Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa - 1896 - J

1896 Index

A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1896

J

Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

JASPER L. JOLLEY submitted by Richard Kinkead

JASPER L. JOLLEY is numbered among the native sons of Iowa, and is a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family. He was born in Dallas County, near Adel, November 29, 1860. His paternal grandfather, John Jolley, was a native of North Carolina, and made farming his life work. He married Hannah Cook, who was born near Steubenville, Ohio, and both spent their last days in Union County, in the Buckeye State, where the grandfather died at the age of seventy-eight years. Both were members of the Society of Friends or Quakers, but the family became identified with the Methodist Episcopalian Church.

Lewis Jolley, father of our subject, was born in Union County, Ohio, December 21, 1827, was reared to manhood upon a farm, and in 1855 emigrated to Iowa, casting his lot among the early settlers of Dallas County. For several years he worked at the carpenter’s trade, and then turned his attention to farming. In February, 1856, Mr. Jolley was united in marriage with Mrs. Elizabeth (Sowsh) Young, widow of George Young. She is of Irish lineage, her grandparents having come from the Emerald Isle to America. Her parents were Joseph and Mary (Montgomery) Sowsh, natives of Pennsylvania and members of the farming community. Her mother died at the early age of twenty-seven years, but Mr. Sowsh long survived his wife and passed away in Ohio when about eighty years of age. Mrs. Jolley was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and was ever a faithful companion and helpmeet to her husband. The parents of our subject had five children, four of whom are yet living.

Two years after his marriage Lewis Jolley began farming upon a tract of wild land. He moved an old gun-shop to the place, in which he lived until a frame residence could be erected. Steadily and persistently he continued his labors until acre after acre was placed under the plow, and good improvements stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. He was an energetic man, possessing good business ability, and was recognized as one of the representative agriculturalists of the community. He was always opposed to oppression of any kind, was a strong anti-slavery man and active in support of the temperance cause. He filled various local offices with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents, and in religious belief he and his family were Methodists. In 1883 he retired to private life and died in the home where his widow now resides, in November, 1887. Mrs. Jolley, like her husband, shares in the high regard of all who know her. One of her daughters has become quite a fine artist, and the various members of the family occupy enviable positions in social circles.

Jasper Jolley is recognized as one of the most practical, progressive and prominent farmers of his native county. His boyhood days were spent on his parents’ farm, and as soon as old enough to follow the plow he began work in the fields. He continued at home until his marriage, which was celebrated on the 26th of November, 1884, the lady of his choice being Miss Sarah C. Cook, a native of Indiana. They began their domestic life on a farm which he rented from his father, and he is now the owner of the old homestead of 450 acres, which his father transformed from a wild region. He keep it under a high state of cultivation and it is ever neat and thrifty in appearance.

To Mr. And Mrs. Jolley have been born four children: Lena C., Loren Cook, August 16, 2008orothy L. And Lewis. Our subject and his wife have many warm friends in this locality , where they have long resided. Like his father, he is a strong Republican, unwavering in his support of the principles of the party, and is devoted to the best interests of his county.

Christopher T. Jones

In the history of the public affairs of Iowa the name of this gentleman stands prominently forth as one whose connection with political affairs has been honorable and commendable, indicating him to be a man of innate nobleness of character as well as great mental capacity. He is now serving as Clerk of the Supreme Court of Iowa, to which position he was elected in 1894.

A native of Kentucky, he was born in Barren county, near Glasgow, the county seat, on the 11th of September, 1837, being the son of John and Mary (Young) Jones, natives of Virginia. His father for a number of years engaged in school-teaching, and in 1842 removed with his family to Iowa, where both he and his wife died in 1843. Their home was in Louisa county, but on their demise their son Christopher was taken to Washington, Iowa, where he pursued his education in the public schools and later attended Washington College for a few years. His literary education being completed, Mr. Jones then began preparation for a life work. His choice of a calling was the law, which he studied under the direction of J. R. Lewis, at Washington, and afterward in the office of his brother, William B. Jones, of Franklin, Kentucky. After thorough and systematic preparation he was admitted to the bar, in 1859, and in a short time returned to Washington, Iowa, where he re-entered Washington College, with the intention of completing the course of study and graduating.

The affairs of the nation, however, claimed his attention. The patriotism of his loyal nature was aroused when the rebellious South attempted to overthrow the Union and he promptly responded to the country's call for volunteers. His enlistment made him a member of Company H, Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel S. R. Curtis. The regiment started southward and on reaching Missouri he was taken ill, and six months after his enlistment was discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability.

Thus forced to return home, as soon as possible he resumed the duties of civil life. In 1864 he was elected to the office of Clerk of the District Court of Washington county and served in that capacity from the 1st of January, 1865, until January, 1875. His long continuance in that position is a most high testimonial of his ability. His duties were discharged with a promptness and efficiency that won him high commendation and caused his re-election from time to time until his service covered a decade. On retiring from office he entered upon the practice of law, to which he devoted his energies for six years, in which time he succeeded in building up a large and lucrative patronage. On the expiration of that period he accepted the position of Deputy Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State, and in 1894 he was elected to his present office for the term of four years. In 1880 he was chosen Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket for the First Congressional District of Iowa. He is deeply interested in the welfare of his party, to which he gives an intelligent and helpful support, and in the counsels of his party he is a valued adviser. He is a man of worth, justly deserving the confidence reposed in him and the high regard in which he is universally held. His pleasant, genial manner and ever courteous demeanor have won him a host of warm friends, while in the social circles in which he moves he is a great favorite.

In 1865 was celebrated the marriage which united the destinies of Mr. Jones and Miss Gertrude Reister, of Washington, Iowa, a daughter of George H. Reister. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have three children, namely: Maude G., wife of T. E. Garrett, of Boone, Iowa; and Fannie and Howard, at home.

Edward William Jones, a retired merchant of Winterset, Iowa, has been identified with the interests of this city since 1868. Mr. Jones, like many of the good citizens of this country, is not a native of America. He first saw the light of day in a little town of Wales, September 17, 1835, his parents being William and Catherine (Thomas) Jones, natives of that country, where they passed their lives and died. His father was in early life a carpenter but later turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged up to the time of his death. Edward W. attended the public schools of his native town, then took a course at Aberdaron, Wales, and afterward spent two years in school at Manchester, England, where he acquired a fair knowledge of the English language, and where his studies were completed. Up to the time he was fifteen he lived on a farm. After leaving the Manchester school he secured a position in a wholesale notion house there, where he was employed as clerk for some time, and on severing his connection with that establishment went to Liverpool, took passage for America, and in due time landed at New York city.

From New York he directed his course westward to Columbus, Wisconsin, where he accepted a clerkship in a general store. He continued to reside in Columbus until 1868. In the meantime he formed a partnership there with a Mr. Loomis, under the firm name of Jones & Loomis, and they conducted a successful business until 1868, when Mr. Jones sold out and removed to Winterset, Iowa. Soon after taking up his abode here he opened a general store on the south side of the public square, and this business he conducted alone until 1871, when he took in as a partner Mr. M. R. Tidrick and the firm name became Jones & Tidrick. In 1879 they sold out to the Terrill Brothers. After this Mr. Jones purchased a stock of implements from Ratclift & Nicholson, three years later sold out to J. J. Gaston, and then, in company with R. B. Terrill, and under the firm name of Terrill & Jones engaged in the boot, shoe and clothing business, which they conducted successfully up to 1894, when they sold out to M. J. Graham & Sons. Since 1894, Mr. Jones has been retired from active business. He started out on his business career without any capital whatever and the success he has achieved in due solely to his own industry and good management. His pleasant home in Winterset is a substantial stone residence located on one of the principal streets of the town, and in addition to his property here he is the owner of a fine farm of 150 acres, well improved with good buildings, etc.

Mr. Jones has been thrice married. He first wedded Miss Emily J. Wood, of Columbus, Wisconsin, whose untimely death occurred February 26, 1868. She left two children, Roy and William E., the former a resident of Bonesteel, South Dakota, and the latter of Los Angeles county, California. For his second wife Mr. Jones married Miss Sarah D. Wood, a sister of his first wife, their marriage occurring November 3, 1868. She died in October, 1886, leaving one son, Harvey B., of Florence, Alabama. His present wife, nee Margaret Cox, is a daughter of Theodore Cox, of Madison county, and their marriage was consummated February 14, 1888. This union has resulted in the birth of a little daughter, Eleanor.

In his political affiliations Mr. Jones is identified with the Republican party. He has served as a member of the City Council of Winterset three terms - six years in all - and during that time was a valued member of the board. Both he and his wife are consistent members of the First Presbyterian Church, of Winterset.

Henry Jones, Superintendent of the Guthrie County Infirmary and Farm, is well known in this county and is a man well fitted for the position he occupies. He is a native of the neighboring State of Illinois, born in Peoria county, May 7, 1843, son of Elias and Jane (Hutman) Jones, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania; both are deceased. Henry was the youngest in his father's family and was left an orphan when he was two years old, the other members being Malinda, Tazewell county, Illinois; Mary Ott, Guthrie county, Iowa; and Eliza, of Ohio.

The subject of our sketch after the death of his parents found a home in the family of his uncle, James Jones, of Coshocton county, Ohio, where he was reared to farm life and received a public-school education. In 1857 he accompanied this uncle to Iowa, locating with him in Benton county, where he was engaged in farming at the time the war broke out. In August, 1862, in response to President Lincoln's call for "three hundred thousand more," young Jones enlisted in Company A, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteers, and remained on active duty until the close of the war. He was a participant in many of the prominent engagements of that sanguinary struggle, among which we note the following: Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Edward's Station, Champion Hill, Vicksburg, Jackson, Sabine Cross Roads, Cane river, Berryville, Alexandria (Virginia), Fisher's Hill and Cedar creek. Then he went to Savannah. He was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa, August 1, 1865, after which he returned to Benton county.

The two years immediately following the war Mr. Jones spent in Benton county. From there he went to Kansas, made a sojourn of one year in the Sunflower State, returning thence to Iowa and taking up his abode in Guthrie Center, Guthrie county, where he was successfully engaged in the livery business for a period of twelve years. He has occupied his present position, that of Superintendent of the County Farm, since 1891. This farm is one of the finest in the county, comprises 260 acres, and has first-class improvements. The infirmary is a large frame structure located on a natural building site, and under the present management is well kept, the inmates being well fed and clothed, and everything about the premises showing perfect cleanliness. The farm, too, shows special care, and an air of order and thrift pervades. As a superintendent Mr. Jones is decidedly a "success."

At the age of twenty-three Mr. Jones was married, in Benton county, Iowa, to Miss Anna Segrest, daughter of John Segrest and a lady of musical talents. Their union has been blessed in the birth of five children, namely: James H., a resident of Stuart, Iowa; Marion L., at home; Anna M., a proficient musician; and Fred R. and Bertie.

In his political relations Mr. Jones is an ardent Republican, always taking a deep interest in advancing the welfare of his party. He is a charter member of the local post of G. A. R.

Maston Hunter Jones, for more than forty years a prominent business and professional man of Bloomfield, Iowa, now retired from business, but still active in whatever public enterprise may benefit his town and county, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, near Greencastle, January 7, 1828.

His father, Rev. Benjamin Jones, was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was prominent as a pioneer of Putnam county, being one of the six first settlers there in 1819, and was called far and near to solemnize marriages among the early settlers, and took an active part in all public enterprises tending to improve and build up civilization in that then new country. This Benjamin Jones was born in Queen Anne's county, Maryland, and was the son of another Benjamin Jones, who traced his ancestry back through a line of Benjamin Joneses in Maryland to the time when Lord Baltimore landed there. Like all the Jones family, the original Benjamin Jones of Maryland was from Wales, the first home of the Johanes, Johns, or Jones family.

The mother of Maston H. Jones was Esther Alexander prior to her marriage, and was a daughter of Peter Alexander, of Rockbridge county, Virginia, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and at his death resided in Woodford county, Kentucky. He was of Scotch descent. The wife of Peter Alexander (mother of Esther Jones) was originally Jannet Steele, and her mother's maiden dame was Campbell, the Steeles being of Irish descent and the Campbells Scotch.

The gentleman whose name stands at the head of this brief record passed his boyhood in his native county as a farmer's boy, attending school in the log school-house during the winter terms and making himself useful on the farm at other seasons. At the age of seventeen he was left an orphan and had to rely on his own resources. Working on a farm, attending school in the winter and working out the "sums" in Pike's arithmetic and studying Kirkham's grammar during the vacations of school, he deemed himself qualified to teach the winter terms of the public school; and by teaching and working at odd jobs was enabled to attend several terms at the Indiana Asbury (now the DePauw) University, at Greencastle.

In 1848 he began studying law under Delana R. Eckels, of Greencastle, under whose direction he remained about a year and a half, then went into the office of Kinney & Gookins at Terre Haute. In March, 1851, he was admitted as a member of the bar at a term of the court at which his former preceptor, Delana R. Eckels, was the presiding Judge, and soon after settled at Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, going into business with Harvey Dunlavey, the firm being Dunlavey & Jones for five years, then forming a partnership with W. J. Hamilton, under the firm name of Jones & Hamilton for five years, then practiced alone for five years, when the firm of Jones & Traverse was formed, which continued several years, then practiced alone several years till the firm of Jones & Moore was established, and finally becoming a member of the firm of Jones & Son.

As a lawyer, Mr. Jones was one of the old school, never hunted up a case but hung out his sign and let clients come to him, well knowing that there must be two sides to every case. If he had a hard case that could not be peaceably settled out of court he fought it out to the bitter end, and generally made it bitter for his opponent. If he found a case capable of being settled out of court he always advised a peaceable settlement as better than a costly controversy. For more than forty years he was busy with law matters and always tried to treat his clients fairly. In hard cases he required security in advance for his services, but seldom pressed a man for pay where the debt was safe. He was for four years Prosecutor of the Second Judicial District of Iowa, was for two years a member of the Board of County Supervisors, has served as School Director several terms, was one of the originators of the Union Guard, the first Republican paper of Davis county, and one of the editors for four years. It was rated as one of the best country exchanges of its time and was afterward changed to the Dais County Republican, in which name it is still published. In 1877, in connection with others, he started The Legal Tender Greenback at Bloomfield, which is continued now by C. F. Davis as The Bloomfield Farmer. As a writer Mr. Jones has a style peculiarly his own and is a "hard hitter."

He was First Lieutenant of Company D, of the Forty-fifth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers in the war of the Rebellion, and is now a member and Commander of Elisha B. Townsend Post, No. 100, of the Grand Army. As a lawyer he was always ready to help the young man, and takes great pride in the fact that he has, without charge, trained in his office more students than any other lawyer in Iowa, among whom he recalls John W. Scott, of Atlantic, Iowa; "Chub" Hotchkiss, of Great Bend, Kansas; "Tobe" Smith, of Harlan, Iowa; S. H. Steele, of David City, Nebraska; F. W. Moore, of Zacatecas, Republic of Mexico; H. C. Taylor and George W. Sower, of Bloomfield, Iowa, - all active and honorable members of the legal fraternity.

He also takes great pride in the fact that he was one of the incorporators of and largest contributor to the Normal and Scientific Institute, a flourishing school for the training of teachers and business men, at Bloomfield, Iowa, of which he was first president (and continuously since a member) of the Board of Regents.

In religion, as well as in politics, Mr. Jones is an independent. He believes in no 'ism in religion and no loyalty to party in politics that would interfere with a man's freedom to vote for his friend or scratch a bad name on the ticket. He never belonged to any church because he finds in all a great deal of good but in all more or less exclusiveness, and would be glad to see all denominational lines obliterated. He believes the only way for any one to make the world better is to be better himself; and this is work enough for any of us.

Mr. Jones has been twice married. For his first wife he wedded Emeline Spencer, whose ancestry is traceable back to the early settlers of New England. They were of the Puritan stock, and the collateral branches of the family include General Joseph Spencer, a brigadier general of the Revolutionary war, and Platt R. Spencer, the author of the Spencerian system of penmanship. He has three sons and one daughter, all by his first wife: Charles B. S. Jones, a farmer of Davis county; Hon. Samuel Jones, a lawyer, of Lyons, Kansas; Maston Alexander Jones, a bookkeeper, of Bloomfield, and Mrs. Alice E. Dewpree, widow of Stephen Dewpree, deceased, who now resides at Bloomfield. His present wife was Mrs. Susannah Neal, a resident for many years of Davis county, Iowa.

With meager opportunities for "book learning," Mr. Jones has made the best he could of his opportunities, adding self-training and close reading to the limited schooling he had; and above all, by self-reliance and constant industry, he has been able to attain more than the average success in his profession, and believes he has contributed to the happiness and welfare of others and helped make the world better by living in it, trusting that whatever may be found worthy of an example in his life may stimulate the boys of to-day in laying hold of the improved and enlarged opportunities for self-culture which our advanced civilization now offers.

William A. Jones is probably the most extensive breeder of hogs west of Chicago, and his stock farm is one of the finest to be found in the West. He is known to breeders throughout the country, for he has made a national reputation as a successful stock dealer and his honorable business methods have gained him the confidence of the public and won him a liberal patronage. His farm comprises 126 acres, and is fitted with every convenience for furthering his special line of business, having good shelter for his hogs, as well as all the other conveniences which go to make up a model farm of the nineteenth century.

Mr. Jones was born in Wales, August 25, 1858, and is a son of John and Ellen (Humphreys) Jones, who were also natives of the same country and spent their entire lives there, as farmers, the father dying at the age of fifty-two and the mother at forty-eight years. They had nine children, of whom seven yet survive.

From the age of two to seventeen years the subject of this review was reared by a sister, and then he sought a home in the New World, for he had heard that better advantages were afforded young men in the United States, and he hoped to benefit his financial condition by this emigration. He sailed from the port of Liverpool in 1875, and after a few days landed at New York with only a few pounds in his pocket. He had thirty pounds when he left home, but of this he gave twenty pounds to his sister, and with the meager capital remaining started out to win success. On arriving in this country he made his way to Illinois, where he had a brother, a resident of Kane county. For four years he lived in that locality, working by the month as a farm hand, and then came to Iowa, settling in Polk county, where he again engaged at farm labor in the employ of others until his marriage.

On the 12th of March, 1884, Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Miss Vera Reinking, who was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and is a daughter of one of the early and prominent settlers of the State, C. D. Reinking. Four children have blessed their union - Alice R., Mabel H., Florence H., and Mildred A., a bright and charming family, ranking high in social circles.

Upon his marriage, Mr. Jones rented land from his father-in-law for about five years, and then purchased the farm on which he now resides in Van Meter township, Dallas county. It is a valuable tract of 126 acres, and the residence which stands thereon in one of the finest homes on the community. In 1885 he began breeding hogs, and from the beginning his business has been a profitable and constantly increasing one. To-day he has over 250 head of full-blooded swine, valued at from $40 to $1,000 each. He ships his hogs to all parts of the country, and is undoubtedly the most extensive individual breeder west of Chicago. During the cholera epidemic of 1892 his losses amounted to $10,000. His sales for the present year of 1895 will exceed $6,000.

In politics, Mr. Jones is a stanch advocate of Republican principles, and cast his first vote for James A. Garfield. He is a man of genuine worth, whose straightforward, honorable business record is without a blemish, and who in all the relations of life has followed a course that is well worthy of emulation.

Henry Joy came to Lucas county, Iowa, in 1866, and has ever since figured prominently as one of the representative farmers and leading citizens of his community. He was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, February 25, 1838, son of Thomas and Milly Ann (Rollings) Joy, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Virginia. The paternal grandfather of our subject was John Joy, and his birth occurred either in Maryland or Virginia. Thomas Joy and his wife when well along in years removed to Illinois and settled near Terre Haute, Indiana. There the father died at the age of eighty-seven years and the mother at the age of seventy-three. They were the parents of ten children, - Nancy Jane, George Washington, Henry, William, Stephen, Mary Frances, Catherine, Elizabeth, Alfred and Louisa A. The parents spent their lives on a farm, were devoted and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were people who stood high in the communities in which they resided.

Henry Joy grew up on his father's farm and was educated in the common schools, and was engaged in farming in Ohio at the time the war-cloud gathered and burst upon the country. August 8, 1862, in response to President Lincoln's call for 300,000 soldiers, Mr. Joy enlisted in the Ninety-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and soon afterward went to the front, going out as a private and returning at the close of the war with the rank of Corporal, his record being that of a gallant and daring soldier. He was with the forces that operated in the South, was at Missionary Ridge, Nashville and other points, and took part in the Atlanta campaign. At the battle of Missionary Ridge he was wounded in the left leg by a minie ball, and twice at other places he was struck by a spent ball, once on the leg and the other time on the scalp; but these were not serious wounds.

At the close of the war Mr. Joy received an honorable discharge and returned to his home in Ohio. In 1866, as already stated, he became a resident of Iowa, his first location here being on an eighty-acre farm located a mile and a half northwest of his present place. The farm he now owns and occupies comprises 320 acres on section 33 in Union township, Lucas county, and is one of the best farms in the county. It is improved with good buildings, orchards, grove, etc., and is under a high state of cultivation. The two-story residence is modern and commodious and is furnished in good style, and everything about the premises gives evidence of the taste as well as the thrift and prosperity of the owner. The barn is 46 X 48 feet, with eighteen-foot posts.

Mr. Joy has been twice married. February 20, 1865, he wedded Miss Eliza J. Swank. Her parents, Lemuel and Martha (Honold) Swank, died in Ohio. She was one of four children, and her brother, James J., was a soldier in the late war. Their union resulted in the birth of the following children: Millie Ann, John, Frank, Myrtie, Edna, Bruce and Ivy. The mother of these children departed this life October 5, 1888, and January 8, 1890, Mr. Joy married Miss Fannie Leech, his present companion. She is a daughter of A. J. and Mary J. (Lackey) Leech, her parents being early settlers of Union township, this county, and the members composing their family being Lizzie, Fannie, William, Cora and Dora. Mrs. Leech died in January, 1894. By his present wife Mr. Joy has two children, Dora B. and Edith.

Politically, he is a Republican. Personally, he is a man of fine physique, being six feet in height and weighing 260 pounds; and in manner always frank and genial, having the happy faculty of making friends wherever he goes.