Times were hard for most people during the Depression years. And though my mother's family certainly didn't prosper, her father, uncles and eventually her brothers were always either working or looking for work. Some of the jobs my grandfather did include farming, driving an 18-wheeler, mechanic, security, manufacturing, plantation foreman, picking citrus, butcher, cotton mill worker. After Alton went into the army, French and Wilmer went looking for work at a cotton mill in Alabama; French was a bit amused when the local men warily referred to the Northerners down there looking for work as "those damn furriners [foreigners]."
Johnny F. Sutton, French's first cousin once removed, says (see Sources): "French, as he was known to everyone, was stocky, 5 ft. 8 in. or so tall, dark hair and eyes, handsome, or so the ladies said. He liked to fight. I've heard it said that he was the strongest man in Wilcox County for his size. He loved to talk and was one of the best story tellers around." My mother says this is a good representation of the father she knew, and she recalls another anecdote that says much about the man he was: French had to pound the stuffing out of a drunken friend who was becoming increasingly belligerent; then, noticing his friend's shirt had become torn during the fracas, French removed his own shirt and gave it to the friend.
French and Myra bought a mom-and-pop grocery store in Cordele, Georgia, in the early 1950's, which was lost in a fire in July, 1976.
- Ralph Alton Sutton; b. 8 Mar 1925; d. 12 May 1944
- Wilmer Obra Sutton, b. 23 Nov 1926; m. Gladys Horne, Betty Jo Leggett, Nell Sirmans
- Private
- Private
- Nina Faye Sutton, b. 8 May 1936; m. Antonio Barrachina
- Cecil Eugene Sutton; b. 14 April 1938; d. 16 Mar 1939
Alton served in the 350th Infantry, 88th Infantry Division, from 14 June 1943 till he was killed in action at Anzio, Italy, on 12 May 1944. He was buried in Italy for 4 1/2 years; his body was returned to the US on 18 Nov 1948, and laid to rest in the Sutton family plot at Siloam Church in Abbeville, Wilcox County, Georgia. During his military service, Alton was stationed stateside at Battle Creek, Michigan, and at Camp Reynolds, New Castle, Pennsylvania. He received a citation for marksmanship and a posthumous purple heart.
