History of John J. Jones
Written By
A Grand-daughter
Sarah Rosetta Griffith Jensen
Shelley, Idaho
April 1942
John J. Jones and family, my
mother's father, in company with his sister, Margaret Griffith, left Wales after accepting the Gospel there in about
the year 1865 or 1864 and then making plans to come to Zion.
They had several children and not much money but were not discouraged
and finally were able to leave Liverpool on
April 1, 1866. They had many
discouraging incidents on the trip with severe cases of illness and not much to
eat.
The ship sprung a leak during the
voyage and grand-father's sister ran to her cabin and pulled the white wool
blanket from her bed and told the men to stuff it in the hole which they did
and then covered it with tar and soon the water was stopped and they were able
to go on their way, but all were given buckets and kettles to bail out the
water that had run into the ship. They
were very happy and cheerful even under these trying conditions, because they
felt the Lord would protect them and bring them to Zion in safety.
After being on the ship about six
weeks they landed in New York and then made
ready to journey on to their destination, but they found no one to meet them
and were obliged to remain around New
York for several weeks. During this time the people found out they
had worked in the mines in Wales
so they were offered work here in drilling wells and were very glad for the
work as it provided the money which they were so greatly in need of.
They soon began their journey
westward but only the small children and those who were ill were allowed to
ride in the wagons, the others had to walk.
On one occasion those who were walking became so tired they could go no
farther and had to lie down to rest. The
wagons went along without them, no knowing they had been left behind, but after
finding out they were missing the wagons returned for them and brought them
into camp. On another occasion the
Indians became very troublesome and one evening shortly after they had made
camp, the small boys decided to go to the nearby creek and wade. In a few minutes they heard a great commotion
and found the Indians were trying to drive away the horses and cattle. Some of the stock were
killed by the Indians, but the Saints succeeded in holding the greater part,
and those that had been killed were immediately dressed and used for food. This even caused some delay in their schedule
as some cows had to be used in place of the horses and travel was slower.
These young boys who gave the alarm
of the Indians being near were John G. Jones, John E. Jones and Brigham H.
Roberts, Brother Roberts being then about 12 years old. Brother Roberts was without shoes and it happened a man died and his shoes were given to Brother
Roberts.
After encountering all the trials
and hardships along with the joys experienced by the early pioneers, they
arrived in Salt Lake City
about five and one-half months after beginning their journey, and were greeted
by Thomas R. Jones and others who had come over two years earlier, being
distant relatives. These relatives asked
them to go to Lehi with them which took them three more days of travel. The people were very kind to them and helped
them get settled.
At first they lived in small log
houses. Later however, Brother Erastus
Snow and others were called to settle southern Utah and Brother Snow allowed grand-father
to live in one of his larger houses, so they were then much more
comfortable. They soon learned the
pioneer way of life and how to make the things necessary for their better
living, such as tallow candles and soap, etc.
Sometime later they decided to go to
Southern Utah and settled in Beaver
County. Grandfather went into the cattle and sheep
business and became well fixed financially.
He was always good to the Indians and gave them things to eat, and in
the fall of the year they would pay him back by bringing him deer meat, gloves
and pine nuts. Grandmother was President
of the Relief Society and was always on hand to assist those in need.
(Obtained
from the files of the DUP Museum, Salt
Lake City, Utah)
