Life at White Acres (and more) with Grandfathers Cliff

A few months ago, I asked Granddad Jerry about his father, my great-grandfather Cliff. In the process of the interview, I also learned a lot about Granddad Jerry's youth and what his grandfather Cliff (my great-great-grandfather) was like. Here are the notes from the interview:

1. What did he look like? He was short--about 5’4”--with dark hair. He looked like Granddad Jerry. He was relatively trim until he reached his 50’s.

2. What did Clifford W White's father do for a living? Clifford L White (my great-great-grandfather) had a delivery business in Wyoming, OH and in Michigan. He was not a farmer. When Jerry lived with him, Clifford L was primarily a tombstone salesman.  Granddad Jerry would ride with him all through the county as he was making his sales. During WWII Clifford L acquired old buggies and rehabilitated them to beat gasoline rationing (smart!). They sold buggies and tombstones by roadside as well.

3. What did he do for a living? Clifford W White was mainly a businessman. He started out as a stock broker (you can see that on the censuses), then he was a manager at General Electric, and then later worked at furniture plant in Baton Rouge. Cliff started businesses – Chicken on Call (Louisville) -- it was like KFC but with delivery. The restaurant used Crosleys (miniature car, like a smart car) and 3-wheeled motorcycles to deliver. Unfortunately, the business didn't work out. Before the business failed, Jerry had the opportunity to deliver for the restaurant while he was visiting his father (with his friend Clem) while he was in his late teens (17 or 18). At different points during his life, Cliff also tried his hand at running a gas station, a car dealership, and a real estate business selling lots and homes in vacation places. Cliff also did some farming – he raised saddle horses, but it was more of a hobby than a business.

4. What kinds of things did you (Jerry) do with him?  Primarily sports; and of that, baseball. Formed the first little league team in Clairmont county. Some basketball, some soccer, some football. On a side note, there were 3 Jerry Whites in Amelia (a very small town!). Cliff liked to play bridge, but Jerry didn't play with him much.

5. How did he dress? He dressed well; selling the horses called for a lot of class. Later in life he dressed as a casual salesman.

6. Was he quiet or talkative? Somewhere in the middle.

7. Did he ever meet someone famous? When I asked this question, Granddad Jerry said that he was sure Cliff had met someone famous, but he didn't remember a specific instance or person.

8. What did your family do for Christmas? spoken from Jerry's perspective: We chopped a cedar tree from the farm for the Christmas tree. My parents had left side of house, and my grandparents had the right side. During winter to save on fuel, they’d close down the living room in the left side, but the Christmas tree was there for Christmas. We celebrated at our house in the morning and went to the Grupenhoff's in the afternoon and had Christmas dinner with them.

We had huge spreads for Thanksgiving on my dad’s side. We must’ve had more than 20—25 or 30 people there counting kids. They served pies, veggies, everything. My grandma was a good cook but she didn't like to cook. The kids there were my second cousins, and a lot of them went to the farm while their dads hunted quail on the farm (it was illegal!). I saw them about 5-6 tmes a year. They were a little bit more well-to-do. (side note: I'm assuming that these second cousins on Jerry's dad's side were children of the men who had inherited the funeral home established by Thomas Pinkham White, my g-g-g-grandfather and Jerry's great-grandfather).

Jerry only had 3 first cousins, and they were on Grupenhoff side. They moved to MD when Granddad Jerry was 11 or so. His cousin Dave went to the University of Cincinnati at the same time that Granddad Jerry did. The two played badminton together but Jerry never won. They were bridge partners and they won a LOT. They placed 3rd out of 434 in the Nationals. Jerry's Cousin Lynn Jones was also at the top of the Atlantic division of Bridge.

9. What did you do for Easter? They had an Easter egg hunt – the eggs were medium difficulty to find – some easy, some hard. Jerry assumes his dad hid them. He doesn't remember Easter dinner, but they did dress up a little better for church on Easter Sunday.

10. What did you do for the 4th of July? Fireworks: sparklers and ones that you shoot off. They'd also watch the big fireworks display in the town. You could see fireworks shot off from Coney Island in Cincinnati.

11. Did he go to church? Cliff didn’t really go to church much until about the 50’s. Jerry didn't remember Cliff going to church with his family. Jerry's paternal grandparents didn’t either. He didn't remember which denomination the Whites identified with, but said it was possibly the Methodists. He said they didn’t agree with the Catholic church, which is where he, Jock, and Granny Jo all attended.

12. How are you like Cliff? We both like sports, both play cards, and both sort of like the out-of-doors.

13. Summer vacations? The family used to vacation in Michigan when Granddad Jerry was really little. Granddad almost drowned during one of those vacations. The family also went on vacation to Miami river (it's near Cincinnati) one time for about three days or so.

Teenage Jerry with Cliff Junior

A few weeks before I interviewed Granddad Jerry about his childhood and about Great-Granddad Cliff, I had asked my dad what he remembered about Granddad Cliff. Most of the responses were about the same, but Dad remembered Cliff as talkative, while Jerry thought that Cliff was average when it came to talking.

Cliff (according to Dad):

Short, loved sports, especially baseball, which he excelled in. He was good at golfing (dad was 16 or 17 when he golfed with Cliff). Cliff liked to talk. He loved his family; he was proud of his son and grandchildren. Cliff had step kids with his wife Betty. He suffered from short man's syndrome (meaning he felt like he had to prove himself as a man, I think). Started and failed in business many times. He played lottery at end of life, hoping to leave a large inheritance for his son and grandchildren, but never succeeded.