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Jo Bowles
About me:
I am a 74 year old California Native living in Roanoke Virginia. I moved here in 2017 to be near my son and his family. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE living in Virginia. I was born in Lancaster California. My first memories are of the 1952 Tehachapi CA earthquake. My bed was on casters and I woke up with my bed going from one side of the room to the other. Each time my bed passed the doorway, I saw my mom trying to shut her cupboard doors so her dishes would not break. When I (Jo Yvonne Crummett) was born on January 4, 1950, in Lancaster, California, my father, Joseph, was 29, and my mother, Lola, was 34. My first memory of where I lived was on the P.H. Greer Ranch 16 miles out of town near Lancaster, CA in the Mojave Desert. My father Joe was a foreman on the Greer Ranch. My mom Lola cooked for the field hands. The ranch raised alfalfa and black Hereford Cattle. My mom raised and tended rabbits and chickens which se she bartered for other types of meat. There were milk cows and horses on the ranch. My dad sometimes had to milk the cows and would take me with him. He absolutely enjoyed squirting hot milk into my mouth from the cow's teat. To this day it is a great effort to drink milk, it just has to be freezing cold with some kind of flavoring. I also remember mom and I staying with my mom's former sister in law Juanita Conley, in Bakersfield, CA. My mom and dad were separated. After they reconnected, we lived in Pumpkin Center for a spell, then moved to Bell Gardens CA. I don't recall how long we were there, but before September 1955 we bought a house in Paramount CA. We were there until 1960. I started kindergarten at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary school on Golden Avenue in Paramount and graduated from there in 1963.
About my family:
I am the last and youngest child of my father and mother. My father was the last and youngest child of his parents. My mom is the youngest daughter of her parents. Divorce came early to our families, the first recorded so far on my father's side was in 1840! My grandparents on my mom's side divorced in the 1930's. Both are exceptional for their time.
Updated: August 25, 2024
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Jo Bowles
I am a 74 year old California Native living in Roanoke Virginia. I moved here in 2017 to be near my son and his family. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE living in Virginia. I was born in Lancaster California. My first memories are of the 1952 Tehachapi CA earthquake. My bed was on casters and I woke up with my bed going from one side of the room to the other. Each time my bed passed the doorway, I saw my mom trying to shut her cupboard doors so her dishes would not break. When I (Jo Yvonne Crummett) was born on January 4, 1950, in Lancaster, California, my father, Joseph, was 29, and my mother, Lola, was 34. My first memory of where I lived was on the P.H. Greer Ranch 16 miles out of town near Lancaster, CA in the Mojave Desert. My father Joe was a foreman on the Greer Ranch. My mom Lola cooked for the field hands. The ranch raised alfalfa and black Hereford Cattle. My mom raised and tended rabbits and chickens which se she bartered for other types of meat. There were milk cows and horses on the ranch. My dad sometimes had to milk the cows and would take me with him. He absolutely enjoyed squirting hot milk into my mouth from the cow's teat. To this day it is a great effort to drink milk, it just has to be freezing cold with some kind of flavoring. I also remember mom and I staying with my mom's former sister in law Juanita Conley, in Bakersfield, CA. My mom and dad were separated. After they reconnected, we lived in Pumpkin Center for a spell, then moved to Bell Gardens CA. I don't recall how long we were there, but before September 1955 we bought a house in Paramount CA. We were there until 1960. I started kindergarten at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary school on Golden Avenue in Paramount and graduated from there in 1963.
I am the last and youngest child of my father and mother. My father was the last and youngest child of his parents. My mom is the youngest daughter of her parents. Divorce came early to our families, the first recorded so far on my father's side was in 1840! My grandparents on my mom's side divorced in the 1930's. Both are exceptional for their time.
I am the last and youngest child of my father and mother. My father was the last and youngest child of his parents. My mom is the youngest daughter of her parents. Divorce came early to our families, the first recorded so far on my father's side was in 1840! My grandparents on my mom's side divorced in the 1930's. Both are exceptional for their time.
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My grandma Delter Candis Harbison was 70 years and 3 days old when I was born. I remember as being a beautiful woman inside and out. She had white, white extremely long hair which she twisted up on top of her head and secured with plastic hair pins. Each night she took her hair down, combed it, and put it in a braid for sleep. Then next morning she would take out the braid, begin at the bottom of her hair and comb out any tangles. Then she would part her hair (perfectly I might add) in the middle top and back, and begin to twist each side from top to bottom. Once twisted she would wind the hair on the top of her head, then repeat on the other side. Grandma lived with my mom and me when mom and dad split up. She cared for me while my mom worked. My job each morning was to heat water to boiling, add evaporated milk and sugar and take it to Grandma. She said it "got her going" each morning. One of the terms in those olden days was a "physic" now we would say it was a laxative. Grandma had an Airstream one bedroom trailer. The trailer stayed a long while at my Aunt Alice's in Brentwood CA. It was also in my uncle John's back yard for a time. During summers after my mom and dad's break up I used to travel to Aunt Alice's and stay with grandma during the day. My first duty was to empty her chamber pot - she did not use the restroom in the trailer. Grandma called the device her slop jar. It was kept under her bed and emptied each day in Aunt Alices house, rinsed clean and returned under her bed. Grandma was an avid quilter. She used pieces of cotton material to sew into quilt tops which my Aunt Alice would then quilt for her. Each day as she hand sewed the pieces together her mouth would move from side to side as she sewed along. I remember scrubbing grandma's kitchen sink. It was very yellowed and it took me several days to bleach and scrub it back to white. Grandma was kind to me, perhaps because I was an obedient kid. She always called me "Child". She had so many grandchildren, I don't think she could remember all of their names, although she knew full well who each child came from. Grandma would pat me softly and lovingly on the top of my head. I can still feel those pats. Grandma was very religious. I never heard her swear or curse. She was fond of her boys. At times when the family was gathered, the boys would escort Grandma to dinner. They would pause with her and whisper some type of joke which she would hold her hand to her mouth and silently chuckle to. I loved my grandma deeply and it tore me apart when she passed away.
Delter Harbison
Delter Harbison
Jo Bowles
I am a 74 year old California Native living in Roanoke Virginia. I moved here in 2017 to be near my son and his family. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE living in Virginia. I was born in Lancaster California. My first memories are of the 1952 Tehachapi CA earthquake. My bed was on casters and I woke up with my bed going from one side of the room to the other. Each time my bed passed the doorway, I saw my mom trying to shut her cupboard doors so her dishes would not break. When I (Jo Yvonne Crummett) was born on January 4, 1950, in Lancaster, California, my father, Joseph, was 29, and my mother, Lola, was 34. My first memory of where I lived was on the P.H. Greer Ranch 16 miles out of town near Lancaster, CA in the Mojave Desert. My father Joe was a foreman on the Greer Ranch. My mom Lola cooked for the field hands. The ranch raised alfalfa and black Hereford Cattle. My mom raised and tended rabbits and chickens which se she bartered for other types of meat. There were milk cows and horses on the ranch. My dad sometimes had to milk the cows and would take me with him. He absolutely enjoyed squirting hot milk into my mouth from the cow's teat. To this day it is a great effort to drink milk, it just has to be freezing cold with some kind of flavoring. I also remember mom and I staying with my mom's former sister in law Juanita Conley, in Bakersfield, CA. My mom and dad were separated. After they reconnected, we lived in Pumpkin Center for a spell, then moved to Bell Gardens CA. I don't recall how long we were there, but before September 1955 we bought a house in Paramount CA. We were there until 1960. I started kindergarten at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary school on Golden Avenue in Paramount and graduated from there in 1963.
I am the last and youngest child of my father and mother. My father was the last and youngest child of his parents. My mom is the youngest daughter of her parents. Divorce came early to our families, the first recorded so far on my father's side was in 1840! My grandparents on my mom's side divorced in the 1930's. Both are exceptional for their time.
I am the last and youngest child of my father and mother. My father was the last and youngest child of his parents. My mom is the youngest daughter of her parents. Divorce came early to our families, the first recorded so far on my father's side was in 1840! My grandparents on my mom's side divorced in the 1930's. Both are exceptional for their time.
Bill G Sanford was born on December 21, 1934 at At his Aunt Clara's on her front porch, in Locust Grove, Mayes County, Oklahoma United States, and died at age 56 years old on May 22, 1991 at Torrance Memorial Hospital in Torrance, Los Angeles County, CA. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Bill G Sanford.
Thomas Erving Crummett of Concord, California United States was born in 1905 to John Henry Crummett and Delter Candis Harbison. He had siblings Joseph Gideon Crummett, Rosa (Rosie) Martin, Allen Crummett, and Mabel Ann Howell. Thomas Crummett died at age 85 years old in 1990 in Clearlake.
Uncle Tom lived in Northern California. We lived in Southern California. The first time I remember seeing him, I was 6 years old. We went to their home in Concord California. They had a fireplace which I was mesmerized by. Uncle Tom had Grandma's blue - almost purple blue eyes and white hair just like Grandma. He had a kind smile and seemed to be happy. I believe he and his wife Nelly had 7 children. They had a daughter Betty Jo who was married and had 5 children. Betty Jo disappeared in 1950. No one ever knew what happened to her. Uncle Tom and Aunt Nelly never got over that. When Uncle Tom retired as a janitor after 35 years with the Concord School District, they moved into a mobile home in Clearlake California. They both passed away there. I liked Uncle Tom.
Thomas Crummett
Thomas Crummett
Mabel Ann (Crummett) Howell was born in 1904 to John Henry Crummett and Delter Candis Harbison, and had siblings Joseph Gideon Crummett, Rosa (Rosie) Martin, Allen Crummett, and Thomas Erving Crummett. Mabel Howell died at age 91 years old in 1995 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Mabel Ann Howell.
Aunt Mabel lived in Oklahoma. I was only able to visit with Aunt Mabel a couple of times. One time when she came to California, she had a broken arm. Uncle John drove Mabel, Grandma, Aunt Alice and Uncle Gene some 500 miles to Southern California in a very small Toyota so she could visit with her brothers and sisters. She had to ride with her arm raised and squished into the rear seat for hours. I also saw her when Grandma passed as she came out for the funeral. I was always aware of Aunt Mabel, but did not know much about her.
Mabel Howell
Mabel Howell
Allen Benjamin Crummett of Redding, California United States was born in 1903 to John Henry Crummett and Delter Candis Harbison. He had siblings Joseph Gideon Crummett, Rosa (Rosie) Martin, Mabel Ann Howell, and Thomas Erving Crummett. Allen Crummett died at age 84 years old in 1987.
Uncle Ben - famous for handing out $2 bills. No one knew where or how he got them. He live way up in Northern California, so my visits with him were few and far between. Uncle been also had blue eyes and white hair like his momma. It was said he was married, but she died and I never knew her. In my later years I was told that Uncle Ben no longer had a penis, but had a catheter bag attached to his leg. It was rumored that he lost his penis to Syphilis, but again I am not sure how accurate that is. Whenever I saw Uncle Ben's Olive Green Studebaker in front of our house I would run and hide. Uncle Ben was very "handy". One time he caught me and insisted I wait in the car with him for my parents to come home. He kissed me running his tongue in my mouth. I was six years old! I avoided being alone with him for the rest of my life. I don't have any information about his work or other activities. It was said that when he died members of the family went to his mobile home in Redding to clean it out. After they removed what they could save the burned it due to it being so filthy.
Allen Crummett
Allen Crummett
Rosa Caroline (Crummett) Martin was born in 1901 to John Henry Crummett and Delter Candis Harbison, and had siblings Joseph Gideon Crummett, Allen Crummett, Mabel Ann Howell, and Thomas Erving Crummett. Rosa Martin died at age 76 years old in 1977 in Bell Gardens, California United States.
Aunt Rosie was a character. She gave birth to 9 children. She was "married" 7 times, not always with the benefit from clergy. I did not know any of her "spouses". I knew her daughters Bonnie - Imajean (Immogene?) and Irma. At one time Aunt Rosie had a cafe in Hesperia California. She also had a restaurant in Bell Gardens CA. Aunt Rosie was also a quilter, although in later years she used a sewing machine to put the pieces together - unlike her mom. Grandma lived with Aunt Rosie when she passed away. In the early 2000's I became re acquainted with her daughter Bonnie while I lived in Utah. Aunt Rosie was a particularly busty woman. When I was little and we cousins were gathered with family we used to peek around corners to see when Aunt Rosie would go through her routine. She would swipe her brown, ruffle her top, then reach under her ample bosom, lifting them up and holding them to cool off. Then she would let them flop back into position. We cousins would giggle and run when she went through this performance, which was quite often. Aunt Rosie had brown eyes. Her hair was gray by the time I came along. It was said that she was a good cook. I did not have a lot of contact with her although we just lived a couple of cities away.
Rosa Martin
Rosa Martin
Delter Candis Harbison was born on January 1st, 1879 in Weatherford, Texas to Allen Ervin Harbison (1848 - 1902) and Sarah Caroline Walters (1849 - 1895). She had seven siblings: Alec, born 1875; Edward, born 1877; John, born 1883; Tennessee, born 1884; Mandy, born 1885; Thomas, born 1888; and Joel, born 1892.
Delter Harbison married John Henry Crummett (1869 - 1925) in June of 1898 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She and John had ten living children: Rosa, born 1901; Allan, born 1903; Mabel, born 1904; Thomas, born 1906; Effie, born 1909; John Henry, born 1912; Eli, born 1914; Nealy, born 1918; Joseph, born 1920; plus one more daughter. They also had a daughter who died as an infant in 1899.
After her husband, John, died in 1925, Delter and her children ran their family farm for a while. Then, by 1940, when she was 60 years old, Delter moved with her children Eli, Nealy, and Joseph to Nicolaus in Sutter County, California. Ten years later, she had moved in with her son Nealy and his four children in Los Angeles County, California, where she died at the age of 84.
She is buried in Park Lawn Cemetery in Commerce, Los Angeles County, California.
Grandma was the only grandparent I knew from both sides of my family. She was a kind, loving person, so sweet to me. She had so many grandchildren she could not remember all their names. She would pet my head and call me child. She knew that I was the last of all of her children's children. Grandma had just turned 70 when I was born. When she was able each grandchild received a silver dollar from her for their birthdays. Grandma ALWAYS wore an apron unless she was going to town. She ALWAYS wore a brooch, she had many collected from her children over the years. I still have one of her Brooches. Grandma sewed quilt pieces together and my Aunt Alice would quilt them for her. Each of her children's families had quilts from her. One time she sent a pieced quilt (not yet quilted) to her daughter Effie in Oklahoma. Effie lived in a primitive cabin. Instead of having the pieced sheet quilted, Effie cut it up and hung the pieces for curtains! Grandma came to live with my mom and me in 1960 after my dad left. She lived with us for a year. My job each morning was to boil water, add sugar and canned evaporative milk for her "physic". She said that got things moving for her each day. Grandma had Looooonnnnggg beautiful white hair. She parted it down the middle, twisted each side and wound it around her crown, putting in plastic hair pins to hold her hair in place. Her hair was fine, but thick. I have a picture of her and 6 of her children sitting with her husband outside their log cabin. Grandma was beautiful, not just pretty but beautiful. She had a light complex with very few wrinkles (even at over 80 years of age). Grandma's eyes were so blue they were almost purple and so bright. Grandma never used a toothbrush. She cleaned her teeth after eating with a twig from one of Aunty Al's Walnut, Cherry or Almond trees. She had NO CAVITIES. She was missing a front tooth from where one of Grandpa's mules kicked her on the farm. I was so saddened when she passed away. She was 84. She had a broken hip and in 1964 there were no hip surgeries. She could not leave her bed due to the break. She just laid there and caught pneumonia and died. If not for the break I am sure she would have lived to over 100 like her daughter Alice.
Delter Harbison
Delter Harbison
John Henry Crummett was born in 1869, and died at age 56 years old in 1925. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember John Henry Crummett.
My grandfather John Henry died in 1925 at about the age of 51. I was told by my Uncle Eli that during the Oklahoma Land Rush Grandpa was thrown from a wagon onto a boulder which injured his rump. Uncle Eli reported that grandpa never fully recovered from the injury and died of Anal Cancer. I am not sure how accurate the story is. I was born a full 25 years after my grandpa's death so never had the opportunity to know him or much about him.
John Crummett
John Crummett
Joe LOVED to fish. During my youth we fished from the bank, but somewhere around my age of 9 he obtained a boat and trailer. We fished all over California and Arizona, many times on the Colorado River. When I was 8 we traveled to Ensenada Mexico to fish the Baja. Dad got stuck in the sand in the pick up and camper and was very upset that he had to pay some men to dig him out. When I was 5 we fished up at Big Bear Lake. Dad was patient, baited my hook and cast it out into the water. Shortly after it hit, I said "Daddy I got a fish." He said "no you couldn't have one I just cast you out. I again told him I had a fish. He took off the bluegill from my line, rebaited my hook, recast it into the water. I repeated the process. Before long I had 3 hooks, knew how to bait my own hook, cast my line and remove my own fish - he was so busy he did not have time to do his own fishing so he taught me all the processes. When I was 8 we were fishing on the Colorado River at dusk. I pulled in an 8 lb catfish all on my own because he refused to help me reel the cat in. We ate well that night and next day. I think he was sorry he took me fishing because I usually out fished him on every trip. He enjoyed fishing into his 70's.
Joseph Crummett
Joseph Crummett
