Robert M. JONES, b. 1843
Robert M. Jones owns a farm of eight hundred and fifty-three and three-fourths acres, his
home being on section 6, Pleasant Grove township. He has always resided in the middle west,
his birth place being Hendricks county, Indiana,
and his natal day May 12, 1843. His paternal
grandfather was Allen Jones, his father, James
G. Jones. The latter was born in Kentucky,
February 11, 1810, and after arriving at years
of maturity wedded Elizabeth Gibbons, who
was born in South Carolina, February 7, 1809,
her parents being Francis and Susannah (Cox)
Gibbons, both of whom were born in 1780,
while their marriage was celebrated in 1800.
When a young man of about twenty-one years
James G. Jones removed to Indiana and it was
in that state that he was married. He followed
farming in Hendricks county until 1857, when
he came to Iowa, settling upon a farm of four
hundred acres in Poweshiek county. The land
was all new and he built the first dwelling upon
the place, making his home there until his
death, which occurred in 1876, at which time his
land was divided among his children. His
widow resided in Poweshiek county for a few
years after her husband's death and then came
to Pleasant Grove township, Mahaska county,
to make her home with her son, R. M. Jones,
with whom she lived until called to her final
rest in January, 1893. In their family were ten
children: Nancy S., who became the wife of
Hamilton Foster and died in Nevada, while
on the way to California; Wiley N., living in
Poweshiek county; David A., who makes his
home in the state of Washington; C. E., of
Arkansas; Elizabeth C., the wife of James
Worman, living in Kansas; Robert M.; F. A.,
who resides in this township; Alexander A.,
who died in Oklahoma; Sarah A., who became
the wife of Jessie Darland and died in Kansas;
and Mary E., who married David Rice and died
in Pleasant Grove township.
Robert M. Jones pursued a common district-
school education and lived with his parents until
twenty-four years of age, when he began
operating a ditching machine. He afterward
returned to Indiana for the benefit of his health
and spent about four years visiting among
friends and relatives there. He then returned
to Iowa and engaged in farming on forty acres
of land given him by his father. In 1879 he
came to Mahaska county and purchased a farm
of one hundred and sixty acres, which he soon
sold,, however, and about 1880 bought two hundred acres where he now resides. This land had
never been improved. Nearly all of it was
timber and with characteristic energy he began
clearing and cultivating it. He built the frame
house which he now occupies and he has since
bought land from time to time until his possessions aggregate eight hundred and fifty
acres, making him one of the large and prosperous landowners of the county. Much of
his land is in pasture and he raises cattle on
an extensive scale formerly feeding as high as
three hundred head in a year, but not raising
so many now. He also carries on general
farming, owns a steam threshing outfit and does
his own threshing and sometimes threshes for
others.
Mr. Jones was married November 22, 1886,
to Miss Sarah Ann Hart, who was born in
Kansas, June 9, 1871, a daughter of Absalom
and Amanda (Shion) Hart, who were natives
of Ohio and are now living in Union township,
Mahaska county. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have
become the parents of nine children, of whom
Mary died at the age of five years, and Robert
at the age of one year and three months. Palmer, Annie, Lizzie, Wesley, James, George and
William are still at home.
Mr. Jones is a man of strong determination
and energy, who carries forward to successful
completion whatever he undertakes. He has
encountered difficulties and obstacles in his path
but has overcome these by his resolute will and
unfaltering energy, and has worked his way
steadily upward to success. In politics he is
a democrat but has filled no office save that of
school director, preferring to concentrate his
attention upon his business affairs. His example should serve as a source of emulation and
encouragement to others, showing what may
he accomplished if one has the will to dare
and to do.
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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy
Iowa Genealogy
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