It was good that Chleo Jarvis lived in her mother’s household. They got along well. Anna had a daughter and grandchild at home, and Chleo had help raising Melvin.
In 1922, Ralph was age 28 and Chleo was 22.
Continue readingThe vision was a huge loop of transmission lines from Hutchinson to Larned to Kinsley to Turon and back to Hutchinson. It was the most ambitious plan for electrical distribution in Kansas.
Ralph and Chleo made their home with Chleo’s mother, Anna Webb. They lived in the Rock House.
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1919 had been a successful year for The Pawnee Power and Water Company.
Nathan Jones had founded his fourth startup company, and was beginning to realize his vision. Ralph Jarvis had risen quickly to the superintendent of construction.
Both men would marry. And 1920 promised to be a busy year for the power company.
Continue readingWhile Ralph and the linemen crews were building transmission lines, Nathan Jones opened the Electrical Development and Supply Company store in Larned. It sold all manner of electrical appliances, from irons to ranges to fans.
After returning from military duty in the summer of 1919, Ralph Jarvis went to work as a lineman for the Pawnee Power and Water Company.
During the fall and winter of 1918, Nathan Jones tirelessly promoted this vision of providing electricity to small towns in the Pawnee and Arkansas valleys and connecting farms for irrigation by electric pump. He held dinners for local farmers where he promoted his plan.
In September 1917, Garfield, Kansas engaged Nathan Jones to provide electricity. Electricity would be purchased from the electric plant at Kinsley, about 15 miles away.
We began this series of stories after the Civil War in 1865. We’re ending the series at the end of World War I in 1920. What a dramatic change in people’s lifestyles over these 55 years.
Let’s review…
Ralph was back in Larned, and out of the army. It was the summer of 1919. He quickly found work as a lineman for The Pawnee Power and Water Company.
Chleo had just finished high school. She was living at home with her mother, and they were working at the Ideal Steam Laundry.
Ralph and Chleo rekindled their relationship and talked of marriage.
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Family Nibbles 