In the book's own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. A few names of people born after 1905 are withheld for privacy. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1882
From Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa (1912)
JOHN N. JONES.
Success in agriculture is not, as a rule, achieved as early in life as in other lines. Independence is reached in this line after much hard toil and years of continuous effort and those who climb very high up the ladder are getting pretty well along in years. While John N. Jones, of Clear Creek township, Jasper county, does not yet rank among our wealthiest and most widely known agriculturists, it is not too much to predict that future years will find him so, judging from the record he has already made in this line and knowing his habits of close application and minute knowledge of the various phases of husbandry.
Mr. Jones was born in Fulton county, Illinois, October 30, 1882, and there he spent the first ten years of his life, having moved with his parents to Story county, Iowa, and the family has been following general farming in this locality ever since. He is the son of T. M. and Matinden (Drummond) Jones, the father a native of Illinois and the mother of Indiana, the latter having come to Illinois when six months old, and there they both grew up, were educated and married. They now live in Independence township, this county.
John N. Jones grew up on the farm and when but a boy made a regular hand in the fields during crop seasons, and in the winter time he attended school in his neighborhood. On June 14, 1904, he was united in marriage with Edith C. Perry, who was born near Rhodes, Marshall county, Iowa, August 4, 1883, being the daughter of Harrison W. Perry and wife, a complete sketch of whom is to be found elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born four children, namely: Lela, born October 27, 1904; [name withheld], born December 30, 1906; [name withheld], born December 7, 1908; John, Jr., born June 23, 191 1. The two eldest were born in Story county, the two younger children in Jasper county.
Politically, Mr. Jones is a Democrat and both he and his wife are members of the Yeoman lodge at Collins. They keep their home supplied with good literature, and have not made the accumulation of sordid dollars the only or the chief aim of life.
As printed in Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa (1912). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1912. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.