The Little Red Bench

The Little Red Bench
2-20-2015
Used with the permission  of Tim Jeffries, Photographer

I'll admit it -- I spend way too much time on facebook. One recent discovery seems to have justified the time. Photographer, Tim Jeffries, posted a picture of a red bench behind St. Rose Church on the banks of the Ohio River. I responded to Tim that this was a special place in the hearts of all Jones descendants as Elizabeth Kinley Jones and family lived on the river bank in a small frame house in 1870. I wrote about this in detail in 2011. I jokingly told Tim that our family would probably love to have a four-season set of pictures from this spot. Since then, Tim has posted numerous pics from this spot.

For those of you who are not aware, a Sandborn Fire Map pictures the exact location of the little frame house sitting on the river bank on land that is now occupied by the city-owned water works.

The frame building is described as being 250' from the corner of St. Rose Church. My brother, Tim, his wife, Dusty, and I went with tape measure in hand and tried to determine the exact location. You can read about our efforts here.

So the bench, for me, has become a symbol. It is a symbol of the Jones family connection to the river and to St. Rose. And due to numerous facebook posts during the past few weeks, I know it is symbolic for many Joneses, Scardinas, Brevings and Kramers. So think of our family when you visit the bench. Hopefully, the next pictures will have a lot more green.

Note: I encourage you to check out some of Tim Jeffries photos of Cincinnati. I recently purchased a beautiful picture of the Over-the-Rhine area printed on canvas.