Century-old family photos shared by Howard Hayslett offer a rare glimpse at Jimmy Wright’s childhood in south Jackson County.
Sometimes you post an old photograph on Facebook and somebody shows up in the comments with an even older one. That’s exactly what happened after we shared a treasured photo of Jess Kincaid and Jim “Jimmy” Wright, the original owners of Jess & Jim’s Steakhouse. The battered old image shows the two friends standing proudly in front of their sign, long before their names became synonymous with a Martin City institution.
Jess Kincaid (right) and Jim “Jimmy” Wright, the original owners of Jess & Jim’s Steakhouse. Click here to read the story behind this particular photo.
Then Howard Hayslett chimed in.
Howard is Jimmy Wright’s cousin, and he had something we’d never seen before: family photographs of Jimmy as a boy, taken more than a century ago. Even better, he had some stories to go with them.
Before Martin City, there was the family farm.
According to Howard, Jimmy was a local farm boy whose family roots in south Jackson County stretched back generations.
His grandfather, Edward Arn, and great-grandfather, Jacob Arn, came to the area from Arnheim, Ohio, around 1876. The family purchased about 200 acres along 103rd Street and Holmes Road, with the farm running east to the Blue River.
Jimmy was born in 1914 to Henrietta Arn and Mr. Wright. By 1920, Howard says, Jimmy was living with his mother and grandparents back on the family farm.
And that’s where these remarkable photographs take us.
Jimmy Wright as a young boy, around 1919–1920. Photo courtesy of Howard Hayslett.
Taken around 1919 and 1920, they show a young Jimmy far removed from the restaurant business that would eventually make his name part of Martin City history.
In one, he poses with his arms crossed and a mischievous little grin on his face. In another, he sits beside his grandfather Ed Arn during a break from farm work.
Jimmy Wright with his grandfather, Ed Arn, taking an afternoon break. Photo courtesy of Howard Hayslett.
Another captures Jimmy with Aunt Ottie, Grandpa Arn and the family dog after the day’s chores.
Jimmy Wright, Aunt Ottie, Grandpa Ed Arn and the family dog after the day’s chores, around 1919–1920. Photo courtesy of Howard Hayslett.
According to Howard, the old family photographs were retained by another cousin, Susan DeClercq.
Howard remembers Jimmy, too.
For Howard, these aren’t simply pictures of a distant relative from another era. Jimmy remained part of the extended family as the years passed.
“He’d often stop by the house to chat with dad, tease the children, and when able, play in family card games with various aunts, uncles, and cousins,” Howard recalled.
That little detail might tell us as much about Jimmy as any formal history could.
Long before the steakhouse, the reputation and the familiar name, there was a south Jackson County farm kid who apparently had a mischievous streak and never entirely lost it.
That kid would grow up to become the “Jim” in Jess & Jim’s.
And thanks to Howard Hayslett, Susan DeClercq and a handful of family photographs that made it through more than 100 years, we get to meet him.
Our sincere thanks to Howard Hayslett for reaching out and generously sharing his family history and photographs with us, and to Susan DeClercq for retaining these wonderful glimpses of the past.
