Jesse S. Jones From History of Grant County, Wisconsin, 1881, p. 909 - 910.

PLATTEVILLE

JESSE S. JONES, Platteville; was born in 1823, in Orange Co., N. Y.; from there he removed to Ohio, thence, in 1847, to Grant Co., Wis. In early life he learned the trade of leather-dressing, and followed it until he came to Wisconsin; his first enterprise was to open a small store in Wingville, groceries, notions, etc.; he then began mining in Iowa Co., struck some rich diggings and cleared about $1,000; in 1849, he was one of the first to discover the rich "New California Diggings;" here he did a large business, with varied success, but finally met with some serious losses, thought he still owns a fine quarter-section of land in that vicinity; while he was a resident of Clifton, he was the first Town Clerk elected, and afterward served a number of terms as Chairman, etc.; in 1865, he came to Platteville and bought his present homestead; here he has erected substantial buildings, and laid out and planted his grounds in a most tasteful manner, making his one of the most elegant suburban homes in the city. His wife was Miss Elizabeth, a daughter of F. C. Kirkpatrick, of the early pioneers of Grant Co.; they have several children. For a number of years after coming to Platteville, Mr. Jones was actively engaged in the milk business, supplying city customers, but has relinquished the work; he has 60 acres, twenty of which are in the corporation, and this land gives him ample facilities to indulge his fancy for rearing fine stock; he has of late devoted much attention to the breeding of fine horses; his pride is the Black Hawk, Reliable, a magnificent type of that famous family of horses; his weight is 1,750 lbs., and, as a writer in the Chicago "Field" says, is tremendously built, with immense sloping shoulders, strong limbs, round barrel and deep, powerful chest; his owner considers him the best living type of Tyler's old Black Hawk; he shows a three-minute gait, with no training whatever. Another of Mr. Jones' favorites is Tartar, a splendid horse, directly descended from Royal George, and showing many of the best points of that regal lines of trotters.

 


This biography generously submitted by Roxanne Munns.