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- [S84] E-Mail, Marty Cordell [ccordell1@cfl.rr.com], 9 Mar 2008.
Julius Jason "J.J." Conner (1877-1963) and Sarah Jane "Sallie" Parks Conner (1880-1965) were my grandma and grandpa and I remember them very well. They lived in a house right across from the Sedro-Woolley ballpark on the west side of Metcalf Street and they had a goldfish pond in their yard. I remember thinking that if I were real quiet, I could probably see fairies and enchanted frogs. But mostly all I saw were the hardiest goldfish in the world, who seemed to survive freezing winters and neighborhood cats. The house is still standing today in 2004.
The nice thing about living across from the ballpark was that the circus came to town every year and set up during the night. I remember the excitement of getting to stay overnight at grandma's and watching the circus workers using the elephants to pull up the tent ropes. Grandma always told the story of looking out her kitchen window one day to see two elephants in the yard. One of her boys had told the elephant handlers to bring them on over, they could water the elephants in his yard.
J.J. was born in the mountains of North Carolina near Smokemont. Sallie was born in Swain County, North Carolina, not far away. Both were schoolteachers before they got married and J.J. went to business college in Columbus, Georgia. They were married on Aug. 15, 1900, in Asheville, NC. They moved to Washington that year and made their first home in Belfast, north of Burlington. Their home was by Friday creek at the corner of Prairie road and Old Highway 99.
J.J. was a logger. The logging business was booming at that time. The Butlers were hard at work in the logging business as well, just across the hill to the south. The first three Conner children; Frank, born 1902; Ralph, 1903-1990; and Margaret, born 1907; were born during this time. In 1904, Sallie packed up the lunch basket and her two children and took the train back to visit her family in North Carolina. While she was there, she gave birth to Jack (1904-1978).
In 1908, the family moved a few miles west over the hill to Bow, near Chuckanut drive and Samish bay. During this time, Helen was born (1910) and J.J. and his brother, Jim, ran a saloon. Apparently this occupation was not looked upon with favor by Sallie, as they only stayed in Bow for three years. It was years later that Helen found written on her birth certificate, "saloon proprietor" as her father's occupation. Her mother had not shared this information with her.
Their third home was in Lyman in 1911 where J.J. ran a grocery store called Conner and Howard Groceries. They had a team of horses and they delivered groceries to the people in the area, since many did not have any means of transportation. Helen remembers their house burned down and they moved into another home by the Baptist church. She started school in Lyman and stayed there until fourth grade. Lewis (1911-1934), Don (born 1913) and Ona (born 1914) were born while the family lived in Lyman. Grandma and Grandpa Parks came out from Tennessee for a visit. Helen remembers going to the railroad station to meet them. During those days, no food was provided on the trains so people had to pack enough food to last them for the trip. Margaret still has the basket they packed with food for this trip.
In 1918, Byron (1918-1966) was born and the family moved to Sedro-Woolley. J.J. went back to logging during this time, joining Uncle Jim to run a gyppo logging camp by Maple Falls. During the summers the family went to the logging camp. Favorite memories are of swimming in the mill pond and eating huge molasses cookies made by the camp cook.
In 1939, J.J. went to work for Skagit Steel; the plant was right behind their house in Sedro-Woolley. Skagit Steel made parts for planes and machines used during World War II. Since this could have been a target for enemy aircraft, grandma used blackout curtains at night during the war so no lights could be seen. The whole town was blacked out during this time. After the war, around 1948, J.J. bought the little corner grocery store by the park and owned it for 12 years. I really don't remember much at all about the little store that Grandpa had, except where it was and what it looked like. I remember that Grandpa had a little path that he used, walking out the back door and over the railroad tracks, through the Skagit Steel yard and then to the store by Bingham Park.
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