For Holly

The story of my parents (your great grandparents), spans the length of the 20th century almost exactly. I was born very late in my parents child bearing years ... my parents were both 41 years old when I was born in 1948. My father lived from 1907 to 2001, spanning most of the 20th century. He was born shortly after the wright brothers first flight and lived to see men on the moon and the Space Shuttle. My mother died young in 1956 at the age of 50.

 My Mother (your great grandmother), Juanita Fay Austian (pronounced like Austin, Texas,) was born in Harrah Oklahoma Oct 16, 1906. 

In this photo, Juanita is the little girl standing in front of her father. The three children in the back are her sisters (left to right), Ida, Winnie and Pearl. The baby girl on my Grandmother's lap is my aunt/my Mom's little sister, Violet. Violet was born in February, 1910 so I'm guessing this photo was taken late in that year. So, my mother was about 4 years old in the photo. Later two more children, both boys, were born, Alfed Clay Austian born in 1912 and Leo Manning Austian born in 1915.

My maternal grandparents, Alfred Manning Austian and Armina Emma Hunt on their wedding day, 2 January 1898 in Council Grove, Oklahoma.

Another photo of Juanita at about the date time as the above photo

Juanita at about 13 or 14 years old, photo taken near Sparks Oklahoma. Apparently she had been picking Pecans.

Jaunita at 19 years old, fall of 1925. I believe this was taken while she was attending Central State Normal School

My mother (Juanita) 3rd from the right, and some classmates. One of the classmates is her sister (my sweet aunt) Winnie. Winnie is the first one on the right.  Winnie is another person who lived almost all of the 20th century. Born 1904, died 2000. BTW I was born on her 44th birthday...hence, my favorite Aunt (I got a card or present every year).

My grandfather was Alfred Manning Austian, born January 4th 1869 in Urbana, Illinois. My Grandmother was Armina Emma Hunt, born January 27, 1875 in Brown, Indiana. 

My grandparents met in 1889 during the Oklahoma land rush. Alfred (Fred) was a scout whose job was to serve as a guide to families who were participating in the Oklahoma land rush. He helped families find land to homestead. One of the families he helped was the Hunt family from Indiana. In the process of helping the Hunt family he met and fell in love with the Hunt's daughter, Armina (Mina) and they were later married.

My mother, Juanita, was actually born in Oklahoma Territory. Oklahoma didn't become a state until late in the year 1907. She was born in or near the small, central Oklahoma,  town of Harrah, about 25 miles east of Oklahoma city and was raised on the family farm near Sparks, Oklahoma. Sparks is a very small town about 50 miles East of Oklahoma City. Fred was a farmer and Mina was a housewife, mostly. She also worked as a reporter for a local newspaper. Before the advent of the internet, newspapers used to have a "social page". My grandmother reported, in the social page, on such things as births, marriages, family reunions etc. She worked for the newspaper from 1926 until 1941. This was the original "social media, long before the internet.

 

Juanita attended school in the town of Sparks from first grade through high school. The  school building still stands in Sparks and is now a community center and museum. I visited the school/museum and took this photo in 2018.

                                     Sparks, Oklahoma school

Sparks, Oklahoma Baptist Church

Juanita also attended the Baptist church in Sparks and, in fact, played piano in the church during her teen years. I took this photo the same day in 2018 that I took the photo of the school. I had no idea my Mother played piano as a teen. My older brother told me that fact when we visited Sparks, the day this photo was taken.

The following is from anecdotal evidence (that means I don't have documented evidence, just family stories passed down to me).  In the fall of 1925, Juanita, along with her sister, Winnie, enrolled at Central State Normal school in Edmond, Oklahoma. Central State Normal School is now Central Oklahoma University. While they were going to school, Juanita and Winnie stayed with their maternal Grandparents who still lived on their homestead in Council Grove, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City. Juanita only attended for one semester. During the 1925 Christmas break she met my father. They were married February 26, 1926.

Juanita (far left of the photo) and some of her classmates

Juanita with her parents and all her brothers and sisters. Juanita is 2nd from the right. This photo was taken at a  4th of July celebration 1940 in Sparks, Oklahoma. Sadly, Juanita's youngest brother, Leo, on Juanita's right, died in an accident a few days later.

My father, John Ledford Neighbors was born March 20, 1907. As in the case of my Mother, Oklahoma was still a territory at this time. He was born near Prague, Oklahoma, about 60 miles east of Oklahoma City. Back in early 20th century Oklahoma, most children were born at home. This is the case of my Mother and my Father and all of their siblings. In fact, all of MY siblings were born at home in rural Oklahoma. I, the youngest, was the only one born in a hospital and the only one born outside of Oklahoma. I was born in Selma, California. Doctors had to make "house calls" to deliver babies. The parents would have to call the doctor or, more likely, someone would have to go get the doctor since most people didn't have a phone. My parents didn't get a phone until after I graduated from high school and joined the Navy in 1966.

My paternal grandparents, James Levin Neighbors and Iva Mae Faughn on their wedding day, April 30, 1906, Chandler, Oklahoma

My father, John Ledford Neighbors as an infant, 1907

My father, far right side of photo, and 4 of his 10 siblings. Right to left, John, Millard, George, Floyd and the baby is Raymond. Later there were 6 more children. 3 daughters and 8 sons all together (that's 11 if you are keeping score). The photo was taken about 1911 (baby Raymond was born in 1910)

The 1920 U.S. Federal census indicates that John was 13 years old when the census was taken and that he was attending school. I think this may have been his last year of school. He told me that he went to school through the 8th grade and then quit to work on the farm. This wasn't all that unusual in rural america in the early 20th century. Census data is recorded "as of" April 15 of the census year (1920 in this case). John's birthday was March 20 so he was just barely 13 when the census was recorded.

I mentioned above that John and Juanita met around Christmas of 1925. This may not be accurate. She was, according to my Brother, Keith,  home from school when they met, or at least when their relationship began. It's not clear to me if they actually knew each other before December 1925. They grew up less than 20 miles apart so they may have crossed paths earlier. I believe that John attended school at a country school near Prague, Oklahoma and Juanita attended the school in Sparks, but they could have met somewhere besides school. Lacking a time machine, we'll never know.

My brother, David Ledford Neighbors was born Oct 26, 1926 in Seminole, Oklahoma. My Dad was working for some kind of retail business there and the family, at least temporarily, was living in a tent.  I know very little about their home life at this time.

My second brother, Keith Austian Neighbors, was born December 3, 1929 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. So, some time between Oct 1926 and December 1929 they moved to Oklahoma City. The 1930 census shows them living in Oklahoma city.This census lists his Occupation as "Body Builder". This surprised me greatly when I first read it. The next column in the census was Industry: and indicates his industry as "automotive". It seems he was working at the Ford Motor assembly plant in Oklahoma city assembling car bodies. I'm glad they cleared that up for me... It was hard to imagine my Dad being a weight lifter.

John had a favorite story about buying his first car. Apparently in the 1930's Ford Motor company encouraged it's employees to buy a car. So, John did just that. The fact that he didn't know how to DRIVE a car apparently didn't bother him. After getting some instruction from a friendly Ford mechanic friend, he taught himself to drive on the way home. I'm assured by one of my older Brother that this is, indeed, a true story.

I think this may be THE car from the story (that's my Mom and Dad in the late 1930's I think.)

By the time that my brother, Jim (James Manning Neighbors) was born March 10, 1932, they were living on a farm near Sparks, Oklahoma. My older brother drove me by the farm site a few years ago. It's on a dirt road (lots of dirt roads in rural Oklahoma) and there is no longer a house there. For most of the rest of the time they lived in Oklahoma they lived on a farm. They moved to California less than a year before I was born in 1948.

The next child born was my Sister, Naomi Jean Neighbors (Jean) December 28, 1934. Below is a photo of the family in the late 1930's with John, Juanita, Keith, Jim and Jean. David isn't in the photo, my guess is that he was the photographer. There aren't a lot of photos from the 1920's and 1930's. Not many people could afford a camera back then. Keith is on my Mother's right, Jean is in front of Mom ... Jim is in front of my Dad.

My brother, John Millard Neighbors was born June 7, 1941 (Exactly six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor). John was born near Payson, Oklahoma.

My sister, Carol Fay Neighbors was born Jan 23, 1944 near Payson. She was the last of the children born before the family moved to Colorado then on to California.

My brother and sister John and Carol Neighbors about 1945, Payson, Oklahoma. Holly you have met my sister Carol, but not John I think. John is the one driving with me to Oregon this week.

My father didn't serve in the military during world war II. He was in his mid  30's and had 5 kids when the war started so they didn't draft him. Several of his brothers did serve, including my Uncle James Raymond Neighbors (the baby in the lineup of my Dad's brothers photo above). Uncle Raymond was in the Navy and his aircraft carrier was hit by a Kamikaze plane. He was credited with saving several lives and received the Navy cross from Admiral Halsey (look up Admiral Halsey, he was pretty famous).

This photo is a photo of my Uncle Ray being awarded his medal by Admiral Bull Halsey. in 1945.

After all the veterans came back from World War two, my Dad had trouble finding work in Oklahoma, so the family decided to move to Meeker, Colorado in 1946. Two of my uncles (my Dad's younger brothers) were living in Colorado. The family lived in Meeker for one winter and that was enough. Meeker is very high in the Rocky Mountains and gets lots of snow and cold. So,in 1947, my Mom and Dad decided to move on to central California. My oldest brother, now 20 years old, had moved to California ahead of the family and found work there so it made sense to follow him. 

So the whole family was in California near the end of the summer of 1947. They found a place to live near the tiny community of Wildflower, California (remember that name, it's important to the later story). At this point the family consisted of my Dad, 41 years old, my Mom, 42, Brother David, 21, Keith, 17, Jim, 15, Jean, 13, John, 6 and Carol, 3 years old. Also, Mom was pregnant with another child who would be born in the spring of 1948. I'll let you guess who the baby was.

That fall of 1947 the whole family worked picking grapes and then cotton and any other work they could find to survive. Dad eventually found work driving a tractor on one of the many farms in California's central valley. It wasn't exactly "The Grapes of Wrath", A John Steinbeck Novel about the migration of the Okies to California. That migration took place in the 1930's. The book is worth reading though if you can find it. 

This is a photo of three of my brother about 1947 or early 1948 in California. Standing is Jim (left) and David (right). Sitting in the wagon is John.

In February 1948 my 2nd brother, Keith, quit school in the middle of his senior year to join the Navy. It seemed like a bad idea at the time but he eventually retired from the Navy after 29 years of service and went back to school. Eventually he earned a Bachelors degree for the University of California at Berkeley.

I was born April 22, 1948 in the Selma California hospital. I was the only sibling born in California and the only one born in a hospital. I was about 6 months old in this photo. 

In August, 1948 my oldest brother David, who was 21 years old at the time, got married and eventually bought a house in the community of Wildflower, CA. They had a child in June of 1949. So, I had a Niece who was only 14 months younger than me.  Actually that should not be past tense, my Niece, Linda  is alive and well and lives near me in Denver, Colrado.

In 1949 the family bought a small farm near the community of Conejo, California. It was only a 3 acre property but we had enough room that we were able to grow a small crop of Cotton. My Dad still kept his farm labor job and my Mother worked cleaning houses.

In  June, 1950, my brother, Jim graduated from high school and, like our older brother, Keith, joined the Navy, The photo above is of Keith (left) and Jim home on leave from the Navy at the same time. Keith was stationed aboard the battleship USS Wisconsin and Jim was aboard USS Jason. I think the photo was taken in Conejo, CA in 1951.

Early in 1952 the family moved to a larger farm onn Chestnut Avenue near the town of Monmouth, CA. On this farm we had about 80 acres planted in cotton.

This is a photo of the Chestnut Ave farm house.

My sister, Jean, graduated from High school and got married in the summer of 1952. Her husband was a Marine and they moved to Oceanside, CA.

This is my Sister, Jean and her Husband, Walt Westfall, on their wedding Day.

In the summer of 1954 we moved again. I know it seems like we moved a lot. My Father worked as a farmer for hire and the various jobs he worked usually came with a house. He was a "share cropper. That means he farmed land for the owner and at the harvest the owner and the sharecropper split the profits for the sale of the crop. All of the houses we lived in were in south central Fresno, County California. Fresno county in located just south of the center of California in the San Joaquin Valley. This is was and is one of the top agriculture areas in the U.S. We grew things like Cotton, Grapes, Alfalfa ( Hay for feeding cattle), This particular move in 1954 was to a Dairy farm. We had about a dozen milk cows and 40 acres of pasture and also about 20 acres of Vinyard where we grew raisin grapes for the Sun maid co-op. A farm Co-op is just what it sounds like. A group of Farmers gets together to grow, harvest and Market their produce. No doubt you are familiar with the Sun Maid brand of Raisins. If not.... look on the shelf in the baking aisle at HEB.

In the fall of 1954 I was in the first grade at Caruthers Elementary school. My sister, Carol, what in 5th grade and brother John was in the 8th grade at the same school. While we lived on this farm, my brother, Jim got out of the Navy and got married. So, our home family was now 5 people, my Dad, John, My mother, Juanita, my brother John 13 years old, my sister, Carol 11 years and me, 6 years old. Oh and also a dog named Poochie.. We had a small family reunion in the summer of 1955 and all my brothers and sisters and me including the married siblings are in the photo below. My mother took two photos because we didn't all smile in the first one. I have included both photos because I couldn't decide which one I liked best U an the little barefoot boy in front (note my missing teeth).

In 1955 or early 1956 we moved to a small house on the corner of Caruthers Avenue and Elm avenue near the town of Caruthers California. 

In November, 1956 my Mother, Juanita Fay Austian Neighbors died suddenly after a brief illness. I still miss her like it happened yesterday.

When my mother died my father wasn't able take care of us all at first so my sister, Carol and I lived with my older sister, Jean and her husband in Fresno, CA. Carol was in high school and I was in the 4th grade. I went to Aynesworth elementary school and Carol went to Roosevelt High school. Dad and brother John lived in Easton California in a small apartment and John attended Washington Union HIgh school.

In 1957 The family was reunited. We lived on Chestnut avenue near the town of Caruthers. I went to Monrie Elementary school and Carol and John went to Caruthers high school. Dad was still a farm worker.

In 1959 my brother, John, graduated from high school and got married. Left in the neighbors household was my Dad, John, my sister, Carol and me.

in 1960 and part of 1961 we still lived in the same small house. later in 1961 Carol dropped out of high school and got married. Our family was now down to just my Dad and me.

In 1961 Dad and I moved to the small town of San Joaquin, CA where I was in the 7th grade at San Joaquin Elementary. Dad worked at a cattle feed lot where the cattle were fattened up and prepared for slaughter.  This feedlot concept sounds kind of cold and heartless but this is where your steaks and hamburger come from. My Dad worked at the feedlot for the next several years. Early in 1962 we moved to the town of Kerman Caolifornia where I graduated from 8th grade at Kerman Junior High school in June of 1962 and started my freshman year of High school at Kerman High School in the fall of 1962.

this photo is 15 year old Dean Neighbors in early 1964.

In 1964, my Father re-married and moved back to the town of Caruthers. I lived with my sister Carol in my sophomore and through half of my Junior year of higth school at Kerman High School. In January 1965 I moved in with my Dad and my stepmother, Maebelle, and I enrolled at Caruthers High school. I was happy about the move because I had a lot of friends in the area having gone to several of the elementary schools that fed into Caruthers High School.

John and Dean Neighbors, 1965

I

I graduated from Caruthers High School on June 7, 1966 and joined the U.S. Navy that August. At this point all of my older siblings were married and all had children.