sing at funeral services for Mrs. Jenkins.
Mrs. Jenkins was born near Cardiff, Wales, January 28, 1847, a daughter of William and Sarah Richards. On March 4, 1868, she married Mr. Jenkins, a native of Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, at a church in Cardiff. The couple slipped quietly away for the ceremony. Mr. Jenkins was employed at the Poynster tin works in Wales until 1880, and two years later came to the United States, arriving in Chicago August 12, 1882. He was employed at the Norton Bros. tin plant about ten years.
Seven of their nine children were born in Wales, and were brought by Mrs. Jenkins to Chicago in February, 1885. She was accompanied on her long journey by a brother, William Richards, now dead. Two sons, Bert and Frank Jenkins, of Elwood, were born at Chicago. The family moved to Anderson in 1891, Mr. Jenkins being employed in a small tinplate plant there which later closed. The family moved to Elwood in 1892, and Mr. Jenkins was among the first employees of the Elwood tinplate mill.
During their early years, Mrs. Jenkins kept boarders to assist her husband in balancing the family budget. Among her boarders were James J. (Jimmy) Davis, U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, Thomas O’Brien, retired manager of a tinplate mill at Gary, Harry O’Brien and others. She used ten pounds of meat daily on her table and frequently walked downtown from her home in South K Street, near the tinplate mill, to buy groceries.
Mrs. Jenkins often recalled that "Elwood was a mud hole," when her family came to Elwood. She was determined to help to “build Elwood” and she and her husband brought $2,800 into the town. They owned ten lots on South K Street, and sold a twenty foot strip of ground to the city, from the Pennsylvania Railroad to Twenty-fifth Sreet, in order that school children might not have to risk their lives by walking to school along the railroad. The street is known as Jenkins Avenue.
In her last years, Mrs. Jenkins cherished more and more the memory of the days when Senator Davis lived in her home. "He was just like my own boy," she often said. He never failed to call on her when he returned to Elwood to visit old friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins were loyal to the Republican party and never failed to give William McKinley credit for the tinplate mill materializing in Elwood, for, they said, it was his tariff bill which made tinplate production possible in the United States. Mr. Jenkins walked at the age of 90 more than four miles to attend a Republican meeting at the Reeder schoolhouse north of town. Mrs. Jenkins also attended Republican meetings in campaign season.
The aged couple maintained their own home at 2224 South K Street until the death of Mr. Jenkins September 19, 1935, at the age of 93 years. Following his death the widow lived for several months with her son, John, in Chicago. She grew homesick for Elwood and returned here a year ago and since then lived at the home of another son, Frank, 318 North Anderson Street, where she died Thursday night. It was her earnest wish to live to the age of 100, and she was quite active until stricken ill six weeks ago.
Surviving are six sons, John and Arthur, of Chicago; George, Bert and Frank, of Elwood, and Charles, of Wheeling, W.Va., and one daughter, Mrs. William A Evans of Farrell, Pa. She had several grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She was the last of a family of eight children. She was a member of the Baptist church and Jolly club.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Elwood Call-Leader
February 22, 1941
Tests of Plane Near Complete
All that is holding up complete tests of the Rose Aviation Corporation’s new plane which has been constructed at the National Trailer plant now is weather conditions.
The plane has already been flown. Friday it was over Elwood and previously it has been taxied about the Inter-City airport and has taken off several times.
The plane itself is modeled after the ordinary Piper Cruiser. It has a coupe seating arrangement and is powered by a Franklin 80-horsepower motor. The wingspread is 34 feet.
But the amazing thing about the Rose plane is its weight. As it stands the model which is being tested weighs only 880 pounds less load. This is only about half the weight of most planes its size. The reason for the light weight is the material of which it is constructed which is a light-weight plywood.
Because it is so light the plane is expected to be cheaper to operate and to have a longer life than similar planes. And it will be safe to fly. The plane is expected to have a top speed of about 135 miles an hour and will cruise at approximately 110 miles an hour.
But the special feature is the wings which are equipped with both slots and flaps facilitating landing at a lower rate of speed. The plane can come in for a landing at 1,000 feet doing 60 miles an hour and drop at a 45-degree angle and with the slots open and the flaps down, land at 20 miles an hour.
It was for the purpose of testing these wings, designed by Mr. H.R. Tucker, engineer of the corporation, and for the testing of the material of which they are made that the plane was built. It is expected that if the flight tests are a complete success, production of the plane on a large scale will begin.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The above two articles are examples of “What you find when you are not looking!”
Sometimes when we have a slow period or extra staffing, I’m able to work in the Indiana Room of the Elwood Public Library. And on occasion I have time to go through the files in the overstuffed cabinet. The week prior to Christmas, I was able to have some of that precious time! In one of the files labeled Elwood History, I came across the above two articles. Because I enjoy history and family roots I found the article on Mrs. Jenkins very interesting. The more I read the more fascinated I became about this family from Wales and their journey to Elwood. I have absolutely no concept of what it must have been like coming to America on a ship in February of 1885 with seven small children in tow.
I keep visualizing the Titanic sinking in 1912 and wonder what typed of vessel traveled the oceans 27 years earlier. And I wonder if you were as amazed as I was when reading about the naming of Jenkins Avenue. It was only a month or so ago that we were sending Den messages about the re-naming of the streets in Elwood and Jenkins Avenue and its location!
Within that same folder was the article on the wooden plane! In the September 2003 issue of The Megaphone, I submitted an article of several newspaper accounts of the plywood plane and that Elwood was not awarded the contract from the government for the manufacture of the planes. While going through the reels of microfilm, I missed that article. What a surprise to find that information and specifics on the plane. To refresh your memory you can go to our website, www.panther-den.org/Meg256.htm to review the articles and see the photos that Marvin added.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about Mrs. Jenkins and the plywood plane. In 2007, I hope to bring you more snippets of life in your Hometown!
Wishing you a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
Nancy Sumner
Elwood