Both parents of W. H. Jones and Mary Jane Jones
immigrated from Wales in the 1850's. Their families
were part of the Mormon conversion period. During that period over 5,000 Welsh
people came from Wales to
the Salt Lake City area of Utah. W.H. was born in Wales January 9, 1843; Jane was born in Salt Lake City August 15,
1853.
Jane's father Thomas Daniels
came from Wales
in 1 849 when he was 18 years old.
Her mother Mary Davis was born in Wales in 1835. They married in 1852
and had five children. Jane and her family moved to Malad
in the summer of 1865. Her family were important
founding pioneers of the Malad Valley.
W.H.'s mother was Rachel Hughs Evans, who was born in Wales in 1 822. His father Benjamin
Jones was born in 1817 in Wales.
He carne to the United States with his parents and
his sister in 1850 on the ship Joseph Bager.
His parents had seven children. Four of
whom lived to adulthood. Two very important people in W H's life were Rachel's
sister Mary Jones and her husband Richard. They had come from Wales with Ben and Rachel and settled in the Salt Lake
area. When W.H. was 1 7, his family
decided to relocate to Oregon. While in California,
his father died December 1, 1861 and in January of 1862, his mother died in
childbirth. W.H. took his two brothers and sister back to Utah and his aunt and uncle took them into
their family. In the summer of 1865, they came with their aunt's family to Malad.
The Richard Jones family and
the Thomas Daniels family were members of the first thirteen families to settle
in Malad in 1865. Both families had originally come
from the Cannarthan area of 'ales. There is no
evidence that they knew each other while in Wales.
In Malad, the living conditions were very difficult with log homes crudely built with dirt
floors and rough furniture. Land claims were made and arms were plowed
out of the valley floor with primitive tools. The women struggled to do the essential
life maintenance tasks and to bring civilization to the frontier. Their lives
were harsh and filled with many hardships requiring strength, and perseverance.
Through great struggle, their lives slowly improved.
W.H. and Jane
married October 30, 1871, they had eight children. Eventually they
were able build a large home on the first lot on the right side of North Main Street.
A Salt Lake
architect designed the house and fine furniture was purchased from Salt Lake
stores. The wooden house was Victorian style with a porch around two sides and surrounded
by large trees. The view from the porches was of the main street of Malad
City. (The picture of the
family was taken in the front of their home). They owned several lots of the
block up Main Street
and from Main Street
to what is now 70 E plus farm land in the valley at the Bend.
Jane and W.H.
were always welcoming others. Their home was filled with the food, fun, laughter
and great stories told by family and friends. When their son T.D's first wife died while giving birth to their daughter
Annie, Jane and W.H. took her into their home and raised her with the family. Education
for their children was an important goal. All their children lived into
adulthood and became important contributors to the development of Idaho.
Sometime in 1915, and much to the devastation
of her family and friends, Jane was diagnosed with cancer of the throat. She
suffered greatly and courageously. Although Jane and W.H.'s
families had come to the United
States as converts to the Mon-non church,
they had become members of the Presbyterian Church of Malad.
Interestingly, during Jane's illness she had aid from a practitioner from the
Christian Science Church of Salt Lake City. Jane, deeply mourned by all who knew
and loved her, died October 16, 1915 and was buried in the Malad City Cemetery.
W.H., like so many pioneers, had an interesting
life. As already written, he immigrated from Wales with his
parent and sister when seven years old. They came by ship to the mouth of the Mississippi and up the river to St. Louis. They purchased an outfit for travel
and in 1851 came the long distance to Salt
Lake City. The family remained in this area for ten
years until in 1861 when his parent
decided to relocate from Utah
to the Wilamette Valley of Oregon. The family
consisted of his parents, Rachel and Ben, and their surviving children -
brother (Ben (age 8, Jedediah (Jedd)
age 6 and his sister Mary Ellen age 5. W.H. as 18. They traveled by oxen team
through Carson City and Reno
areas of Nevada.
While in Teharna County of California (near Redding), his father
died. Cause of death is unknown. Two months later in February of 1862 his
mother died during childbirth. The child also died. His mother and the child were
buried together next to Ben in the Tehama
County Cemetery.
Besides losing this child, Ben and Rachel had lost two other girls both named
Margaret. One died on the banks of the Mississippi River.
W.H. had promised his mother he would take the three children (age 9, 6 and 5)
back to her sister in Utah.
He joined a small group of soldiers and took them back to his aunt as he had
promised. His aunt Mary and uncle Richard took the
family in as if they were their own.
When he was 20 he joined the gold rush to Alder
Bulch, Montana.
He staked a claim but when ill with "mountain fever" his
claimed was "jumped".
As stated before, in the summer of 1865 he went with his
aunt and uncle and their family including his two brothers and his sister to
the Malad
Valley. He married Jane
in 1871. (His brother Jedd and sister Mary Ellen also
married into the Daniels' family). Jane and W.H. had eight children. Only with
the loving support of Jane could he succeed. He had some of the earliest land
claims in the area, including a land patent in 1 881. He farmed successful in the Bend area, was a rancher, had
a freight company, was a United States Marshall for a time (one job was taking
polygamists to prison in Leavenworth , Kansas), and he served as County Treasurer
In Malad he was active in civic and social
activities. He was described as a pioneer "prominently involved with the
affairs of southeastern Idaho."
But as others knew, he
preferred his home life to great fame. He always said that what was most
important to him was his family and he lived his life congruent with this belief.
He lived to see his children "Standing in the front ranks of those who had
done well." W.H. did not remarry after Jane died in 1915, but lived as a
widower for over 15 years. He died March 12, 1931 at age 88. He was buried in
the Malad
Cemetery next to Jane.
Submitted by Diane Davis
