James Benton
b: January 1, 1882
Little Rock, Arkansas
d: April 13, 1954
Fresno, Fresno, California
burial: Sanger Cemetary
Sanger, California
marr: November 29, 1902
Paris, Lamar, Texas
Sudie Ann Key
children:
Lewis Russel,
Elmer,
Alvin Eddie, Robert, Claudine
With the economy of the country in bad shape and many farms being taken over by the banks in the late 1920' and early 1930's, sharecroppers, such as Jim, had to leave their homes to find work.
Jim's brother, Hugh, having already moved his family to California, wrote back to his brother that " Money grows on the trees ". Jim and Sudie went to the land of 'money growing trees' and settled in the San Joaquin Valley below the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the little town of Sanger, located in Fresno County.
The money that was found on the trees came from the hard labor of picking the fruit in the orchards and vineyards of the San Joaquin Valley. Jim and his boys worked these fields, making what living they could.
Later Jim went to work with the WPA on the Pine Flat Resevior and later yet worked as a janitor for the Fresno County Post Office. He also took care of guinia pigs for Fresno County Hosiptal that it maintained for experimental projects.
Rick remembers sitting on his grandpa's lap and listening to the " Lone Ranger" on the radio and remembers him as a fun person.
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