MARTIN ANDREW JONES (1902 - 1983)

A special thanks to Carroll J. Jones, Sr. for providing this information. If you have any comments or have an interest in this family, please contact him.

Martin Andrew Jones, Sr. was born September 25, 1902 in Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska and died September 17, 1983. He was the son of Charles Clinton and Carrie Belle (Novell) Jones. Charles and Carrie owned and operated the Jones Bakery and Confectionary at 2607 Twelth Street in Columbus.

Martin grew up in his parents' bakery. The family lived in two rooms adjacent to the bakery. The story goes that when he was quite young he and his older brother, Herbert, were somersaulting on the bed. Martin landed with his bare fanny on the hot pot-bellied heating stove. In his late teens he learned the baking trade from his father becoming a highly qualified baker and confectioner.

He excelled in basketball and football. He was captain of the high school football team. While playing football in high school (before the use of helmets) he hit another player head-on, was knocked unconscious and was "out of his head" for about six weeks requiring to be led about by someone. He graduated from Columbus High located at 16th Street and 23rd Avenue in 1923. It was the last class to graduate from the school at that location.

After graduation from high school he attended Midland College in Fremont, Nebraska for one year. His father's death in 1925 caused him to withdraw from school. He helped his brother, Herbert, in the bake shop for a while then became a brakeman on the Union Pacific Railroad.

In the Winter of 1928-29, while being temporarily "laid off' from the railroad, Martin obtained railroad passes for his mother, younger brother and himself for a trip to California. The three devoted about three months visiting the California relatives. Upon his return from California Martin was called back to work on the railroad.

Upon the death of Charles C. Jones, Martin's father, Carrie, his mother, bought what was once forty acres on the Platte River at the confluence of the Loup and Platte Rivers from the Thompson brothers. The property was located north of Bellwood. Nebraska on what was called Hopkins Island. Prior to the purchase someone had burned down the house in which the Thompson brothers lived in an apparent effort to get them off the property. Carrie had put all four brothers on the deed so they could all share equally in the enjoyment of an out-of-town cabin and place to fish and hunt. The boys built a concrete cabin on the fence line of the property complete with a dirt floor and a hand pump in the corner. The family referred to the place as "the shack." Actually, about half the land had been eroded away by the river. However, at the time, there was probably twenty acres left. Jones family members singularly and in groups used to go there for weekends and vacations.

Martin married Barbara Berzenski April 24, 1932 in Genoa, Nance County, Nebraska. Barbara was born July 25, 1906 on a farm near Silver Creek, Merrick County, Nebraska. She was the daughter of Walter and Tillie (Gunchick) Berzenski.

Having been "laid off" the railroad during the Great Depression, he and Barbara moved into the Jones family shack on the Loup River. He and Barbara raised and sold vegetables, chickens and turkeys while Martin did odd jobs to make ends meet. Their first child, a son, was born at the shack with Martin, Sr. attending the delivery.

At that time, his brother, Delbert, was attending Midland College in Fremont, Nebraska. He talked Martin into applying for a football scholarship, which Martin did. Being awarded the scholarship, Martin moved his family to Fremont and enrolled in college. During his first skirmish he broke his collarbone thus ending his second college venture. Meanwhile, he was called back to work on the railroad.

The family moved from Fremont to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Later they lived in Grand Island, Nebraska and eventually took over the Berzenski family farm near Silver Creek, Nebraska. Still later Martin built a house on ten acres he owned in Columbus where they lived for a number of years buying, selling and developing real estate. He then purchased the Duncan Lakes south of Duncan, Nebraska, built a new home and developed the area into a resort community.

Martin was a member of the National Guard, Columbus Company 130, 110th Medical Regiment, St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Holy Name Society, Knights of Columbus, The order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Columbus Volunteer Fire Department.

Barbara died November 11, 1983 and is buried along side Martin in St Bonaventure Cemetery in Columbus Nebraska.

Martin and Barbara were blessed with five children: four sons and one daughter.

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Submitted by: Carroll J. Jones, Sr.
4895 Galicia Way
Oceanside, CA 92056-5126
760-758-0991
carrolljones@cox.net
April 2003