Saguache County CO Archives Biographies.....Jones, Price M. July 13, 1842 - ?
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Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net March 8, 2006, 8:16 pm

Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado

     With the burdens of life resting upon him from an early age and developing

in him the force of character and self-reliance to which responsibility always

educates the capable and responsive character, Price M. Jones, one of the

leading merchants of Saguache and an extensive cultivator of fruit and hay, came

to Colorado in 1875, nearly thirty years ago, well fitted for a frontier

existence and struggle for advancement, and since that time has borne his part

well and wisely in all the civil, social and commercial life of his county.  He

was born in Fountain county, Indiana, on July 13, 1842, and reared in Illinois,

where his parents located in his childhood.  They were farmers, and on the

Illinois farm his father, John P. Jones, a native of Kentucky, but reared in

Adams county, Ohio, died in 1858, when the son was but sixteen years of age, and

the oldest of seven children. The mother, a native of Adams county, Ohio, whose

maiden name was Julia A. Adams, was a woman of resolute nature, and she at once

took hold of the interests of the family and, with the aid of her son Price,

carried on the business until all the six children reached maturity and were

able to provide for themselves.  In the arduous effort required to keep

everything moving forward and in prosperous condition, Mr. Jones’s health gave

way, and in 1875 he brought his mother and two sisters who were still at home to

this state, and after remaining a few days at Canon City moved on to Saguache,

then a little hamlet.  Ranch property was purchased at once, and while it was

being put in condition for productiveness and a home he engaged in clerking. 

His father was an ardent and energetic Republican in political allegiance, and

he and his wife were devout and serviceable members of the Baptist church.  The

mother died in this state in 1884.  Her brother, M.N. Adams, was a pioneer in

Presbyterian church work in Minnesota, having been superintendent of state

missions for twenty years and served as a chaplain in the regular army with the

rank of major.  His wife was also a teacher.  In February, 1862, Mr. Jones

enlisted in Company G, Sixty-first Illinois Infantry, and served in the war

until June 1, 1865.  Once he was discharged on account of disabilities incurred

in the service, but he soon afterward re-enlisted.  In 1876, after clerking a

few months, he bought a small stock of goods and opened a store at Saguache. 

This mercantile enterprise he has enlarged until it covers a general line of

commodities and is one of the leading institutions of its kind in the town.  He

also purchased town property, and by turning it over and carrying on a real

estate business of some magnitude aided greatly in building up the town and

promoting its best interests.  From the time of his arrival here he has been

very active in Sunday school and church work and the fraternal life of the

community, being instrumental in founding the Baptist church organization in

this part of the state, greatly enlarging the volume and zeal of the Sunday

school forces and organizing Centennial Lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he is a

charter member.  One of his most valued and valuable possessions is a ten-acre

fruit garden which is considered the finest in the San Luis valley, and the

fruit and vegetables from which took the prize awarded by the Denver & Rio

Grande Railroad at the Alamosa Fair of 1889.  He also has one thousand and fifty

acres of hay and grain land in the county which yields abundantly and produces

hay and grain of the first quality, never failing in its yield or falling below

the high standard its output has attained.  On July 4, 1878, he was joined in

wedlock with Miss Elmira J. Matthews, a native of Ohio, who grew to maturity in

Illinois.  They have two children, Edgar N. and Edith.  That Mr. Jones is

conducting several lines of business, all of which minister to the growth,

aggrandizement and wealth of the county, and in each of which he is winning

success, proves that he is a gentleman of unusual business capacity and

enterprise; and that he is universally esteemed throughout the county shows that

his life is upright and serviceable, and that the people around him appreciate

energy, progressiveness and elevated citizenship.  

Additional Comments:
From Progressive Men of Western Colorado.  Chicago:  A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/saguache/bios/jones244gbs.txt

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