One in a collection by Allen Bachoroski,
Local Historical Writer,
Tales Along the
Highway of Legends
Note: This
is one in a series of historical stories about local families
in the Trinidad region.
Click here to find out more
about how these stories were collected.
John and Jennie Dale had eight children. Sylvia was horn
at Phillips, Oklahoma near Coalgate. She married Clarence
Williams, and had two children namede Nadine and Dale.
A baby daughter died in infancy.
Fanny was born in Coalgate, Oklahoma. She married Kelly
Costa and their only daughter died when a few months old.
Georgia was born in Suffield. She married Frank Silva
and had five children named June, Lorianne, Shirley, James
and Gary. Jean was born in Yankee, New Mexico. She married
Ed O'Donnell and had a daughter named Jackie. John Dale
Jr. was born in Cokedale and he married Opal Britt. Their
had two children named Joyce and Penni. Penni married
Herman Moltrer and settled in the Trinidad area. The Dales
then had twin daughters Alderine and Aline and the girls
lived for a few short months.
Their last child, daughter Betty, was born in Brodhead.
She married John Summers and had a daughter Nannette and
a son who lived only a few days.
The Dales endured the 1913-14 coal strike at the Aguilar
Tent colony and as a child I enjoyed hearing the many
interesting tales of what life was like during those trying
days. One of the stories I remember hearing was that of
John D. Rockefeller Jr., depositing five dollars in the
collection plate at one of the Baptist churches. My mother
was to become a Baptist and she wasn't impressed with
his treatment of the miners nor his giving habits. My
older sisters and brother would happily tell of their
wonderful days in Cokedale. They rode the street car in
to Trinidad for shopping and also to attend high school.
My dad John was to later become a mine foreman at Brodhead
and Rugby. I remember as a young child going to Aguilar
with my family and everyone hurrying around to get a good
parking place on the street on a Saturday night.
We moved to Lafayette in 1938. It was also a town we dearly
loved, but the family has close ties with Trinidad. These
roots deepened after John Dale Jr, and Georgia Silva and
their families moved back to Trinidad. John Jr. and Frank
Silva were foremen at the Allen Mine.
I
don't think any Christmas has been as exciting as it was
for me as a small child going to see the toys at the Jamieson
Department store. The Hausman drug store was another very
special place to me. I can remember eating lunch there
and always ordering a pimento ham sandwich accompanied
with a cherry coke. One of our favorite places to eat
was the Avalon Cafe located on Commercial Street. Eating
out, so to speak, was not a common occurrence in those
days.
John Dale died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1948.
He remarked to family members a few days before his death
that he was homesick for the southern part of the state.
He and my mother are both buried in Trinidad.
(Note:
if you have Photos of this family or know of anyone that
does, please have them get in touch with us so that we
might share some photos of the family here)