JOSHUA OLIVER JONES

In the new settlement of Lehi, Utah, 28 March, 1853, a son was

born to James Naylor and Mary Haskins Childs Jones. His name is

Joshua Oliver Jones. He is the only child of this marriage.

Joshua's mother Mary was born 15 March, 1814 in Dutchess County

New York, to Joel and Elizabeth Farr Haskins. She married Ezbon

Childs 2April, 1835 in Meigs County, Ohio. THey joined the Mormon

Church in 1843. Her husband died in April 1850 just as they were

planning to lave for Utah. they had 5 children ageing 1year to 14.

The next year she came with her family to Utah in the John Brown

Company. She married James Naylor Jones 9 Feb. 1852 becoming his

third wife.

James N. Jones was born 3 April, 1810 in Baltimore, Maryland to

Thomas and Mary Naylor Jones. He was also a mamber of the Mormon

Church. He and his family came to Utah in 1850.He helped to settle

several new settlements in Utah. He was the first Bishop in the

Fairview ( North Bend) Ward. He died 14 Aug. 1865 at Fairview.

He and Mary were divorced about 1855.

Mary then married John Reynolds, also as a plural wife. Joshua

was about 4 when they were married. They had one daughter,

Rosanna. The family moved around a lot as did so many of the

pioneers then They lived in Pleasant Grove, Goshen, Circle

Valley, Moroni and Beaver all in Utah. Mary died in 1871 and is

burried in Moroni, Utah.

We know very little about the early life of Joshua. His daughter

Pearl said that he left home when he was about 14 years old and

made his own way after that.I wonder if he spent some time with the

Joneses as he seemed to know some of them quite well later in his

life. He had at least 15-18 Jones half brothers and sisters. I

haven't found family group sheets of one wife so don't know if they

had children or not. Joshua had 5 half brothers and sisters who

were Childs and one sister who was a Reyolds. He had a least 15

step brothers and sisterd who were Reynoldses. He did have a lot

of relatives.

Sometimes some of his half sisters gave him mittens or stockings

they'd made for him.

Joshua's daughter Mary said that when he was about 12 he herded

cows about a mile out of town or the fort. At one time there was

an Indian uprising. Joshua could see some Indians coming toward

the cattle. He was frightened so he hid. THe Indians drove the

cattle off. After they were gone he crept home through the brush,

feeling very bad that he had lost the cattle, but happy that he was

still alive. Another boy herding cattle nearby was killed by the

Indians. Also Joshua's balf brother Thomas Jones was killed in

April 1865 or 66.

Joshua was quite close to his sister Rosanna and to two of the

Reynolds sisters and others of his large family, but didn't seem to

belong to anyone. He moved around a lot.

Joshua married Susan Maria Jones sometime in 1877. Pearl Larsen

said she thought they were married early in the summer and then

when the crops were in that fall they made the trip to St. George

to go to the temple there to be married for Eternity.

Their first child was born 25 March, 1879. They were living at

Panguitch, Utah. Nearly a year later this son, Joshua Oliver,

died. This was a sorrowful time for them. January7,1880 another

son was born to them, Ira Bartlett. The Joneses then made a long

move to Brigham City, Arizona. It had been set up as an United

Order place when it was settled, but had almost been abanded when

they moved there. There were only two or three families there

then. Mary Eveline was born there 9 Feb.1882. They soon moved to

Cannonville, Utah. Mary was blessed in the Cannonville Ward in

Dec. 1882 by her Grandfather Ira B. Elmer who was the Bishop.

Garfield County was organized 9 March, 1882. The following was

taken from the Garfield Co. Records: Dec.3, 1883, Joshua Jones was

appointed Constable for Cannonville District. Mar.2,1885 10 am on

Motion Joshua Jones was appointed Road Supervisor for Cannonville

Road District. Nov,30,1885 on motion $77 was appropriated to

Joshua Jones for services as Road Supervisor Cannonville District.

Mar.1,1886 Joshua Jones resigned as Road Supervisor.

While at Cannonville their daughter Amanda was born 25 June,

1884.

It is interesting to know that nearly 90 years later one of

Joshua's great grandsons was the Bishop of Cannonville for awhile,

being sustained 9 Feb.1976. He is Alden H Hamblin, grandson of Mary

Jones Hamblin, son of James Hamblin.

Joshua and Susan took some part in the MIA in Cannonville. I

found in the records that Joshua had given the prayer and a talk

from the Book of Mormon and that he and Susan and another man had

sung a song at a meeting.

Joshua and Susan then moved back to Panguitch in 1886. Susan's

mother lived there. She was a midwife.At this time Susan's father

and his second wife had gone to Juarez, Mexico to settle with other

Saints who had gone there to escape persecution for Plural wives.

James Hyrum was born in Panguitch 31August, 1886.

In Volume 12 of the DUP book Our Pioneer Heritage it tells of the

Christmases there. It says Christmas was always celebrated by

having a community program, a Christmas tree, a children's dance in

the afternoon, a dance for the adults in the evening. Dances were

held nearly every evening between Christmas and New Years Day.

The Christmas tree nearly always had a homemade gift for each child

usually a popcornball or a piece of molasses candy. Neighbors often

exchanged gifts of a loaf of bread, a few apples or some donuts

with each other. The children seemed happy tp receive their small

treats.

Christmas dinner usually consisted of a chichen or a rabbit with

potatoes, maybe a squash or mince pie or molasses cake. Everyone

seemed to be happy and to enjoy each others company. "The old days

were full of love and joy for one's neighbors and friends;

selfishness had no part in their lives, and they all lived for a

common cause, their religion." ( Garfield CO. History)

Children eagerly hung up their stockings before going to bed

Christmas Eve. Their gifts were probably molasses candy, popcorn

balls, homemade stockings or mittens, rag doll or wooden blocks.

Everyone seemed to have the true spirit of Christ, and not the

spirit of "What do I get?", as found so much today in our Christmas

celebrations.

It seems that this family was so often on the move, as were many

other families of that time. Their next home was in Escalante,

Utah, Garfield Co. While there two more children were born to

them, Lovina was born 6 April, 1889 and Isaac Marley born 20 July,

1892.

About three years later northeast to a new place of settlement in

Ashley Valley the Uintah Basin. THey lived near Vernal, Utah in the

Glines and Mill Wards. The weather here was much colder than they

were used to. After enduring the hardships for about a year they

decided to move again. A few relatives were slso living there. In

the spring of 1896, with three other families , Bournes, Vernons

and Twitchells, they left the Uintah Basin.

When they reached Soda Springs, Idaho they stopped for about

three weeks. The men got jobs shearing sheep. There was plenty of

grass here for the animals to eat. Then they moved on to Victor,

Idaho. It had just begun to be settled a few years before.

Joshua built a two room log house for his family, which now

consisted of the parents and 6 children.

The first winter was very hard. The snow was deep. the the wind

blew hard making large drifts of snow. The drifts came up to the

windows and even to the eaves sometimes. The snow blew in through

the cracks. It seems that they had left a cold climate for an even

colder one. But here they were to stay for the rest of their

lives. Susan was tired of moving and said she would not move

again.

All of the snow did make a lot of water for the grass, trees,

wild flowers and berry bushes. The scenery was beautiful.

Mary Jones Hamblin said that her parents always paid their

tithing and had their family prayers. Her Dad didn't attend church

very much. He had a stiff leg, had had it as long as Mary could

remember. She also had a bad leg from an accident she had as a

young girl and couldn't get medical treatment for it. She used a

crutch to walk with. The two of them often stayed home together

from meetings and socials.

Joshua couldn't dance, but sometimes he played his accordian for

dances.

Pearl Jones Larsen said that sometimes the young boys would

imitate the way Joshua walkled and made fun of him. This made him

mad because he couldn't joke along with them.

Three more children were born to them in Victor. ELmer was born

19November, 1896. The last two, twins, were born in April, 1900.

Pearl was born April 19, and her brother Parley was born April 21.

Later Joshua built a large house out of town about a mile. I

don't know just when he built it. He usually had about a dozen

cows to milk which furnished milk for drinking and for cheese,

cottage cheese and butter. They always had a garden, raising as

many vegetables as they could, storing many for winter use. They

often sold cream and gave the skimmed milk to the pigs they raised

for food. They raised grain of which some was traded for flour and

mush.

Driving a freight wagon, bringing freight to town, was another

way Joshua had to help earn a living. This caused him to be gone

from home for days and sometimes weeks at a time.

Occacsionally his son-in-law, Will Hamblin, would go eith h im.

Often they stopped to camp near a river so that they would have

water for their team. Joshua had a team of mules that he was very

proud of. Near the camping place was a road house. They never

stayed there because they couldn't afford to pay the price for

lodging there. They made their camps close to the river.

One very bitter cold night when the temperature was about 30

degrees below zero they stopped to make camp near the river. The

team had to be watered. They had to chop a hole in the thick ice

on the river so the mules could drink. This night Will slipped and

fell into the icey water. Joshua quickly pulled him out of the

fridid water. They hurriedly made their way to the roadhouse so

Will could warm up.His clothing was frozen stiff and he could

hardly walk. He was nearly frozen. When they reached the roadhouse

the owner refused to let them in. He didn't like them because they

would never stay at his place. Joshua knew will would soon freeze

to death if they didn't get him warmed up. Joshua finally

threatend to give the man a beating if he didn't let them in. He

relented and let them in.

Joshua's larger home sometimes served as a home for other family

members who occasionally lived with them. At Christmas many of

them would come and stay, putting their beds down on the floor to

sleep. Susan cooked many big meals for her childrenand

grandchildren who came to stay.

Onetime during a heavy rainstorm Joshua was out in a big field.

He decided to find shelter under a large tree. Before he got to it

the lightning struck the tree.

For some reason Joshua decided to sleep out in the hayloft in the

barn one night. He awoke suddenly seeing a face right down in

front of him.An Indian man was leaning right over him with a hand

on each side of Joshua's face. Joshua was startled and perhaps a

little bit frightened. He drew up his feet and kicked the man in

the chest which sent him bacwards towards the loft door. The

Indian nearly went through it but caught hold of the sides with his

hands. He began to laugh and said,"Me sure scare you." He laughed

again. This time Joshua joined in the laughter. He invited the

Indian to stay there over night, but he said he had to go over the

big mountain that night and he left. Know one knows why he came up

into the loft.

Pearl said that Joshua was usually quite a jolly man but he did

have a temper which sometimes got him into trouble. He had a gun

hanging on the wall. One day he was sitting in a chair and he

leaned in it back against the wall. This knocked the gun down and

it hit him on the head. It made him so mad that before s=he

stopped to think he grabbed the gun and hit it against something

which broke the gun.

Joshua liked to scare the cows once in awhile by hiding and

jumping out and growling at them as they got close to him.

The grandkids liked to run races with Joshua and his stiff leg.

If they got to close to him he would teasingly trip them wuth his

cane.

Ofetn in the winter Joshua had grandkids who would stay with them

so they could go to school..James Hamblin remembered riding to

school in his grandpa's bobsleigh with some of his brothers and a

sister, also with his Uncles Elmer and Parl and his Aunt Pearl, and

maybe a few neighbor kids. Sometimes Joshua would walk along

making a trail for the kids to follow along behind in. They lived

about a mile from town so that was qite a walk in the snow.

Many years ago some people covered their walls and ceilings with

a cloth called factory. Vervil BLanchard told my that her father

and her father John Ferguson and Joshua used to play cards together

in the evenings. She rememberd atanding in front of the window

watching for "Uncle Josh" to come. One evening when they were

playing cards at Fergusons the factory in the kitchen caught fire.

They soon had the fire out, but Vervil was very frightened. She

remembered how Uncle Josh picked her up and held her and talked to

her to calm her down. THey thougt a lot of Uncle Josh. He liked

to tease her. He called her doll Susie Swillbucket. She didn't

think that was very nice.

The Fergusons moved to the Uintah Basin later. One time when the

Joneses came to visit family in Monarch, Utah they went to visit

the Fergusons. Vervil said they could hear someone singing,

"Johnny, Johnny, Johnny Ferguson." Someone shouted, "It's Uncle

Josh!" They all ran outside to see and welcome them.

About 1914 Amanda and Heber Beddes and family moved to the Uintah

Basin, 35 or 40 miles northwest of where the JOneses had lived

before, to a place called Monarch, Utah. Joshua helped them move

down. Lovina and her husband also moved down there. I don't know

when or if he helped them move. It was before 1917. They remained

there the rest of their lives. The Bedesses later moved back to

Idaho and then to Lovell, Wyomimg.

William and Mary J. Hamblin decided to move down there. Reports

wwere that that area was going to develop into an ideal place to

live. (It took long, long time.)

Joshua helped them move. He drove his wagon loaded with their

belongings. Will also drove a wagon and Mary drove a 4 wheeled

buggy. The Hamblins had 7 children then. They left in August

1917. They left on a Thursday evening. They had planned on leaving

on Friday morning. Joshua was somewhat superstitious and would

never begin a trip in a Friday because he thought it would bring

bad luck.

Joshua shot wild game birds for their supper sometimes. He was

a very good shot. One day James Jamblin was riding with him. They

came to a group of prisoners working on a road. One of them

yelled. "Hello, Jake. Hows yer Mules?" With that the mules

pricked up their ears and began to Hee-haw. James and his grandpa

sure laughed at that.

It took 17 days to make the trip. Then Joshua had to turn aroung

and go back.

They made a trip to the Uintah Basin so Susan could be with

Lovina when she had a baby. Again they made the trip with the team

and wagon. Pearl said that they went to Vernal to visit some of

the Jones relatives before returning to Victor. Yjry made one

last trip to the Basin.On this trip down Joshua sold his team and

wagon to Heber Beddes. They took him to Price where he took the

train home. This may have been the time that Susan rode the mail

stage home.

In March of 1920 Joshua went to Pocatello, Idaho to have a hernia

operation. He came through the operation just fine. He got

pneumonia and died from that. He died 19 March, 1920 and his

funeral was held the next day in Victor, Idaho. He is burried

there.The speakers at his funeral, ELder Curtis and Pres.

D.C.Driggs each paid high tribute to him.

Joshua had been active in helping settle several new places

during his life. He was born less than 6 years after the Saints

first came to Utah. Brigham Young was the President of the Church

then. When Joshua died Heber J. Grant was the President. Joshua

saw transportation come from the wagon and team or buggy to the

train, automobile and even the airplanes.

Joshua was in his own right a pioneer.