Fidelis “Fidel” Jones
Grown on religion, family, and humor
The following was written as a school project on our family tree.
By Molly Roper (Great Granddaughter of Fidel)
At the young age of fourteen, Fidelis had lost her mother to natural causes. With eleven other siblings, although most grown and able to take care of themselves, she had become responsible for motherly acts. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, with the help of some of her siblings were her jobs while her father worked as a school janitor. With it being post Great Depression, and battling the loss of a parent, it resulted in helping her father and brothers run their backroom speakeasy during prohibition.
Loud laughing, the smell of alcohol, and a mixture of thick Northeastern Pennsylvanian and Irish accents filled a small back room of a variety store every weeknight in Larksville, Pennsylvania. During the time of prohibition, Fidelis had the job of running the bathtub brewed whiskey down the street to these backroom meetups between the Wright family and their friends at the age of nine. Between homework and chores, she multitasked as a brewer as well.
These get-togethers did not just contain illegal drinking parties, however, on the weekends many brought food, making a party out of nothing, laughing, and performing skits. Kids of all ages within the family would come and let Fidel entertain them. Fidel was known as the comedic one of her eleven other siblings and the rest of her many extended cousins. This followed throughout her life. After prohibition ended, they kept the speakeasy space and kept it to continue these parties and traditions. From spending her weekdays helping with the housekeeping to spending weekends running bathtub brewed whiskey down the street to a family ran speakeasy, Fidel always found a way to create a smile out of it all. Comedy and getting a laugh from anybody was her main goal and talent. Her passion for entertaining others and making them feel good came to her in caring for her family, children, and grandchildren. My great grandmother, Fidelis Jones (1922-2008) was a child of the Great Depression and an Irish immigrant family. Her Irish-Catholic family’s bootlegging operation, a wonderful sense of humor, and raising her family not only allowed her to survive but to love three things: religion, family and a good laugh.
In 1929, America faced an impact in which changed the economy forever. The impact had raised rates of unemployment as well as the prices of everyday necessities. The Great Depression lasted eleven years and affected Americans at extreme amounts. The amounts had shocked the entire demographic in duration, the extremity of inflation, and rates of unemployment.
The Americans that felt the impact had supposedly been approached with a Laissez-faire mindset towards their tactics for the Depression. The president at the time, Herbert Hoover had thus decided with his cabinet to run with the values coming with inflation. A massive characteristic of the Depression was the increase in supply and demand for money and goods. Many found their money to become growing in worth, waiting for prices to drop for goods of desperate sellers to advance. Banks had also been approached by people with debts to exchange goods and objects for currency to repay the debts. Lastly, many businessmen no longer wanted to invest in any new ventures onwards in fear of another Depression to repeat as it had in years before.
The Depression was not the only struggle for this era however, as prohibition was in effect. Prohibition had taken place in the early 1930s, banning alcohol sale or participation in, in America. This was not the first attempt to an alcohol-free America though as the plan had also fallen out in the mid-1800s. This failure to launch was called the first wave. These waves to weave out liquor in America were all roused by an economic crisis each time. Many saw the in and out rulings as a way to boost the sales in alcohol as well as an easy way for those struggling to find “relief.”
Fidelis Jones was product of both the Great Depression and the bootlegging culture that preceded it. On April 24th, 1922 in Larksville, Pennsylvania inside of a converted schoolhouse, Fidelis Jones was born. Being the tenth child born out of eleven, she was surrounded by family and love from the second she was born. Her mother Anna was a loving woman, born in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, who had passed away when Fidel was in her most formative years growing up, leaving Fidel to learn lessons from her older siblings and other family members. Her father James was an Irish immigrant from Tipperary, Ireland who arrived in America when he was just nine years old. He had worked in the mines before becoming a janitor at what is now the State Street School building while cutting young men’s hair on the side. Not only did she grow up with loving parents, but ten other siblings. Six brothers and four sisters. John (Jack), Anna (Nance), Timothy, Mary, Margaret (Peg), James, Richard, William, Michael, and Regina (Rea).
Although the Wright family had grown up in hard times including the Great Depression, you never heard any of them complain about it. A saying that the family says frequently when looking back at this part of their history is that they were rich in family and love, not money. They most definitely never had or needed money to live comfortably during the time as the depression hit so many families very harshly. They did not have a reason to complain either when they had a backyard, a basement, and some food to throw a party. It was between the backyard/basement parties or the speakeasy candy store to hold the weekly get-togethers. Financially it may have skewed their lives, but never in happiness or love.
In Larksville, 73 Wilson Street was the meeting grounds for parties, drinking and laughing. As mentioned before, the family had their own speakeasy in the back of a variety shop only a block away from their home. They would bring hot meals, self-brewed alcohol, and their company to have a good night. Even after the prohibition had ended, they kept the space for parties and performing. One specific story that had been classically recounted was the day Fidel decided to move on to Hollywood to be a star. She had just finished one of her skits with a random neighbor, earning so much praise. The next day she checked the money tin kept under her bed (which she had until she passed as well) and had hopped a train “there”. She made it to Edwardsville, two minutes away from her house before changing her mind. In the proper taste, adding to her comedic sense of existence.
Fidel with 2 neighbors post skit performance.
As mentioned before, Fidel had helped run the household after the passing of her mother, training her to become the caretaker she was up until her death. She had gotten married to Robert Jones, a Welsh immigrant who had lived in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania just days after her eighteenth birthday. Together they had four children, Robert “Butch”, Janice “Janny”, Nancy, and Margaret “Peggy” Jones.
Fidelis and Robert, 1960; Fidel with Butch, Jan, and a spare cousin.
“They [Robert and Fidel] had raised us on values similar to theirs growing up. You got up every Sunday, went to church, ate a massive meal with every cousin in a five-mile radius, which was not hard considering we all lived on the same four blocks, and then all sit and tell stories. We were raised to love our religion and we did thanks to mom, love our massive family for everything it is, and laugh about even the hardest things.” Nancy her daughter, had shared that on the topic of her growing up as Fidel’s daughter. The Depression and bootlegging that Fidel grew up in was only a start to her colorful life and loving personality. They never had much but it never stopped them from living their best lives and to the fullest.
“Fidel was my buddy. She was about fifteen months older than me and we were like brother and sister. She was the tomboy in the family and could play ball as good or better than any boy – except Jimmy. She was the only one I can think of that had a bike and she rode it all over Larksville. When I was in the navy, Fidel used to write to me every month or so. The letters were hilarious. She told me all about the animals in the neighborhood, cut faces off some pictures and pasted them on others. I would get about three or four of them at one time because we were at sea and didn’t get them until we came to port. All of my buddies used to read them and got a charge out of them. I think she would have made a good author.”
– Jack Hughes
Fidel had always seen religion as her hobby and main interest besides creating a laugh and caring for her children. She always found it important to spend her mornings praying in front of a Virgin Mary statue that she’s had since before her grandchildren can even remember, with blue plastic rosary beads that were her most prized possession. When Fidel was born, the church wouldn’t baptize her with the name Fidelis because it wasn’t a Saint’s name, so she even had to snag her sister’s name Mary and had gone by that name in the household as well to honor her faith. She had even made her husband change churches in order to be wed together. Her prayers of health, wealth, and love were answered.
Religion was not the only important thing in her life as she had her family at all times. Although she was the last of her siblings to remain alive, she did have her children, eleven grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren to take care of up until her death. She made sure everyone was secured with money, happiness, and love. She was always known to make full Thanksgiving meals weekly and make plates for anyone she can get the food delivered to. If you lived next door, she left it on your back porch right before going to bed at 5 pm daily after she barricaded her back door with two locks and 5 12-pack cases of soda. She was a tad bit paranoid. She cherished every bit of her family alive, deceased, old, and new. She loved all unconditionally.
There was always something to laugh about with Fidel. “Even when she was serious with us, she could make us all laugh. There was always humor when mom was around.” Through hard work and determination to work hard before her paranoia truly set in in her forties, Fidel’s silly stories made everyone happy every day she was alive and even after. Amongst the story about running bathtub whiskey or the time she tried to become famous, her favorite to tell was the one of Walt Disney. She claims she was so fantastic at drawing because somewhere in the bloodline, the family was related to Walt Disney. Surely that is not true, but she genuinely sent her grandchildren out into the world thinking they were part, Disney.
Despite the downfall from the loss of her mother, Fidelis had found her life within it. Her taking on the responsibility of her mother’s habits and religion being such a deep part of her life had shaped a way of how she and her family lived. Her family oriented personality started from a young age due to the situation but had only taught her how to further be a great parent and grandparent. Problems were never problems for her however, she could always hatch a smile in the worst situations to lighten the tone in a room or to simply just earn a few laughs.
Family Tree
Robert “Butch”
Janice “Janny”
Ben
Tracey
Beth
Casey
Molly
Mike
Julie
Michael
Alex
Nancy
Paul
Tim
Margaret “Peggy” Jones.
Bill
Bob
Jamie