Biographies: J. W. Crippen, 1950, Winn Parish, LA Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From: November 16, 1950 Winn Parish Enterprise (Know Your Neighbor Column) J. W. Crippen, Retired T & G Railroad Man Well known to most Winnfield residents, and to almost anyone who comes to Winnfield regularly, is J. W. Crippen, 68 year old retired railroad man. His trademark is a sharp whittling knife, and a piece of cedar in the process of becoming a cooking spoon. Perhaps not so well known is the fact that he came here in 1912 to work for Tremont and Gulf Railways, when Winnfield was a thriving village of 400-500 population. Nor that he was a conductor on the first commercial run by T & G from Winnfield to Monroe. Nor that he first whittled a cedar spoon as a youngster at his grandmother's house. Mr. Crippen was born in 1822 in Marthaville, in Natchitoches Parish. He moved to Texas while still young and in 1912, came to Winnfield with "the promise of a job" with Tremont and Gulf. He was told then to wait around for awhile until the job opened. In the waiting period, he went to work for American Creosote Company and later for Tremont Lumber Company, driving a switch engine on the yard. From there he went to work for the railroad, worked extra for several months as brakeman and fireman, and started as regular conductor in 1913. He retired with a pension in February, 1948, with 35 years and 10 months' service. He was conductor, "ran the train," on the first commercial run to Monroe in 1942, when the T & G opened its line to Monroe. E. S. Cole now holds this job, he said. Showing remarkable memory for names, as well as dates, Mr. Crippen recalled the six general managers under whom he has worked for T & G. The first was a Mr. Mann, whose initials he doesn't remember; next were G. H. Bland, R. B. Fowler, Eugene Ford, A. L. Smith, and Ovey Trahan. Carves Spoons To Give Away Mr. Crippen is seldom seen in town without his familiar piece of cedar and his whittling knife. He makes the spoons, says he can make one in three hours if he works without stopping, and gives them away to housewives or to anybody who wants one. He first learned to whittle, he said, when he was a small boy. He with some other boys were watching a neighbor rive shingles cut of a cedar log. They picked up some pieces of the cedar and started cutting. His grandmother had a wooden spoon, which was whittled by Mr. Crippen's uncle, and he copied after this, to make his first spoon. Since then, the number of spoons he has carved is unknown, but he said he had recently given away four one day and two the next, all whittled in one week. Besides carving spoons, Mr. Crippen likes to mend things around the house. When an Enterprise reporter went to his home on Front Street last Friday, he was in the process of refilling a ballpoint pen. "They say it can't be done," he said. "But I believe I can prove otherwise." Is Mason Mr. Crippen joined the Masons in 1910, two years before coming to Winnfield. He now holds the highest degrees in the York Rite, is a Shriner, and a Past Worthy Patron in the Eastern Star. He also is a member of the Winnfield Lions Club. A member of the Baptist Church, Mr. Crippen said "I try to make church and Sunday School every Sunday." He has three children, two living in Winnfield; and seven grandchildren. His son, J. J. Crippen of Winnfield, has three children. A daughter, Mrs. Willie Lasyone of Winnfield, has two, and another son, who lives in Houston, Texas, has two children. One brother, Frank Crippen, lives in Winnfield and a sister lives in Houston. His pastimes, besides carving spoons, are seeing after several rent houses which he owns here, and "just taking it easy." "I enjoyed my work on the railroad," he says. "But I had it figured like this. I might as well retire and give a younger man a chance at a job. I have plenty of time now to rest and relax.