James Osborne "Jim" Skinner

Birth: He was born in 1904 at Iowa.   

Family Information: Son of Mrs. Will Anna Skinner.

Nephew of Ed Hiatt.  

Description:  

Pre-Colony History: In 1910 he was living with his parents and brother in Okmulgee, Oklahmoa.

In 1920 he was living in Waco, Texas with his parents and two boarders.

In 1930 he was living with his mother and one boarder in Los Angeles, California and working as a packer at a glass factory.

He and his mother arrived in the colony -- from Los Angeles, California -- some time before June 1931.  

Home in Colony: He was living at the Gila location in 1934.   

Job in Colony: In September 1931 he and his uncle, Ed Hiatt, went to Hot Springs for a fortnight to recuperate. In their absence, Ross Brannon, assisted by Bill Tuber, was cultivating the orchard. In October 1931 the two had returned and were once again busy in the orchard.

In February 1932 the orchard was "looking fine" due to good work being done by Hiatt, Skinner, Dore and Jaufroid.

In December 1932 he and Harry Nesnow were seen carrying huge forks to the threshing lot, where they turned some peanut hay that had been drenched during recent rains.

In November 1933 he was living at the Gila, New Mexico location and had become a general teamster, hauling anything there was to haul.

In December 1933, still at Gila, he, Goodwin, Kennedy and Frank Plaga harvested turnips -- three wagon loads in all. Also, he and Frank were doing fall plowing.

In March 1934 he, the official bronc trainer, had six head of them hitched to a 20-foot land leveler, and was raising one heck of a fog.

In April 1934 he helped Harry Morgan prepare land for planting more potatoes (they had planted a ton the week prior) at the Gila location. Later that month he returned to New Llano to pick up a truckload of furniture and the Shoemaker boys.  

Other Info: In 1932 he, along with many other colonists, signed a protest against colonists E.G. Webb and Walter Groth remaining in the colony "to save them".

In April 1934 he spoke at the Psychological Meeting, giving one of the best and most interesting reports on the Gila, New Mexico unit colonists had so far received.

Post-Colony History: In 1940 he was living in Los Angeles, California and boarding with the Guy Robison family while he worked as a ware selector in the glass container industry.  

Death: He died in 1982 at Los Angeles, California.  

Sources: US Census: 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; "Llano Colonist": June 6, 1931, September 5, 1931, October 3, 1931, February 27, 1932, August 6, 1932, December 10, 1932, November 11, 1933, December 2, 1933, March 31, 1934, April 14, 1934, April 21, 1934, May 5, 1934; California Death Index