T.W. Jones & Sons store

Chicago Lumber Company*

The Chicago Lumber Company began doing business in Pauline in 1903. The establishment included a house and general store. It was purchased by local resident Thomas William (T.W.) Jones in 1925. Along with the lumberyard and general store, theChicago Lumber Co. of Pauline in 1910 encompassed the three main buildings of this photo. The buildings advertise lime, cement, plaster, coal, paint and oil. To the extreme left in the background is Pauline's west grain elevator. Photo is courtesy of Margaret Jones Fishel. business featured a lime house (used for mixing cement), ice house, creamery and egg candling. T.W. Jones also repaired shoes. The establishment, recalled one granddaughter, was almost like a little city within the town. Another granddaughter, Margaret Jones Fishel, recalled that as a child she loved to run around the outer tier of the lumber building's second story, part of which had no railing. Bins of nails in the hardware section of the store made an ideal hideout in games of Hide-and-Seek. She later clerked at the store during her college years.

Ice for the ice house was cut from a natural-spring lake west of Pauline using a buzz saw powered by a Model T engine motor. It was then packed with straw and put into a cement pit located on the lumberyard grounds. Local people bought the ice to put in ice boxes or to make ice cream in those pre-refrigeration days. Fishel also recalled that holes were drilled into large logs, then packed with explosive powder. A fuse was lit, breaking up the logs so that wood could be cut to burn. Coal was stored behind the lumber yard, near the railroad tracks, likely for ease of unloading from the train, she added.

Local men and boys had a "high ol' time" playing horseshoes on store premises. During the 1940s the east side of the store building was empty, so a hoop was put in for local youth to play basketball.

Granddaughter Doris Jones Spain remembered making milk deliveries for the store with her father during the 1920s. Erle Jones drove a wagon around Pauline, and at each stop young Doris hopped out, ran up to the house and delivered the milk. In wintertime, she said, "We looked like the Pied Piper," as the horse-drawn conveyance was put on runners, and the youth of Pauline hooked their sleds onto the back, riding along as the Joneses made their rounds. Grandfather T.W. Jones was a favorite among local youth, as he always kept a pocket full of peppermint candy to dispense to local children, a habit that boosted his granddaughter's popularity.

Nicknamed "Seven-Boy Tommy," T.W. Jones at one time owned land enough to give each of his seven sons a farm, Fishel said. However, during the Great Depression he chose to extend credit to those in need rather than see friends and neighbors go hungry or destitute. As a result, he lost all of his land, Fishel said. Most peopleThis photo shows the Jones Store after the meat lockers were added in the wing to the right. Photo is from the Bennie Leighfield collection, courtesy of Doris Evans Alexander. eventually repaid their debts; ironically, one who did not eventually became president of a bank, Fishel said.

T.W. Jones discontinued the lumberyard in 1945, as increased mobility took people to larger communities to do business. His son Aaron and wife Hazel took over the store in the mid-1940s, adding a meat locker and selling a large variety of groceries, hardware and dry goods. Aaron Jones cut and wrapped freshly butchered meat. The store featured both Blue Hill and Hastings telephone lines. Customer service sometimes took odd turns as a frugal area farm wife with a Blue Hill phone line occasionally sought to contact individuals on the Hastings exchange by way of the store's two telephone lines. The farm wife would call the store and hold the line while Hazel Jones dialed the Hastings party and went from line to line relaying messages between the farm wife and her Hastings contact.

The store remained open until Aaron Jones' death in 1960. During the 1970s the Haba family of Little Blue Township purchased the building and razed the meat locker. Pauline residents Donald and Lois Mohlman later bought the building, and Mrs. Mohlman operated a seasonal craft, antiques and second-hand shop until her husband's death in 2006. The Mohlmans restored the exterior of the store building to its original appearance.

*J. Rolland Post and the late Bernard Post contributed to this story. A portion of this information was taken from "Pauline and Community 1887-1987, 'A Trail in Time' ".

The Cost of Doing Business

Records from various organizations give an interesting picture of the cost of living in yesteryear. For example, in July of 1913 Little Blue Township paid Chicago Lumber $32.85 for lumber and culverts. In May of 1921, the township bought 300 pounds of coal for $2.10. During the 1924-25 school year the Pauline School board paid $42.35 to Chicago Lumber Co. for "lumber for benches, etc. for the manual training dept."

Jones Store / Chicago Lumber in The News

A Few More Photos . . .

Glenn Jones, one of the seven sons of T.W. Jones, is pictured near the T.W. Jones & Sons lumberyard of Pauline in about 1932. Photo is courtesy of Margaret Jones Fishel.T.W. Jones, his wife and seven sons are pictured in front of the lumber yard building during the 1920s. Doris Jones Spain, eldest granddaughter, is at center front of the photo. Courtesy of Margaret Jones Fishel.

Another early snapshot of the Chicago Lumber Co. of Pauline. From the collection of Bennie Leighfield, courtesy of Doris Evans Alexander.

Jones Store of Pauline. Local youth played basketball in the long extension to the right of the builiding in the 1940s. Courtesy of Margaret Jones Fishel.

Pictured is another early view of the Chicago Lumber Co. of Pauline. Photo is courtesy of Margaret Jones Fishel.