MICHAEL JONES, late of Mulberry Township, Clay County, was born in Lincoln County, Ky., Oct. 16, 1816, and departed this life at his home in the above-mentioned township, July 12, 1889. He was of Southern antecedents, his father, James Jones, having been a native of Kentucky, where he was reared and married to Miss Sarah Jones (no relative) a native of his own county. James Jones prosecuted farming in the Blue Grass region until 1837, then, disposing of his worldly possessions in Kentucky, removed with his family across the Mississippi into Randolph County, Mo. He settled there on a new tract of land, from which he opened up a good farm, and there with his estimable wife spent the remainder of his days, his death taking place, July 4, 1840, when he was a little past fifty years old. Mrs. Jones survived her husband the long period of thirty-three years, remaining a widow, and passing away in December, 1873, at the advanced age of over eighty years. Both had been members of the Old School Baptist Church from childhood. James Jones, politically, was a Henry Clay Democrat, and a man prominent in local politics.
The subject of this sketch was the third child of his parents, whose family consisted of three sons and two daughters, all born and nearly all reared in Kentucky. He accompanied his parents to Missouri, and was married in Boone County, July 4, 1844, to Miss Martha Sweeney. This lady, like himself, was a native of Kentucky, and was born in Washington County, April 3, 1813. Her parents were Daniel and Elizabeth (Jones) Sweeney, natives respectively of Virginia and South Carolina. They removed to Kentucky, and were married in Lincoln County, after which they located upon a farm in Washington County, and Mr. Sweeney also engaged in blacksmithing. They remained there until after the birth of their ten children, five sons and five daughters, and then, in 1837, set out for the Southwest, locating in Boone County, Mo., during its pioneer days. The father died many years later, at the home of one of his daughters, Eliza, in Randolph County, in October, 1851. His remains were removed to Boone County for burial. He was then seventy-six years old. He was a consistent member of the Regular Baptist Church, in which he had officiated as Deacon. He bore an irreproachable reputation for honesty and integrity, and was highly respected by his fellow-citizens. The wife and mother had died at Washington County, Ky., Oct. 7, 1833, prior to the removal of the family to Missouri, at the age of fifty-two years; her remains were laid to rest in Hillsboro cemetery, near the church of which she was a member.
Mrs. Jones and her brother Harvey are the only survivors of the family, and the latter is living on a farm in Marion County, Ky. All the children received careful home training, and Mrs. Jones remained with her father eleven years after the death of her mother, assisting him in taking care of the younger children, and looking after the household affairs. Of her union with Michael Jones, which occurred July 4, 1844, there were born five children, one of whom, a son, Alonzo, died at the age of eleven years and four months. The survivors are recorded as follows: Amanda H. is the wife of Thomas Earnest, a stock dealer of Ft. Collins, Colo.; Melissa married Paul Thorpe, and lives on a farm in Custer County, South Dakota; Denitia W. married James Earnest, and they are living at Sun Dance in Wyoming Territory; Matilda is the widow of Edward Mayes, and resides at Raw Hide, Wyo. The household circle includes a foster child, Hattie Mason, who remains with Mrs. Jones.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Jones sojourned a few years in Missouri and Texas, and later went into Nebraska. Upon coming to Kansas they settled first in Riley County, whence in 1860 they removed to Colorado, on a stream called Cache La Poudre, thence to Cheyenne, Wyo., and thence in 1877, to Clay County, this State. Mr. Jones purchased 600 acres of land in Mulberry Township. For thirty-five years he was extensively engaged in stock-raising, becoming very successful as a breeder. Since his death, Mrs. Jones has managed the farm with rare ability, preserving its old time reputation as one of the most valuable estates along the Northern line of Clay County. Mr. Jones did not meddle with political affairs, but voted independently, aiming to support the men whom lie considered best qualified to serve the interests of the people.
A handsome lithographic portrait of Mr. Jones is shown on another page. He was neither a very early settler nor a life-long resident of Clay County, but such was his fidelity to business, and his nobility of character, that older settlers stood no higher in public esteem than he.
