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Joe’s Story by Rose Benedict Hayes 2012

I have thought about writing “Joe’s Story” for a long time. I’ve told the story many times and I

think it is worth writing down so that, after I am gone, others can read it and know a little bit

about twentieth century history.

Actually, the story starts back in Ireland many years ago. I don’t know much about that story so

I will start with what I have been told.

Francis Hayes (Joe’s Father) was the son of Cornelius Hayes, who had traveled from Ireland to

the United States as a young man looking for a better life. Cornelius had come here from

Tipperary County with a Cleary cousin. Later he sent for his Mother, Bridgette Hayes, and she

came to America also. After homesteading an acreage in the Gridley area he married Mary

Evans. Her grandparents had come to the U.S. from Ireland and settled in the Bentown area,

just a few miles from Bloomington. There were several other Irish families settling in an area

west of Gridley. Some of the names were Cleary, Quinn, Reeves, Brady, Kearney, Stokes, and

Fruin. They had interesting nicknames like Monarch, Dode, Con, Squire, Josh and more.

When Francis was 35 years old his family was concerned that he would never marry. His sister,

Mayme, introduced him to a girl (also of Irish descent) from Peoria named Marie Connor. She

was a “career gal” and worked at the Western Union office in Peoria. Francis and Marie were

attracted to each other and ended up getting married on September 7, 1927. He was 35 and

she was 31 – they were afraid that they were too old to start a family. They did not have to

worry very long because on October 22, 1928 they had a set of healthy twin boys. There was

much rejoicing and happiness. They had picked out a name before the birth when they thought

they were expecting one baby. William Dox was named immediately but they could not decide

on a second name. About 4 days after the boys were born a little German nun came to Marie’s

room and said, “This baby needs a name. He was born in St. Joseph Hospital and his father’s

name is Francis, so he shall be named Joseph Francis”. She then turned and walked out of the

room. Thus, Joe was named.

Francis and Marie took their baby boys home to the house that Cornelius Hayes had built for his

large family. The farm home was designed to impress the other Irish immigrants in the

neighborhood, even though Con’s wife would have preferred something more practical. There

was no electricity at that time and it didn’t become available for another ten years after the

twin boys were born. In spite of that, they had the home wired for electricity with switchplates

and plug-ins when it was built. In order to get water to use, it was pumped from the cistern

under the summer kitchen (better known as the “back room”). It was done by going to the

basement and pumping the water up to the attic. There was a horse tank in the attic and you

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pumped until it was full. When you turned on the faucets the water ran down by gravity. Joe

remembers it taking 250 pump strokes to fill the tank. If you pumped too much it overflowed

and ran back down to the basement. If you used too much water during the week someone

had to go down and pump some more water. It was one of those farm chores that was done

every Saturday.

One year and 11 months after the boys were born, Francis and Marie were in for another

surprise. They were expecting a baby. Marie was relieved that she was only having one this

time. WRONG! On October 3, 1930, two beautiful baby girls arrived. The babies were

evidently positioned very different than the boys. That was why she had been so sure that it

was only one. The girls were named Mary Catherine and Jane Agnes.

It is hard to imagine going from living and working in the city, never having done any baby

sitting or being around small children, to taking care of four children under 2 years old. She

rocked babies so much that, when she was older, she still rocked when she was standing still.

It should also be noted that these four children were born at the height of the “Great

Depression”. It was necessary to have livestock on the farm so that you would have food for

the table. They raised chickens for the eggs and for the meat. There was a large chicken

house. Joe remembers having fried chicken on Sunday. If someone came unexpectedly they

went out and killed and dressed an extra chicken. The cooking was done on a large coal

burning cook stove in the kitchen. They used corn cobs to get the fire started. The cook stove

also was a great source of heat in the wintertime. A large garden was also maintained and lots

of the produce from the garden was processed or kept in a cool place so that there would be

food in the winter. They also raised cows for milk (another chore) and for meat. There were

always horses because they were important for pulling implements for farming. Joe

remembers having ducks, geese and ponies also. A cousin, Geraldine Hayes, brought them two

geese one time. She had been raising them in her bathtub and one had a bad leg. They were

kind of a nuisance and wanted in the house all of the time. One of them was named Henry. At

some point Henry must have laid an egg because they changed the goose’s name to Henrietta.

The pony Joe remembers was named Mabel.

Luckily, in the early 1930’s there was a change of political parties and the job of Postmaster in

Gridley became available. Joe’s father, Francis, took the civil service test and was hired as

Postmaster. This was a great economic boost but times were still hard. Francis was doing his

postmaster job and still trying to take care of the farm crops on the acreage that he had

inherited from his father, Cornelius. In about 1932 Uncle Mark Fruin had two young men from

Highland, Illinois stop at his house looking for work. There was no work where they were from

(because of the Depression) and they heard that farmers in this area were hiring. Uncle Mark

didn’t need the help but he knew that Francis was having a hard time getting his farm work

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done. He brought them to Francis and Marie and told Francis to hire them. They worked for

room and board and a promise of cash when the crops were in. They helped with the corn

shucking that Fall. One of the brothers, Oscar Bellm, stayed for nine years. He was just like part

of the family. To this day, they have maintained contact with him. In 2011 Oscar celebrated

his 100th Birthday and Joe and Jerry drove to Highland to help him celebrate. The funniest

story that Oscar tells is about the first night that he and his brother, Oliver, stayed with the

Hayes family. They had been driving all day and were very tired. After Mark left them there

Marie asked them if they played Euchre because Francis was going to Gridley to play in the

Euchre Tournament. They said they had played but they were too weary to go anyplace that

night. According to Oscar, Marie took off her apron and got her coat on. She told them that if

they didn’t want to go, she did. She probably didn’t get too many nights out with the four little

kids. They were dumbfounded. They had never taken care of little kids in their life. When it was

time for the children to go to bed they all proceeded to take their pajamas off the hook and put

them on and went to bed with no fuss at all.

Jerry (Gerald Thomas Hayes) was born when Bill and Joe were 8 and Jane and Mary were 6. He

completed the family. Oscar always gets tears in his eyes when he sees Jerry because he has

such pleasant memories of the time that he lived with the Hayes family.

Joe’s schooling took place a quarter of a mile from the big house they lived in. It was a one-

room school and there were eight grades in one room. Miss O’Malley, from Chatsworth, lived

with Uncle Jim and Aunt Anna a short distance south of Grand View School. She taught there

all of the eight years that Joe and his brothers and sisters attended there. She had a “hot lunch

program” back then. You could bring a potato, put your initial on it, and set it inside the

furnace door. It would be baked when you were ready to eat lunch. She got some free food

from Bloomington and sometimes made soup in a small room. Some people worried that she

spent too much time cooking and not enough time teaching. But at least the students were

well nourished.

Later on, in the late 1940s, Miss O’Malley became the Hayes children’s Aunt Agnes. She

married Uncle Phil. They had dated for many years and it is said that she had a party and

announced their engagement. It was a surprise to Uncle Phil.

When Joe was about twelve years old his favorite pastime after school was listening to the

radio. He enjoyed five fifteen minute serials- Little Orphan Annie, Jack Armstrong (The All

American Boy), Captain Midnight, Terry and the Pirates and Tom Mix . They started at five

o’clock and ended at 6:15. Most nights supper was on the table by six o’clock so many nights

he got threatened that there wouldn’t be any supper left if he didn’t come when they called

him.

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When it was time to go to Gridley High School (2 ½ miles) Joe and Bill had to find their own way

to school because their Dad went to work at the Post Office very early in the morning and

there was only one car. They found several ways to get there. They had certain people that

picked them up when they saw them. There were some truck drivers that hauled limestone

from Washington, Illinois that always stopped when they saw them. When it was a very cold

morning they stood looking out the kitchen window until they saw a car coming their way.

They got so they knew who would pick up one rider and who was good for two. There was a

salesman that came east on Route 24 every Monday and he always gave them a ride. On a cold

day he’d tell them to hurry up and get in because he didn’t use his heater. He’d have a blanket

over his legs and a heavy coat on. Giving them a ride was part of his routine. It’s kind of a sad

note that this kind of trust is not possible nowadays.

Joe and Bill graduated from High School in 1946. Two people could not have been more

different. Bill was a head taller and 80 pounds heavier than Joe. Bill was also a “homebody”.

He didn’t want to venture very far from home. Joe, on the other hand, wanted to “see the

world.” He enlisted in the Army in October, 1946, and, by January 1, 1947 he was on a boat to

Japan. The fighting in World War II had ended but the war was not declared over. He served in

the Occupation of Japan at Sendai for a year. He had many adventures and experiences that

helped him mature.

Several years after he was discharged from the Army were spent working at Pfister Hybid Corn

Co. where he became good friends with Jerry Pfister, the owner’s oldest son. They had several

great vacations in places that Joe had always wanted to go. On one of their vacations they had

an oppurtunty to ride in the Good Year Blimp. Joe has always had a fascination with cars,

planes and other kinds of transportation.

Joe was still working at Pfister’s when he started going out with me. On our first date we went

to a K of C dance. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that he had taken dancing lessons at

Fred Astaire Studio in Peoria. Two good friends from high school had accompanied him to

these lessons. He was a very good dancer. Before we got together he had dated several

nurses. Both Mary and Jane were nurses and they had a lot of friends. We enjoyed each

other’s company that night and knew we wanted to see more of each other.

Since I am writing this in the Summer of 2012, my thoughts are about weather. We are in the

middle of a record breaking drought. The weather men all talk about 1936 as being just about

this bad. I have been talking to Joe about what he remembers from 1936. That was the year

that Jerry was born so Joe was 8 years old and does have memories of that summer. Of course

there was no electricity so there were no fans or other cooling. He remembers that they all

slept out in the yard some nights. It is really mind boggling to think most of the conveniences

that we take for granted were not available in 1936. Do we appreciate what we have enough?

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Back to Joe’s Story – We were married in 1956, Tom was born in 1958, and Steve in 1962. We

were so thrilled when I got pregnant 4 years later. It turned out to be the saddest time of our

life. Our little girl was stillborn. We named her Florence Marie, for both of our Mothers. We

lived in hope of having more children, but it was not to be. Joe was the best father in the

world. He taught by example! He made sure that he was available , and, to this day when ever

either son has a project or needs help they can count on their Dad to help!

When we were first married we lived in a little apartment at the back of my Mom and Dad’s

place over the plumbing and heating business. Joe was working at Pfister’s and I worked at

the El Paso Elevator so that was very handy. It was kind of like playing house because my Mom

loved to have dinner ready for us and do our laundry. She actually spoiled Joe by ironing sharp

creases in his work pants. When we moved out I didn’t do that.

About two months after we were married, Joe’s cousin, Melvin Hayes was taking a load of corn

to Gridley on Route 24. A semi truck came up behind him and ran into him. He was killed. He

was farming the land of his father and Joe’s father at the time. They asked Joe if he would like

to farm. We moved to Uncle Jim’s farm house where Melvin and his family had been living. It

was an old farmhouse and needed some sprucing up. We did that and moved in December,

1956. Both of our boys were born while we were living there. Life was good!

In 1962 Joe had an opportunity to take the civil service test for the Rural Mail Carrier job that

his father had recently retired from. There were 19 people taking the test and Joe was chosen

as the top candidate. We sold our farm equipment and bought a home in Gridley. We lived

there for 40 years. It was a good job and he spent the rest of his working years carrying the

mail. He enjoyed his job and treated his patrons like friends. He had many adventures and

opportunities to do good deeds for his patrons. He always had Tootsie Rolls for the children on

his route.

One rainy day Joe got to an older lady’s home to find her standing by the mail box waiting for

him. Her husband had died recently and she had come out to mail a letter and accidentally

locked herself out of her house. She asked him if he could help her. He went around the house

looking for a window that was not locked and found one in the bathroom. He shinnied up to

the window, got it open, and slipped and fell into the bathtub. He turned around to close the

window and it came apart. It was old and hadn’t been opened for a long time. He tried to put

it back together as good as he could and apologized for breaking it. She told him not to worry

and thanked him profusely for getting her inside.

One friendship that developed while he was carrying mail was with Mrs. Schlipf, a lovely and

wise older woman. Her daughter (who had a job in another town) asked Joe if he could take

her mother’s paper to the door while there was ice on the driveway so that she would have the

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daily paper and not be tempted to try to go to the mailbox before the daughter came home.

(The Daily Pantagraph used to be sent with the mail). He said he would be glad to do that. The

first morning that he took the paper in she had a cup of coffee and a treat waiting for him.

Many days there was something wonderful just out of the oven. In fact, one really snowy day

she had a cup of hot chili because he was very late and she was afraid he wouldn’t get any

lunch. He didn’t quit taking the paper in when the ice was gone. She was always waiting to

greet him. They became good friends. When Mrs. Schlipf died, her family asked him to sit with

the mourners. (This stop was especially good because it came at a time when Joe’s mother

had just died. He was used to running in there and picking up her mail that she had ready).

Another slight delay in his route happened when he saw Kenny on the lawn mower. Kenny

was a grown man who lived with his elderly parents. He was able to mow the lawn but he

could not start the mower. Joe would get out and pull the rope to get him started.

Joe carried the mail for 28 years through beautiful weather and also rain, snow and ice. In the

Fall he got a little nostalgic for the farming when he saw the farmers harvesting their crops. But

most of the time his job was very pleasurable.

Joe loved cars. Driving the mail route every day gave him a chance to try out lots of different

vehicles. You name it and he probably drove it. One car that he did not appreciate was a

Falcon. A year after he sold it he had an accident on a snowy day when the Falcon ran into him.

Everybody talks about “Bucket Lists” these days. Most of Joe’s Bucket List items were some

form of transportation. His first was the Goodyear Blimp. Done. Next was a helicopter ride.

Jerry Pfister made that happen. A Hot Air Balloon. His cousin, Jim Smith, satisfied that one

when he called and asked Joe and I to help him crew his hot air balloon at the Rantoul Hot Air

Balloon Show. Marian (his wife) was not able to go that weekend. We went and stayed with

Roger and Kathleen Roney. (Kathleen was another cousin). We had one of the nicest

weekends ever! A trip to Ireland. We had a a beautiful tour of Ireland with Bill Houlihan

(WEEK Weatherman) as the tour guide. Riding in a NASCAR Racer. Tom and Steve gave him a

ride at Orlando in Florida as a Christmas present. Wintering in Florida. A great pleasure with a

whole group of new people!

Three years ago Joe was thrilled to go on the Honor Flight for World War II Veterans. It was one

of the most moving things he had ever experienced.

Giving back for all our gifts is one of Joe’s great pleasures. When he was a young boy his Uncle

Jim Hayes told him to leave the world a little better than he found it. He took that advice to

heart. He recycles everything he can. He goes to Spare and Share (a thrift shop operated by

the Mennonite Churches in the area) on Monday mornings to help with the donations that

come in. He has found some really good folks there. He also made several trips with the

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American Red Cross for disasters, starting after he retired in 1990. Most of the time only one of

us went when they needed someone (so the other one would be home with our beloved

Golden Retriever, Nellie) but we made one memorable trip driving the ERV (emergency

response vehicle) to Minnesota together. We spent several weeks there serving the flood

victims.

Life with Joe has been a wonderful adventure!

Cornelius and Mary E. Evans

Tombstone

Located in St. Mary’s Cemetery

El Paso, IL

Cornelius Hayes Family

Circa 1900

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F

r

o

m

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Francis and Marie Hayes Joe and Bill Hayes

Bill and Joe

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Oscar Bellm with (left to

right) Joe, Mary, Jerry, Jane,

and Bill

Francis, Queen the Dog, Joe,

Marie holding Jerry, Bill, Mary,

and Jane

Mary, Jane, Joe, Marie, Jerry & Bill

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Mary, Jane, Jerry, Joe, and Bill

Joe and Rose Hayes

September 1, 1956

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Joe with Andrews Sisters

Impersonators at Midway

Airport before Honor Flight -

2011

Joe plants a Tree