Charles Arthur Pool

Kory's maternal Great-Grandfather

Unfortunately, I do not know the author of this biography to give appropriate credit. I obtained a copy of the original from his son which I transcribed here. I did edit it, somewhat, for length.

Charles Arthur Pool was born March 18, 1903. His mother died when he was very young. His father, Oscar Samuel Pool, remarried and they had six children. The step mother died after a long illness. Charles had the responsibility of caring for the six children. Mr. Pool moved his family from Texas to New Mexico, where the grandparents, Samuel Thomas Pool, lived on land that he had homesteaded at Olto, New Mexico between Stanley and Moriarity. Here Charles helped farm and loved horses.
Severe drought hit Estancia Valley. Charles’ father left to go back to the Texas Oil fields to obtain work, after having made arrangements with a young widow woman, Mrs. Mabel Kent, to come stay with his family. Mabel had three children between the ages of one and five.
Charles went on a cattle drive to obtain money for expenses. Mabel and the older sisters tried to raise a garden and food for the family. Mabel and Velma, the oldest girl, raked and stacked tumble weeds for food to feed the cattle and horses. Because they were fed dry and had little nourishment, the cattle all died. They kept one hog alive until it could be butchered. It was the first meat the family had and the last for a long time.
Charles and Mabel had the responsibility of caring for Charles half-brothers and sister and her family of three. A love affair developed. Charles was twenty and Mabel was twenty-four. When Charles’ father returned from Texas and found out about the love affair, he was displeased and turned the care of the younger children over to the oldest daughter Velma. Mabel and Charles were married April 13, 1923, in Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

Charles, Mabel and her family moved to Stanley where Mabel had a small house. They lived in Stanley for almost two years. Charles worked at a dairy farm. Mabel was expecting a child so Trudy, Charles’ sister, came to care for Mabel the last four weeks of her pregnancy. On October the 4th, Charles borrowed a dairy truck and moved the family and his sister to Santa Fe where friends had located a two room plus a sleeping porch apartment for the family.
On the morning of October 6, 1924 a son was born, Charles Jr. After his birth, Mabel had pneumonia and had to hire help, as Charles’ father would not permit Trudy to stay any longer. Charles continued to work at the dairy for a short time, then obtained work driving a grocery truck. His desire was to learn auto-mechanic skills. He obtained work in a Ford garage as a mechanic helper. He gradually worked up and with each pay raise the family was able to move to a better home.
Charles’ father remarried, and Charles was asked to go to Texas and get his sisters Trudy and Leona. Velma had married. Their brother Tommie, who had been living with his sister Velma, came to stay with Charles also. This made nine people in a small house, so another move was made to a larger home.
Trudy married an employee at the telephone company where she worked, he had come from Duchesne, Utah to work for the telephone company in Santa Fe.
Leona, became ill with appendicitis. Mabel, who had always suffered poor health since childhood, became ill and was ordered to bed rest.
Mabel continued in poor health and Charles moved Mabel and the family out of town. A kind friend offered to let the family use his house for the summer. Leona and Charles drove back and forth to work during that summer. The children had a good time roaming the hills on the outskirts of Santa Fe. By this time, Charles had gained a reputation of being a reputable mechanic. Again the family moved back into town in the fall. Leona was soon married. Trudy came with her oldest son, Richard, to live with them until her second son, Arthur, was born.
Trudy’s husband Dude, came and encouraged the family to all move to Utah. So in the spring of 1932, after school let out, Charles, Trudy, and their families, consisting of six children and five adults, moved to Utah. Charles had one car and he arranged to get another one. All of the families’ belongings were packed in the cars. (no furniture) The adults consisted of Tommie, Charles, Mabel, Trudy and Dude. The children were Richard, Arthur, Robert, Jim, Faye, Charles Jr. (Chuck). They camped out at night arriving in Duchesne, Utah after three days of travel. The family had ten dollars between them all when they arrived.
Charles went right to work at a local garage. The family all moved in together in an old two story house, with no furnishings, except for a sink in the kitchen. The ten dollars was spent for a faucet and groceries. The whole family pitched in and soon had a lovely garden.
Trudy’s husband, Dude, soon found work and they, with Tommie, were able to find another old house to move to. Charles and the children loved the country living because of the great outdoors, fishing, hunting and camping.
The depression hit and found the family with home raised meat and vegetables but little work. Charles and his family did all they could to stay away from accepting welfare. Robert (Bobbie) took work at CCC Camp, and Charles some mechanical work for families in exchange for meat. Tommie worked at a flour mill in exchange for flour which he shared with Charles’ family. Sister Faye tended children and did ironing to earn what she could. The boys worked on farms in exchange for honey and fished in nearby rivers to add to food the supply. Everyone worked in the family garden while their mother canned and preserved hundreds of bottles of fruits and vegetables for winter needs.
In 1935, Robert, or Bob as he was called by now, had finished high school and been given a scholarship to attend the University of Utah. Faye had left the family and joined up with a crew to sell magazines and see the world, or at least the U.S.A.
The family decided to moved back to New Mexico. They moved back to the same house in Santa Fe that they had left.
Times were hard again in Santa Fe too, but an old friend, Mr. Whittaker offered to let the family move to his ranch on the outskirts of town. He wanted them to care for his house and dogs while he went to England. Charles’ brother, Joe, worked for Mr. Whittaker taking care of the horses.
Joe drove Jim and Chuck into Santa Fe to go to school in the ranch truck. Charles worked in Santa Fe in an auto garage.
When Mr. Whittaker returned from his trip, Charles took a trip to Carlsbad to look into a job there, but returned after a few weeks and obtained work in Pecos, New Mexico. Shortly after moving to Pecos, they learned that Mabel was to have another child after fifteen years since Charles Jr’s birth. Charles Jr. was now fifteen and attending school in Albuquerque. Charles rushed Mabel to the hospital in Santa Fe, where a daughter Virginia was born, February 13, 1940.
After, Virginia’s birth, Charles, Mabel, Virginia and Charles Jr. moved back to the barn next to Mr. Whittaker’s house. It was an abandoned milk house, three rooms, a shower and toilet room attached to the barn, but Mabel could turn a barn into a palace. Which she did after a good scrubbing and white-washing all the walls. Because of Mabel’s decorating and fixing up, with her many self embroideries linens, it was truly comfortable and pleasing.
When World War II was declared, Charles Jr., a senior in High School, enlisted and after graduation left to enter into the Navy.
Charles did not want to be left out and felt he should serve in some way so he and Mabel came to Salt Lake and stayed with Bob and his family until he could acquire a Civil Service job. He was sent to Murou Air Force Base in California. He, Mabel and Virginia lived in Lancaster, California until he was sent back to Salt Lake, to cover Western States as fire inspector for the army.
They rented a duplex on Edith Avenue and lived there for three years. They had accumulated a savings account for the first time in their lives and felt a security they had never enjoyed before. They were able to furnish their apartment home and Virginia, now a sixth grader, was happy to be living near cousins and family.
In 1952, Charles decided to visit his sister Trudy and her family who were now living in Phoenix Arizona. While in Arizona they decided to spend their accumulated saving and invest in a home in Phoenix. Charles soon left for Arizona to work, but he was only there a short time when he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. Mabel went to Phoenix to care for him and left Virginia in Salt Lake to finish her sixth grade year of school. When school was out, Bob and his family took Virginia to Phoenix and there they stayed to make their home, feeling that the climate would improve their health problems.
They had the misfortune of purchasing the land to build a home, giving up their savings, and finding the developers could not produce deeds for the property. They lost their investment. They ended up getting a small home at 4817 East Culver Street in Phoenix.
Charles continued to suffer with poor health, yet carried on as an auto mechanic. His health continued to fail and on October 29, 1957, he died. Charles Arthur Pool, a native of Texas, born March 18, 1903, was buried November 1, 1957 in Greenwood Memorial Phoenix, Arizona. Services were held at the Colonial Chapel.

Documents:
Charles Arthur Pool birth certificate
Charles Arthur Pool marriage certificate (Mabel Helen Robins Kent)
Charles Arthur Pool death certificate