The Jones Family

John R. Jones in Biographical review of Des Moines County, Iowa

The full biographical sketch as printed, transcribed from the public-domain book. Spelling and wording are the original author’s; a few scanning errors may remain.

JOHN R. .JONES, a prominent farmer of Yellow Spring Township, Des Moines Co., Iowa, residing on section 30, was born in Anglesea, North Wales. May 15, 1825. Ills parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Owens) .lones, natives of the same place, where the father was a farmer. In 1845 his father left his native land for America, bringing with him his wife and six chil- dren. Landing in New York he came direct to Des Moines County, Iowa, where his brother John had settled, having come to America fifteen j-ears previous to this time, and h.as l)een a resident of Yellow Spring Township for several years. Robert Jones purchased a tract of land adjoining that of his brother, comprising 320 acres of prairie and forty acres of timber. On that land he erected a stone house, the walls of which are yet standing, and there lived the remainder of his life, his death occurring Sept. 19, 1875. aged seventy-five j-ears, having been born in the j'ear 1800. His wife died Feb. 27, 1878, being also seventy-five years of age at the time of her death. Robert Jones was a man of high moral character and strict integrity. In his native countrj' he was a member of the Episcopal Church, his wife belonging to the Baptist, but on coming to Iowa both joined the Congregational Church, continuing their connection with it as long as thej- lived. They were the parents of seven

children, six of whom were l)orn in Wales: John R. was the eldest; Robert, who was a first-class engineer on the largest steamboat of the Lower Jlis- sissippi, died in New Orleans; William is the pro- prietor of a hotel at Flora, 111.; Thomas, who was learning the trade of blacksmithing at St. Louis, died there when a young man; David, who was formerly a farmer in Y'ellow Spring Township, is now a resident of Washington Territory; Sarah, wife of Rev. T. W. Evans, died at her home in Louisa Couutj'; Isaac is a farmer in Kansas.

John R. Jones was twenty years of age when he emigrated from Wales, in which country he had received his education. He worked for his father for two years, helping hiin to develop the farm, which was then a naked prairie. After the raw land was broken, the rail fences made, the stone house erected, and his father comfortably settled, he be- gan to improve for himself an 80-acre tractof land of his father's original purchase, which the latter had deeded to him. While his land was undergo- ing this work of cultivation Mr. Jones remained at home with his parents, but deciding that it was "not good for man to be alone," he was united in mar- riage, Jan. 18, 1849, with Gwen Owens, a native of Merionethshire, North Wales, born June 7, 1822. Her parents were Robert and Grace (Roberts) Owens. Mrs. Jones had been married in her native countrj' to Jones R. Hughes, with whom she had come to America in 1842. He died in Ple.asant Grove Township, this county, where they had set- tled. One child graced this union, Hannah S., born Nov. 6, 1846, who is now the wife of William Z. Lloyd, of Cass Count3-, Iowa, and the mother of seven children.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jones made their home with his parents. until the next summer, when he erected a hewed-log cabin, which was the best in the neighborhood in that day, and is yet standing on the farm. In that the 3'oung couple began housekeeping, residing there for thirty-tsvo years, but in 18'sl a commodious frame residence was erected, in which the family- still reside. Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, four of whom died in youth. A son, William, died unmarried at the age of twenty -eight, and a daugh- ter, Mary, who was the wife of Henry Archer, of — ^ i»

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Yellow Spring Township, died at the age of twentj'- five, leaving a daughter. The surviving children are: Robert, born April 26, 1850, married Miriam Crawford, and lives near Winficld, Iowa; Sarah E..born Aug. 7, 1853, is the wife of Thomas L. Jones, a farmer of Osage County, Kan. ; Elizabeth, born May 14. 1855, wedded Cassius E. Yohe, who is a farmer in Wasiiington Townsiiip, Des Moines County; John L., born March 19, 1862, is the hus- band of Sarah E. Portlock, and makes his home with his parents; David 0., born Feb. 20, 1865, is unmarried, and is in a wholesale grocery house at Burlington.

When Mr. Jones first became a resident of Des Moines County the section in which he now resides was all an open prairie, very little of the land in his locality being yet entered. It was later taken up by warrants issued to soldiers of the Mexian War. For several miles north of his place to Virginia Grove in Louisa County there was not a fence; prairie fires frequently raged, and wolves and deer were often seen roaming over the prairie. At the present time, through the care and cultivation of its pioneers, this section has become one of the best of Des Moines County. Mr. Jones is known as one of the thorough-going farmers of Yellow Spring Tovvnship, and his farms and buildings give evi- dence of his industry, thrift and energy. As a man, a neighbor, a citizen, he stands in the front rank of the best citizens of the county.

A view of his fine residence is given on another page, and the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Jones ac- companj' this sketch.

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Source: Biographical review of Des Moines County, Iowa. See the original pages at the Internet Archive.