5 generations

5 generations
I'm working on getting a complete 5 generations pedigree worked up.

JC Nathan Johnson

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  1. Seth, Kate, Nate, Lexi, and AnyaMarch 30, 2010 at 2:25 PM

    "JC Nathan Johnson"
    by Nathan Wayne Johnson

    I have given some considerable thought to what I could share about one of my dad's character traits.


    Everyone always referred to my mother Esther as "different" and my dad J. C. as "something else". So when they got together with friends, things always were lots of fun.

    J.C. was a tinkerer, and once he retired and had time to just do stuff around the house, he really had some fun. He was always coaching me; on how things went together, how to make things last, and how to make ‘em go faster (since I liked going fast -- and sometimes got hurt -- but I really didn't like that part so much.)

    He would team up with one of my uncles and they would make the tools he needed to run his little saw-sharpening shop. He would visit other shops and see how they did things and what they used to do it, and then came back home and thought about it. He made a belt sander with a stand from an old truck wheel and a washing machine motor. It was actually much better than you could buy, as he had one that he bought as well. I still have that machine at home in the basement. He also made a polisher to remove rust from saw blades so when they left his shop they looked like new. The things he sharpened were always sharper than new when he was done with them. He also taught me all about different angles and how they would be useful for different things. He made a dip tank for hot waxing blades as well and I think he made some other gadgets as well. We made a home-made air compressor from an old briggs engine and a old water tank. Thinking back, it probably wasn't the safest thing to have running in the basement.

    As gas prices began to go up from a quarter to a dollar, he was out there in the garage experimenting on his new car with ideas to improve carburetion and get better millage. He loved doing things to keep busy and finding ways to reuse old stuff. One of his better ideas was a brick grill in the back yard. He was not a brick layer but he took his time and some old bricks he brought home from somewhere (for free I'm sure), and built a box right there on the cement outside the backdoor of the house. It was big enough to set a wash tub from an old washing machine down inside with a space on all sides. He then fit an old downspout into one corner of the box so it came in under the tub. He filled it all with sand and then capped it off with mortar so it was flat on top, except for the down spout in one corner. To cook, he would build a fire in the pit with an old vac blowing air into the pipe. Once he had a good fire going he would put the old Weber grill on top, including the top of the grill to seal it off. It also contained a temperature gage to help us know when it was ready for cooking.

    When the gage was completely maxed out he said it was ready and it didn't take but a minute because it was hot, very hot. He would gather hickory nut shells all fall and save them for his grill. The fire was hot but he would throw in enough hickory shells to smother the fire and cause smoke to pour out of the grill, burning the eyes if you weren't careful. He removed the vac and threw on the meat to be cooked. It cooked very fast and he said you only want to flip it once to keep it moist; that was the best, hot and pink is the way he like it. It was very hot, did I say that. He could use it year round since the brick was great for warming hands after it got going.

    It did a great job and I really like his cooking. He set the example for me in that area I suppose as well which only goes to show ya that tinkers can make great cooks. He was a humble man though, as he seemed to always shed a tear when he prayed. Maybe he always remembered the war, maybe he felt close to the Savior, or maybe he was always full of love and gratitude for the family he was blessed with. I really loved him for all he meant to me and how he met the challenges of life with a smile and a desire to make things work out.

    My dad,

    J. C. Nathan Johnson

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