Southwest Sierra — #52

Left to right: Larry Niles, Nellie and George Hyland at Minnesota Flat 1937 ~ photo courtesy of Underground Gold Miners Museum undergroundgold.org

The Janitor Gets “Sent to the Office” ~ During my family’s year in Alleghany proper (1977) Dad was hired on as janitor for Alleghany School (the school was referred to as both “Alleghany School” and “Alleghany Schools”). The extra “s” was an indication of the fact that it was a K-12 school, combining an elementary school, jr. high, and high school in one location.

Dad was the perfect candidate for the job. He knew how to build and fix most anything, loved landscaping and got along well with kids and adults. As “custodian” he wore a large ring of keys attached to one of the belt loops on his jeans. My brothers and I relished getting to see him during the school day and if we wanted to, we could stay after hours while he worked.

On one occasion, I was with him outside of regular school hours while he started a small remodel job removing the darkroom (a thing of the past used for developing camera film). The darkroom was located between the high school science classroom and the english classroom. The idea was to make the science room larger by moving the darkroom to the lower level of the building in an unused closet. When Dad pulled off one of the interior walls, there written on the wood framing in pencil with beautiful cursive we saw “George Hyland 1937”. The only reason that I remember the year is because that was the year that Dad was born. At that time, George and Nellie Hyland were quite elderly, living in the house that George built, and that still stands on Whispering Lane (previously known as Wild Plum Lane for the many wild plums that grow there).

George and Nellie had immigrated together from Scotland to the United States when they were a young married couple. They never lost their thick Scottish brogues. They were both under five-feet tall and had cheerful dispositions. Mom and Nellie hit it off, and Mom made a point to visit their house often. Both George and Nellie were having health issues and Mom helped them as much as she could while we were living in Alleghany. They hadn’t been able to have children of their own and they adored kids. Nellie would feed us her homemade pastries non-stop whenever we came over. The pastries were similar to a jelly roll but with a more delicate flakey dough and peach or blackberry filling, dusted with powdered sugar. George was delighted when we told him of the discovery of his signature inside the school wall. He confirmed that he had been in charge of building the school, doing much of the work himself.

One day, back at school, a seemingly ominous cloud floated in. There was a panic in the office, with hushed whispers. Dad was informed that he must drive to Loyalton IMMEDIATELY to speak to the superintendent of schools over there. After school let out, we waited anxiously at home for his return. Mom seemed uptight and told us that she didn’t know what it was about, but I suspect she had been told just enough to make her worry. It was after dark when Dad finally got home.

Evidently, the school district had run a background check on him that revealed a past kidnapping charge! This explained the sudden panic and the stern request for his immediate presence at the school district office. When Dad mentioned the kidnapping charge, Mom immediately knew what it was about. They both started laughing while my brothers and I became more and more puzzled. Finally, Mom explained (between giggles) that SHE was the kidnapping victim! She told us that she and Dad had broken up once, before Jason (the youngest) was born, when Steven and I were too little to remember. Mom moved into an apartment across the street from Grandma and Grandpa Rodriquez’ house. One night, Dad broke into Mom’s apartment and took her away. Grandpa pressed kidnapping charges. Mom and Dad had gotten back together after that night and had been together ever since. Now we were all laughing!

About the author: Rae Bell (aka Pauline) grew up in the Ruby Mine area. She currently resides in Alleghany proper and can be reached at raebell44@gmail.com or PO Box 919, Alleghany, CA 95910.