Person:John Ault (13)

Notes by Jerry Ault, Larry Ault's brother: "As I remember John he was a very tall and quiet man. I can remember when he would take the great grand children with him to milk the cows and he would squirt hot milk at us. I mean all over us and just laugh. When I was about 10 years old I no longer had to eat with the women. I could go to the front room with the men and listen to them talk while they smoked. One time they were talking about a War in Spain and John showed me Spain on a round World Atlas he had be the front door. It must have been about 1939, funny how I can see this yet today, in my mind's eye. During the Second World War meat was rationed and all the Aults would go to John's farm and help him butcher hogs. They would shoot the hog and hang him on a tripole and cut his throat. Emma had a very huge iron kettle and the men would put the skin in, and cook the fat out which made cracklens. Boy do I love hot cracklens to this day. All the Aults and John children use to go to his farm Sundays for a family dinner every month or so. How I remember the great times I used to have playing in the barn with Larry, Joan and Carolyn Redick. What carefree and happy days they were.

John, was a farmer all his life. In 1888, John and his brothers Sanford and Isom and their families moved to Goodland, Kansas, where George Ault was born. They all went by train and Fat Grandma use to tell us the story about how they saw Indians out of the train windows and how scared she was. They all homesteaded their land and built sod houses in Kansas.

In 1891 John moved on West to Oregon where Rose Ault was born. They couldn't stand the hot summers and cold wet winter, Sanford and Isom went back to Indiana. John homesteaded land outside Portland, Oregon in a small town named Forrest Gove. Because it was so rainy John moved his family back to Hamilton County, Indiana by train, completly broke, in the fall of 1892. John started all over again at 32 years old and three small children.

My father told me that John had a natural gas well in the North West corner of his farm and until the gas fild went dry he cooked and heated with gas. There house was heated with a coal stove and they still had kerosene lighting and old Bell crank phone on a 3 party line. All of us kids use to listen when the phone would ring for a neighbor. When Granfather died they had an auction and sold all his equipment and stock. He had two sets of horses, and black set and white set, as I remember. There were table after table of food. Aunt Hazel caught Joan Ault and me under a table with a piece of pie I had stolen, she sure got mad at me. How funny to remember such small things from my childhood. Fat Grandma used an old wood stove and used a pump in the kitchen for water. I will never forget the out house with the Sears book for paper. It had two holes, one large for the adults and one smaller for the children."

AGED AROMA MAN SUCCUMBS FRIDAY-

John Ault, 83, died at his home, eight miles southwest of Elwood, Friday afternoon at 2:15 o'clock, of complication following an illness of several months. Born August 7, 1860, in Hamilton county, he was the son of Henry and Rachel Ault. He married Miss Emma Mae Carpenter, January 3, 1884, who survives. He was a well known farmer of Hamilton county. Survivors are: the widow Emma; three daughters- Mrs. Bert George; Mrs. Ora Fouch, both of Arcadia; Mrs. Vern Reddick of Cicero; two sons- George and Ward Ault of Elwood; fourteen grandchildren; twelve great grandchildren; two sisters- Mrs. Mary Carpenter of Hamilton county; Mrs. Clementine Justice of Elwood; three brothers- Sanford Ault of Elwood; Albert Ault of Mexico City and Lewis Ault, also of Elwood. The body was removed to the Copher and Fesler funeral home and will be taken to the residence this evening. Funeral rites will be conducted Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, from the Aroma Methodist church with Rev. E.W. Hamilton in charge. Burial will be made in the Aroma cemetery. -BUY WAR BONDS- Elwood Call Leader, 29 July 1944