Jones, John



HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS
& HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY
Munsell Publishing Company, Publishers, 1906.




JONES, JOHN, prominent farmer, was born on his father's homestead within one and a half miles of his present home, located on Section 17, Township 13 North, Range 8 West, Morgan County, Ill., the son of Robert Augustus and Letitia Ann (England) Jones. His great-grandfather, Robert A. C. Jones, was a native of England, whence he emigrated to America. Waitman Jones, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a resident of Morgan County, coming with his son, Robert Augustus, in the winter of 1827. Robert Augustus and wife had a family of fourteen children, of whom twelve reached maturity, John Jones being the fifth in order of birth. The father died November 5, 1901, and the mother, October 30, 1899. The father was a successful farmer who accumulated an estate of 700 acres of land.

John Jones was educated in the public schools and was reared to farming. On reaching maturity, he began farming on his own account, and has been very successful. He has sold considerable of his land of late years, as, in view of his increasing years, there was more than he could properly superintend, especially as his rheumatic troubles seriously interfered with his activity; notwithstanding which he still retains 120 acres, surrounding his pleasant home. In August, 1861, Mr. Jones enlisted in Company K. Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and served three years, being actively engaged at Belmont, Mo.; Stone River, Tenn.; Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, and through the great campaign which culminated at Atlanta, Ga. He received his discharge at Camp Butler, Ill., his term having expired, and resumed farming in Morgan County.

Mr. Jones was married September 19, 1867, to Sarah Frances Ray, daughter of William E. Ray, who came to Morgan County in the '20s with his father, Elijah Ray. Mr. Jones and wife have one child, Ada Susan, now Mrs. Albert Miner, who has four children: John R., Mary, George R. and Sarah Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and by his connection with the Union Army during the Civil War he is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic.


1906 Index

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