d from behind mysterious dark glasses that gave his followers the impression that he was omniscient”( Axthelm 54). Born in 1931 in Lynn, Indiana to James Thurmond and Lynetta Jones, he was looked upon by his parents as a gift from Saint Francis. Jim’s father was white and an active member of the Ku Klux Klan. His mother was part Cherokee which lead Jim in later years to refer to himself with pride as an “ All-American mongrel” The Jones family was financially in the lower class. Jim’s father fell sick and died early in Jim’s life leaving Lynetta to raise and support Jim on her own. Hard times and lack of money lead to Lynetta occasionally having to work in a factory twenty miles away from their home. Jim still being a youngster was left in the care of a neighbor. Even though Jim and his mother were separated frequently they still kept close ties with each other. Jim was brought up as a Methodist. He became quickly fascinated with the pulpit oratory. Vera Price, a childhood playmate remembers, ”He’d always be the preacher, standing up making sermons”(Axthelm 54). Even at the young age of seven Vera, recalls Jim’s speeches encouraging strict discipline. She remembers occasions when Jim was playing with other children and “he’d hit them with a stick and make them cry. He had a power that most boys don’t have”(Axthelm 54). As Jim matured into a young adult this internal power he possessed was not fully matured. In high school Jim was in the popular crowd, but never the leader of the pack. “Only in retrospect does anyone claim to have spotted seeds of the horror to come.’ I had a hunch something bad was going to happen to him,’ says a middle-aged man in Lynn. He was smart as a whip. But he had some strange ideas. He never fit in with the town. He was different”(Axthelm 54).Jones graduated from Richmond High School just outside...
