OBIT: Azuba JONES, 1946, formerly of Somerset County, PA File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Meyersdale Library. Transcribed and proofread by: Richard Boyer. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/somerset/ ________________________________________________ AZUBA JONES Aged Azuba Jones Died of Burns in Her Lonely Home International W.C.T.U. Lecturer and Former Resident of Meyersdale Mrs. Azuba Jones, 86, a native of Wales, former resident of Meyersdale, ordained minister of the Evangelical Church, widely known W.C.T.U. lecturer and temperance apostle of international renown, died of burns in her home in Johnstown, last Thursday night or Friday morning. Her tragic demise did not become known until Sunday morning when a neighbor, Miss Mabel Davis, noticing a light in Mrs. Jones' kitchen, and knowing the aged woman lived alone and had not been seen about her premises for several days, knocked at the kitchen door to ascertain whether she was well or ill and in need of help. Receiving no response to her knock and finding the door locked, Miss Davis peered through a window and saw the aged woman lying dead on her kitchen floor and the clothing nearly all burned off her body. Miss Davis promptly notified the authorities about her gruesome discovery. Police and fire department officials and County Coroner Paul J. Wills who made an investigation found the body of the unfortunate woman lying face downward on the kitchen floor, with most of the clothing burned off the remains. Medical examination showed that she had suffered first, second and third degree burns and a laceration of the head, apparently due to her head striking the edge of a couch when she fell, indicated by wisps of hair and bloodstains on the couch. Clothing Caught Fire Official investigators surmised that her clothing caught fire from the kitchen stove; that she fell against the couch while trying to beat out the flames and crawled to the middle of the floor where she died from burns, after her fall. The flames had almost burned a hole through the floor near her head, but fortunately died out instead of spreading through the house. The fire in the kitchen stove was still burning when the tragedy was discovered. Fire Chief John A. Moran said it was strange that the fire burned itself out before greater damage was done. The heat he said was intense because it melted jewelry worn by Mrs. Jones leaving melted metal on the floor near the couch. No Evidence of Foul Play Officials said no evidence of foul play was found. The possibility that Mrs. Jones might have been a robbery victim was discounted because several sums of money were found in the house. The probable time of the tragedy, as fixed by authorities, was based on the fact that beds in the house had not been slept in and that a copy of Thursday evening's Tribune was found in the kitchen, while Friday and Saturday papers lay on the porch. Active WCTU Leader Mrs. Azuba Jones was active for many years in the national and state work of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. A member of the National Board of Lecturers and director of evangelism in Pennsylvania for 20 years, she had lectured in all 67 counties in the state, other parts of the nation and abroad. She attended world conferences of the WCTU at London in 1920 and at Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1928. On her trip abroad in 1928 she remained in Europe for six months lecturing on temperance. Mrs. Jones served for 10 years as president of the Somerset County WCTU. She was a licensed minister of the Evangelical Church, serving for a number of years as an evangelist in the Pittsburgh Conference. She was a member of the First Evangelical church of Johnstown and was teacher of the King's Gleaners Bible Class there for 15 years, until her retirement eight years ago. Native of Wales She was born in Wales on Feb. 2, 1860. She was the widow of Evan T. Jones, retired Bethlehem mine forman [sic], whose death occurred on April 7, 1938. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were married at Wilkes-Barre in June, 1885. They came to Meyersdale shortly after their marriage and later moved to Johnstown, where Mrs. Jones had made her home for 32 years. Three children preceded Mrs. Jones in death. A son, Thomas, died at Valparaiso, Ind., in 1939. Another son, Elfyn, died in infancy. A daughter, Miss Anna Louise Jones, a kindergarten teacher in the Johnstown schools, died in 1936. Surviving are a daughter-in-law, Mrs. Gertrude Jones, Phoenix, Ariz.; three grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Henderson Funeral Home. Rev. S. V. Carmany, Pastor of the First Evangelical Church, officiated. Burial was made in Grandview Cemetery. Meyersdale Republican, February 21, 1946