Untitled From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 438-440

OBED K. JONES, a retired farmer of Harrison township, Grant county is on the "shady" side of sixty, but his step is not feeble nor his arm weak. He has retired from the hard and strenuous labor of active farming, but industry and prudence in his earlier years have brought him an ample competence to make his remaining days comfortable and independent.

Mr. JONES was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, in January, 1833, a son of Chauncey and Elizabeth (BROWN) JONES, both natives of that county, the former born Dec. 19, 1807, and the latter March 1, 1807. They were reared and educated in Trumbull county, and were there married. They followed farming in Ohio until 1840, when they came to Grant county, Wis., and made a home where their son Obed K. now resides, Mr. JONES purchasing nearly three hundred acres from the government, and putting up a log house near where his parents, Chauncey and Ursula (CROSBY) JONES, had established themselves in 1839. They were born in Connecticut, and moved West in an early day. These are heroic names in American history. The BROWNS, CROSBYS AND JONESES were all Plymouth Rock stock, and bore a hand stoutly in the American Revolution. Chauncey JONES, Sr., and his wife remained on their Grant county farm as long as they lived, he dying in 1863, and she in 1876. They had a family of four children, of whom (1) Chauncey, the father of our subject, was the eldest. (2) Obed, the second child, was born in Ohio, came with his parents to Wisconsin, and settled on part of his father's original purchase, thence moving into Platteville township, where he died in 1889, leaving a wife and several surviving children of their family of six - Mary, now Mrs. WHITTENHEIM, of Lima, Grant county; Albert, now of Sac county, Iowa; Julius, who died in the Civil war; Pluma, now Mrs. Robert DUNCAN, of Prairie du Chien; Celia, married and living in Missouri; and Julia, Mrs. BURNEY, who lives in Nebraska. (3) Clarissa married Jesse WALDORF, and settled on a farm in Lima township, Grant county, where both died. Their only surviving child is Mrs. A. V. KNAPP, who lives on the old WALDORF homestead. (4) Harvey came with his parents into Wisconsin, here married Miss Eliza HULL, and shortly removed to Oregon, settling on a farm near Puget Sound. They were killed by Indians. Two of their children, Harvey and Eliza, escaped and were brought back to Wisconsin by their grandfather; they died while they were still in their childhood.

Chauncey JONES, the father of Obed K. lived in the log house some years, and when circumstances permitted erected a handsome frame dwelling. This gave way later to a more pretentious structure, which is now the home of the gentleman whose name introduces this article. Chauncey Jones died in 1856, his estimable wife, who had shared with him all the hardships of frontier life, surviving until 1885. He was an old-time Whig, and an active Republican, served as justice of the peace, and was a member of the school board for a number of years. Both he and his wife were always consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, opening their house for public worship before the town had either school houses or church buildings. They reared a family of three sons and one daughter: Orland S.; Obed K.; Orpha, who died when ten years old; and James H. The last named enlisted when only fifteen years old in the 7th Wis. V.I., and served throughout the war as a member of the celebrated "Iron brigade." He was taken prisoner and confined at Libby prison and on Belle Isle. While home on a furlough he married Miss Ortha McFALL, who died in December, 1899, in Fayette county, Iowa, where she and her husband had resided for some years on a farm. Four of their children are now living, Archie, Dr. Louie (physician for the Northwestern road at Wall Lake, Iowa), Hermie, and George.

Obed K. JONES was brought to Wisconsin by his parents when a boy, and here he grew up on the farm and received a district-school education. He married Miss Harriet GURNSEY, a daughter of Joseph and Charlotte GURNSEY, of Blue River, Grant county, and old and honored residents of the State of New York. Mr. and Mrs. JONES lived with his mother after his father's death. She died in 1861, leaving him one son and one daughter: (1) DeForest, a farmer in Sac county, Iowa, graduated from the Platteville Normal School. He married Miss Clara HURLBURT, and they have five children, Harry, Olive, Hattie, Burt, and Gordon. (2) Harriet, the daughter, who was educated at the Platteville Normal, married David MURRAY, of Grant county, and they are now living on a farm in Iowa. They have a family of five children, Bessie Olive, Frank, Nellie, Genevieve and Ernest.

Mr. JONES enlisted in Company E, 33d Wis. V.I., in the spring of 1862, and served throughout the war. He was in the Western Army under Gen. Sherman, and was in many fiercely-fought battles and long marches, but survived all the perils of that great struggle, and came home in 1865. Two years later he married Miss Susan JANNEY, a daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (GRIMES) JANNEY, natives of Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. She was born in Wisconsin in 1836, and her parents were among the earliest settlers to take farm property near Platteville. Mrs. JONES was educated in the old academy at Platteville, and was among the successful teachers of Platteville and Galena for over fifteen years; she is a lady of culture and education, and has many warm friends. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. JONES moved to the old JONES homestead farm, where they have resided up to the present time. In 1892 Mr. JONES gave up active farm work, and turned the management of the farm business over to his son Frank. One son and one daughter were born to the second marriage. The daughter, Nellie, was born in 1868, and educated at the Platteville Normal. In 1889 she married Philip WEINTERHEILLER, of Grant county, and now resides in Pocahontas county, Iowa, where her husband is engaged in the real-estate business and farming. They have two children, Clyde and Clara. Frank C., the youngest son of our subject, was born in 1870, was educated in the Platteville Normal, and was a teacher for a short time. He married Miss Maude JOHNSTON, daughter of Warren and Phoebe JOHNSTON, one of Grant county's old and prominent pioneer families, and is now the manager of his father's interests on the home farm. They have three children, Frank, Ruth and Helen.

Mr. JONES has been a Republican all his life. He and his wife and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his wife being very prominent in the work of same. Fraternally, he is a Mason, and he belongs to Sherman Post., G.A.R.



This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck