Biography: Jones This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Crystal Burton March 2003 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.netcopyright.htm ________________________________________________________ NOTE: For more information on BremerCounty, Iowa Please visit the Bremer County, IAGenWeb page at http://iagenweb.org/bremer/ ________________________________________________________ Source: History of Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa Union Publishing Company, 1883 Charles L. Jones Page 771: "Charles L. Jones, of the firm of Jones & Connolly, is one of the early settlers of West Point Township. His residence in this county dates from November 27, 1855. He was born in Elmira, Chemung County, New York, in 1836. In 1852 he removed with his father's family to Linn County, this State, and came here in the fall of 1855, as stated. Mr. Jones purchased a farm of Mr. John Hewitt, on section 30, in this township, and engaged in farming until February, 1864, when he entered the army, as a member of the Second Iowa Cavalry. He served in the army until September, 1865, participating in a number of general engagements. He enlisted as a private, but later, was made sergeant. Mr. Jones resumed farming on his return from the army, which he continued until 1879, when he engaged in the sale of farm machinery, and in the fall of 1880, added the hardware trade to his business. Mrs. Jones, formerly Miss Catherine Hewitt, was a daughter of Mr. Thomas Hewitt. They have four children - William E., Eugene A., Elmer S., and Annie L." ******************************************************************* Frank A. Jones Page 771: "Frank A. Jones, a brother, came several years later, and bought the farm of George Lash. This was the first farm settled in West Point township; a part of the plat of Bristow is included in this farm. He engaged in farming, and also in keeping hotel. He built the hotel known as the Jones House, in 1878. Another brother, Edward F., came here in 1867, and purchased a farm, which he sold in 1872, and removed to Jackson county, Kansas. Mr. Jones' mother died in Marion, Iowa, after which his father, H. Jones, returned to the State of New York, where he died in 1864." ******************************************************************* Charles A. Jones Page 705: "Charles A. Jones is a son of Dr. Daniel and Mary (Barrett) Jones, and was born in Windsor county, Vermont, November 21, 1848. When he was six years of age the family moved to Bureau county, Illinois, where they were among the early settlers of that section of the country. While in school Charles used his time to the best advantage and thus was enabled, even in the frontier State of that country, to enter manhood's estate with a good education. He was reared on a farm. In 1876 he came to Butler county, Iowa, and settled on section 6, Shell Rock township, where he now owns 800 acres of land. He was married in 1876 to Miss Nancy A. Hammer, who was born in Cook county, Illinois. They are the parents of three children - Daniel, Louis and Joseph." ******************************************************************* John R. Jones Pages 298-299: "John R. Jones settled at Shell Rock on the 26th day of May, 1856, formed partnership with George Hawker, and as Hawker & Jones engaged in the manufacture of wagons and plows. This firm built the first wagon manufactured in Butler county, and sold the same to John Kimmins for sixty dollars. The firm continued business until 1862, when J. R. Jones recruited Company E of the 32d Iowa Volunteer Infantry, of which company he was elected Captain and mustered into service, June 30, 1862. Captain Jones was elected Colonel of the regiment over a senior Captain, a Major, and a Lieutenant- Colonel, but as Governor Stone, of Iowa, was a personal friend of the Lieutenant-Colonel, he delayed the commission, and J. R. Jones therefore served as Captain until the close of the service, when he received a complimentary commission of Colonel. He participated in thirteen different battles, was an efficient officer, and highly respected as a soldier and commander. In August, 1865, Captain Jones returned to Shell Rock, and in March, 1866, purchased his present farm, elevated on section 17, Butler township (the same being the land entered by Morrison Taylor, in 1851), and here he has since resided, surrounded by all the comforts of the best farm life. His residence erected in 1873, is one of the best in the county, and all other improvements made by him are of the same character. His private life is now occupied by careful and wise attention to his money and well-tilled acres. In 1871 Mr. Jones was elected sheriff of Butler county, and thrice reelected, thereby serving eight years, and it is safe to say Butler county never had a more efficient officer than Captain Jones. He has also held many minor offices of trust at different intervals. Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, belonging to the Blue Lodge and Chapter at Clarksville, and the Commandery at Cedar Falls. He has always taken an active interest in the promotion of every public enterprise, and deservedly enjoys the highest regard of his fellow citizens. John R. Jones was born in Detroit, Michigan, on the 8th day of October, 1831. His parents, John R. and Mary (Jones) Jones, were both natives of Wales; they were married in Liverpool, England, in 1830; at once emigrated to the United States, and soon settled at Detroit. In 1832 the family removed to Huron county, Ohio, and in 1838 to Will county, Illinois, where the father died in 1876, and the mother in 1878. Captain Jones is the oldest of six children. In 1852 he drove an ox team for John T. Basy to Portland, Oregon; the trip occupying five months and twenty- one days. In 1853 he went into California, where he employed his time principally in wagonmaking, at which business he was reasonably successful. In the spring of 1856 he returned to Illinois, and on the 1st day of May married Miss Angeline Butterfield, a native of New York, and subsequently came to Butler county. They have had three children, two now living – Mary M., now Mrs. G. A. McIntyre, of Allison, and Carrie S., now the wife of J. P. Reed, editor 'Shell Rock News.' Mr. Jones is a strong republican. In religion the family are Presbyterians." ******************************************************************* John R. Jones Pages 503-504: "Captain John R. Jones is of Welsh descent, his father, John R., and mother, Mary Jones, both being natives of Wales, the former born in 1807 and the latter in 1811. They were married in Liverpool, England, in 1830, and shortly afterward emigrated to the United States, locating in Detroit, Michigan, from which place they removed to Ohio in 1832, and from there to Wilmington, Illinois, in 1838. The father died in 1877, and mother in 1879. There were five children, four sons - John R., William G., George W., Robert A., - And one daughter - Margaret. John R. Jones was born at Detroit, Michigan, October 8, 1831. He removed with his parents to Wilmington, Illinois, where he received a common school education. When eighteen years of age he learned the wagon-maker's trade, following it until 1852, when he drove an ox team across the plains to Oregon. The following year he went overland to Shasta county, in northern California, where he remained mining and ranching until February, 1856, and then returned by water and rail to Wilmington, Illinois. On May 1, 1856, at Kankakee City, Illinois, he married Miss Angeline Butterfield, the daughter of Egbert and Nancy Butterfield, of Wilmington. On the 26th day of May, 1856, he moved to Shell Rock, Butler county, Iowa. In company with George G. Hawker he engaged in wagon, plow making, and blacksmithing. In the summer of 1862 he raised a company for the Thirty-second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, was elected Captain, August 26, 1862, and mustered into the United States service by Captain George S. Pierce, at Camp Franklin, Dubuque, Iowa, October 6, 1862. In November, 1862, he was ordered to St. Louis, from there, in December, to New Madrid, Missouri from there to Fort Pillow, Tennessee. In February, 1863, he was ordered to Columbus, Kentucky, remaining there until January, 1864, when orders came to move on to Vicksburg, Mississippi, and joining General Sherman in his march to Meridian, returning to Vicksburg in March. In the same month he was ordered on the Red River Expedition with General Banks, and took part in the capture of Fort DeRusse, on the 14th of March, 1864. On April 9, 1864, he was engaged in the battle at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, where his company lost thirty-one out of fifty-three men. In June, 1864, they returned to Vicksburg. On the 30th of June, Mr. Jones was elected Colonel of his regiment, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Colonel John Scott. This was a compliment rarely ever paid, except for most gallant service, as it was a promotion of a Junior Captain over a Senior Captain, Major, and Lieutenant-Colonel. But before h s commission could arrive, his regiment had become so reduced in numbers that they were not entitled to a Colonel. In July the regiment was ordered to St. Louis, where they joined General Rosecrans, going with him on his seven hundred-mile-march after Price. They returned to St. Louis in November, and in the same month joined General Thomas at Eastport, Mississippi, from which place they went to Nashville, Tennessee, and on the 16th and 17th of December, 1864, engaged in the battle there, in which rebel General Hood was defeated. In January, 1865, they were ordered to join General Canby at New Orleans, going with him to Blakely, Alabama, and on the 9th of April engaged in battle at that place. From there they marched to Montgomery, where they remained until August, 1865. In same month were ordered to Clinton, Iowa, where he was mustered out on the 24th of August, 1865, arriving at his home, at Shell Rock, Iowa, on the 26th day of August. On April 7, 1866, he moved to his farm, one and a half miles east of Clarksville, where, in 1873, he built a large and beautiful residence, making his home one of the most pleasant and comfortable in the county. In the fall of 1868 he was elected from Butler township as one of the sixteen supervisors of the county. In 1871 he was elected sheriff, and was reelected in 1873, 1875, and 1877 – The only sheriff that has ever held the office for eight years or more than two terms. As a politician he has espoused the republican cause from its beginning. Mrs. Angeline Jones, wife of Captain John R. Jones, was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on the 31st day of October, 1836. Her father, Egbert Butterfield, was born October 3, 1810, and her mother, Sally M., January 13, 1816. They moved from New York to Wilmington in 1845. They had three children - two sons - Levi, born January 14, 1839; William, born May 10, 1841; and one daughter, Angeline, born October 31, 1836. She remained with her parents at Wilmington, receiving a common school education, until her marriage on the 1st of May, 1856, to Captain John R. Jones. Of the three children which have blessed this union two are living - Mary M., born March 12, 1857, and Carrie S., born September 6, 1861. Ida A., born June 24, 1859, died September 28, 1860. Carrie S. was married to John P. Reed, of Shell Rock, September 30, 1880. Mary M. was married to George A. McIntyre, of Allison, November 9, 1882."