Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 1912


Jones Family Biography

This family descend paternally from John Jones of Wales, and maternally from his wife Sarah, daughter of Mordecai Lincoln, a great-uncle of the martyr president, Abraham Lincoln. John Jones, born in Wales, came to this country with his brother and settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania. His brother was killed while target shooting, and John came in 1793 to Fayette county with his father-in-law, Mordecai Lincoln and his family, settling in North Union township on the tract where now the Youngstown Coke Works are situated. The families together bought five hundred acres, and here John Jones died in 1802, two months prior to the birth of his son John. Children of John and Sarah (Lincoln) Jones: 1. William, born January 5, 1789, died unmarried, 1872; he remained at home and was the support of his widowed mother. 2. Elizabeth, married John Patterson, and moved to Ohio about 1820. 3. Mary, married Joseph Butler, and moved to Kentucky. 4. Nancy (Ann), married Daniel Canon, a farmer. 5. A daughter, died in infancy. 6. John (2), posthumous, of whom further.

(II) John (2), youngest son of John (1) Jones, was born in North Union township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1802, died September 1, 1892. His father died in August preceding his birth. He attended the public subscription school and grew to manhood in his native township, which was always his home excepting three years in Uniontown learning the cabinetmaking trade, which he never afterward followed. He returned to the farm and later became the owner of two hundred and forty acres on which he lived until death. In his earlier life he engaged extensively in stock raising and dealing, making frequent trips to eastern markets, driving his cattle in large droves; later he confined himself entirely to agriculture. He joined the Methodist Episcopal church when a very young man, and after establishing a home he always was most hospitable in his entertainment of ministers. They were always welcome, and urged to make his home theirs when in the neighborhood. He was first a Democrat and later a Prohibitionist, but did not seek public office. He married Jane Van Horn, born December, 1802, died February 10, 1879, daughter of Bernard and Sarah (Walker) Van Horn, who were married in West Virginia. Bernard Van Horn was born in New Jersey, a descendant of the ancient Dutch family of Van Hooren, early settlers of New Amsterdam (New York), spreading up the Hudson and into New Jersey. He emigrated first to West Virginia, thence with his bride to Fayette county, settling at Upper Middletown, where he followed agriculture until his death. His wife, Sarah Walker, was of Irish parentage.

Their children: i. Jane, wife of John (2) Jones; ii. James, supposed to have been drowned while on a boat trip to New Orleans; iii. Tamzin, married Thomas Palmer, a steamboat owner and captain; iv. Rebecca, married James Coulter, a blacksmith of Brownsville, Pennsylvania; v. Mary, married James Lewis; vi. Esther, died unmarried. Children of John (2) Jones: 1. William, born 1828; he left home to go to the State of Kansas, later went to the mines of Colorado, and was killed by the caving in of a mine in which he was working. 2. Elizabeth, died 1910; married John Carson, also deceased; they moved to Jefferson county, Ohio. 3. Sarah, died at the home farm in 1911, unmarried. 4. Bernard Van Horn, a farmer and owner of a part of the old homestead in North Union; married Catherine Wood, who died in 1880. 5. John (3), a leading tinsmith of Uniontown at the time of his death in 1878; he married Eliza Wilkey, also deceased. 6. James, died in 1887; he studied medicine with Dr. Fuller of Uniontown, but his own health failed and he sought the Rocky Mountains of Colorado for a cure; he practiced his profession in that state, finally settling at Longmont, Boulder county, Colorado. 7. Mary, married William Oliver, whom she survives, a resident of LaGrange, Ohio. 8. Nancy, married William S. Patton, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania; both deceased. 9. Samuel W., of whom further. 10. Tamzin Rebecca, married Rev. Jacob Murphy, a Methodist minister of the Illinois Conference for fifteen years, died in Denver, Colorado; his wife survives him. 11. Esther, married Albert Gaddis, and resides on the home farm.

(III) Samuel W., ninth child of John (2) and Jane (Van Horn) Jones, was born in North Union township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, January 13, 1843. He was educated in the public schools of the township, finishing at Madison Academy, Uniontown. At the age of sixteen years he was attacked by a disease that left him in a crippled condition for life. He remained a helper on the home farm until 1892, when he moved to Uniontown, where he entered the office of Gaddis & Company. Five years previously Mr. Jones had invested in this company, owning and operating a flour mill in Uniontown under the management of his brother-in-law Albert Gaddis. He remained at the mill until 1906, when the business was sold. He has other business interests of importance in and around Uniontown, including coal and coke properties, and is one of the substantial men of his town. He is a Prohibitionist in politics, having advocated, worked for and voted for that principle for thirty-eight years. In religious faith he is a Methodist. He married, June 28, 1892, Frances M. Wood, born in North Union township, daughter of Isaac Wood and Phoebe Wood, Isaac Wood was an oldtime farmer, saddler and merchant of North Union and Uniontown.

The family home is at No. 40 Maple street, Uniontown, which Mr. Jones purchased in 1893. He has no children.

Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1912.





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