Mary Grayson Jones' English Childhood

Mary Grayson Jones, your great-grandmother was born in Blackburn, England.

She lived on Carlisle Street (which you can see from the picture is now a commercial area of town.)

She also lived on Cornelian Street.  We don't have a house number but know her family lived on this street soon after her mother, Sarah Simpkin Grayson, converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Here is a picture of Cornelian Street.

One thing I was hoping most that I could find on our trip to England was the elementary school where my grandmother, Mary Grayson Jones, and her siblings went to school.  I couldn't find anything promising online before Kathy and I left for England so I had given up hope.  But when we got to Blackburn and put in St. Gabriel's Church into the GPS, there it was!  Just a block or so from Cornelian Street!

She attended St. Gabriel's Church of England Elementary School.

The first thing we noticed was the huge "for sale" sign on the outside of St. Gabriel's Church.

I was very excited to see if the door was open so we could have a look inside!  This is the place where my grandmother, Mary Grayson, went to church when she was very young.  There was also an elementary school held here and she attended school here as well.

Once inside, we were met by two very kind men who thought we were prospective buyers.  They had purchased the church and were using it as a warehouse for their company.  They are now hoping to sell it and move their company elsewhere.  They were kind enough to drop what they were doing and make copies of an old picture of the church when it was still in use as a church and also made us a copy of a history of the church that had been given to them when they bought the place.

Here's what the front part of the chapel looked like when my grandmother, Mary Grayson, would have attended church here with her mother, Sarah Simpkin Grayson, older brother, George, and younger sister, Gertrude.

You can see the same archway and the folding doors which are kept closed now that it is a warehouse.  That's Kathy on the left looking at the history of the church which we had just been given.

This is the main part of the church where the pews would have been and where school would have been held.

As we walked around the outside of the church, I imagined my grandma playing at recess with her classmates outside.  It really was a unique and meaningful experience to be where my grandmother started her life.  I had the thought that she knew where we were that day and was pleased that we were seeking out her roots.

The catch in the story, however, is that as Kathy started reading the history we'd been given as we drove away, it seems that this may NOT have been the church that my grandmother attended.  The history is a bit confusing.  But the church may have moved to Cornelian Street before my grandmother was old enough to attend school.  So, though this may not be the place, I kind of have a gut feeling that it is.  Or is that just because I WANT it to be?

Grace Davis Sanger and William Sanger

Kathy Jones Ohlrich and I recently returned from a trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland to find some of the places where our ancestors lived.  It was a very satisfying trip for me.  It was sobering to think that I was in the towns and on the streets where they had lived.  We found some houses where some of them had lived and churches where they worshipped God with their families.

We started in a very small, quaint town called Tisbury which has a population of about 1600 people.  It's in England about a 2 hour drive southwest from London.  Tisbury is marked by the red pindrop on the map.

It's quite close to Stonehenge.  You may have heard of this curious rock formation which is said to have been built about 3000 BC.  We saw it from the road but didn't stop.

Graphic credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Stonehenge2007_07_30.jpg

Tisbury is the town where your 7th great grandmother, Grace Davis Sanger, and 7th great grandfather, William Sanger, were born and were married.  Grace was born in 1723 and William was born in 1725.  They were married in the same church in 1749.

Here is a picture of their church, The Church of England in Tisbury:

Here is a picture of the christening font where they would have been christened as infants:

As I looked at this font, it occurred to me that I was in the place where Grace was baptized the first time, and I was with her the second time she was baptized in the Salt Lake Temple on November 14, 2013.  That was a very powerful experience for me and I feel as if I somehow know Grandma Grace because of that overwhelming experience that we shared.  I can't wait to meet her in the next life!

Here's a picture of the countryside surrounding Tisbury:

Here's a picture of the bed and breakfast where we stayed near Tisbury.  It's called Marshwood Farm.  The house was originally a bailiff's house.  A bailiff was the man who managed the estate for the rich landowner.  It's now part of a working farm.  I chose it because the house existed in the community about the same time that Grace and William would have been living nearby.  Plus, it's more charming than all get-out!

More to come on our adventures!  This trip has made me feel like I know more about and feel closer to some of my ancestors because I have seen where they lived and worshipped.

What Is the "Essence" of My Grandpa's Life?

I went to a family history seminar the other day and listened to Clive Romney who defines his job as a professional songwriter.

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Since he became interested in family history, he writes songs about the stories of his ancestors.  He started writing a song about his grandma and grandpa.  The only thing he remembers his grandpa ever saying directly to him was, "You missed a spot" while he was mowing his grandpa's lawn.  He never felt like his grandpa was very approachable.  His grandma, on the other hand, was always warm and loving.

He started writing a song about his grandparents and had a hard time finishing it.  He had to stop.  He felt like the Spirit was telling him that he would not be able to finish that song until he found out more about and understood his grandfather better.  As he started doing research about his grandfather, he discovered he was a very generous man.  After he died they found hundreds of checks written to help people who were struggling financially.  Neighbors, ward members, family members.

Clive was able to finish his song and said it turned out to paint a much different picture of his grandfather than the original song did.  He says that since you have to be very conservative with words in a song, you are only able to capture the "essence" of a person's life.  And he was grateful to discover that the essence of his grandfather's life was very different from what he had thought it was.

I started thinking about my own Grandpa Jones, Harold Guy Jones.  I have always thought of him as a harsh man.  I was sometimes scared of him when I was a child.  But is that the essence of who he really is?  I've decided to try and learn more about him.  I'm hoping my heart will be turned.

I know that he was a bishop in Tabiona, but I never knew he was on the high council.  I found his name in this newspaper article.  Do you see it in the 3rd paragraph?

http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/udr2/id/32429/show/32459/rec/1

My First Testimony

I uploaded a memory of my own today on Family Search!  None of you will be able to see it on Family Search until I'm dead because of privacy laws so I'll include a copy here.  

"The first time I remember bearing my testimony in sacrament meeting was in the LaBarge Ward.  I think I was about 9 or 10 years old.  I remember thinking this would be the perfect place because there were only about 30-40 people in attendance in that small ward on any given Sunday.  We lived in Salt Lake City but spent most of our summers as children at the ranch which is about 8 miles outside of LaBarge, Wyoming.

I cried as I bore my testimony and was very confused by that.  I wish someone had told me at the time that that was the Holy Ghost bearing witness to me that what I was saying was true. "

This picture of me is from about that same time.

CHALLENGE:

Now it's YOUR turn!  I'll send $10 to EVERYONE who uploads a story about themselves to their page on Family Search.  I won't be able to see it on Family Search, so paste a copy of it in the comments here or if it's something you want to keep private, email me a copy to wwjonesd@hotmail.com.

Sarah Simpkin Grayson

Your great-great grandmother, Sarah Simpkin Grayson, was quite a religious woman from what I have read.  Here's a link to a cool experience she had when she was in her youth before converting to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  At the time she and her family attended the Church of Christ in England.  She was your Grandpa Jones' (Harold Jones) grandma but he never met her because she died before Grandpa Jones' mom was even married.

P.S.  I'm still working on the big one, Easton!

The Big Bad Challenge

OK, this one is going to be a tough one!  And because it's a tough one, the reward is $20.  That's right. Twenty bucks.  An Uncle Jackson.

It's going to be a race between me and any of my nieces or nephews who want to take the challenge.  The race is to see who can find a new name to add to your family tree.  I'm talking about adding someone who is non-existent on your family tree right now.  One of those places on your tree where you get to the end of the line and your tree just abruptly stops.  I'm talking about a place on your tree that looks like this.

See the spots that say Add Husband and Add Wife?  We need to find these people!

So if I find a person first, I'm giving MYSELF the $20 and I get to go blow it on whatever I want.  If one of you beats me, I'll send the $20 to you.  Let the games begin!  (You'll probably need to use ancestry.com)

The challenge: find a name to add to your family tree which does not exist on your tree right now.

Jesse W. Fox Sr.

This is your 3rd great grandfather.  His name is Jesse W. Fox Sr.  There is a 95 page history of his life on Family Search, if  you're interested in learning more about him.  I found this paragraph interesting from his history written by himself:

"I am the son of a respectable farmer in the state of New York.  I followed the occupation of my father until I was 18 years of age.  He then in the fall of 1838 sent me from home to a literary institution....  In the Spring of 1844 I emigrated west.  After two months' journey I arrived at Nauvoo, the City of Joseph, June 26th, the day before the prophets were assassinated.  On the following day (June 28) I saw their dead bodies.  July following I was baptized by Elder Elijah Williams into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Wow!  What must have THAT been like?  To arrive in Nauvoo the day before Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed?!?

George Q. Cannon, who later became an apostle, knew Jesse W. Fox and said this about him:

"A more guileless, simple, kind-hearted, unspoiled man by the rest of the world, it would be exceedingly difficult to find.  Though he lived 75 years he was as a child in many respects.  He had lived in the world without being contaminated with the world or spoiled by its influences.  Anyone that wanted to take advantage of him could easily do so; for he was not a man that was suspicious or that was looking to take advantage himself and he did not suspect others of a disposition to do that."

Grandma Jones

See if you can find your Grandma Jones (Kathryn MacKay Jones) in this picture.  She came from a family of 6 girls.  Maybe your mom or dad knows which one she is.  See if your parents can pick out her sisters, Marjorie, Florence, Ruth May, Marian (who I was named after, by the way), and Joyce.

This is Marian's wedding picture.  Can you find Grandma Jones in this one?

This is a picture of Ruth May Fox and her children.  Ruth May Fox is your great great grandma and was the General Young Women's president of the church from 1929-1937.  Do you remember I told you she also came across the plains as a pioneer?  She is sitting on a tall chair in the middle of the picture.  My grandma is Florence Marie Fox MacKay and she is the woman on the furthest right.

Wahgoosh

So I'm at the temple yesterday doing sealings of family names I've found and this card comes up.  Before he says anything, the sealer looks at the card for about 4 seconds, looks at me with a question in his eyes and I can just tell he's thinking, "What's up with this guy's name?!?"  Then he finally asks, "What is that?  A nickname or something?  Wahgoosh??"  I just smile at him and say, "I have no idea.  I just found his name on Family Search and he needs some temple work done."

Today I decide to do some searching to see if I can find any explanation for this strange name.  I run across his marriage certificate and it says he married a woman by the name of Na she wa quay.  I'm thinking, "What?  Did he have 2 wives?"  You'll notice on the temple card it says his wife is Angeline Brunette.

So I go to Family Search and look what I found!  Check out the names with the yellow arrows next to them!  Wild!  On the Minnesota 1875 census, in the column for race it has a W for Samuel John "Wagoosh" Fox which means he was white.  But his wife and 3 kids have an H in the race column.  Not sure what that stands for but if you look at the yellow arrows in the lower right corner you see it says "Ojibwe woman".  I googled that.  It's the Chippewa Tribe!  So my 2nd great grandfather's brother married a Native American woman.  Pretty cool!

My best guess is that when Samuel married into the tribe, they gave him the native name of Wahgoosh.  And his wife had an English name, Angeline, as well as her native name, Na she wa quay.  Her father was a white man it looks like and her mother was a Chippewa or Ojibwe.  I wonder what Wahgoosh means.

Pilgrims

We have an ancestor named John Moses who emigrated to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1632.  He was a shipwright (which means a ship builder.)  I was reading about him online in a book written in 1899 by one of his descendants.  She said, "It is highly probable that John Moses did not come to New England to escape religious persecution, but rather to fill a demand for men who could build ships."  Well, THAT'S a new twist!  Also he was fined 10 shillings on two different occasions for drunkenness so the author doubts he was a strict Puritan.

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And how about this...Peter Brown is one of our ancestors and he came on the Mayflower in 1620!  Do you see his name on the Mayflower Compact?  In the picture below, Peter Brown is the 4th person from the right (not counting the child.)

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Congratulations to Travis who won the latest challenge!  He'll be eating at Arby's sometime in the near future!

Wanna Be In DAR or SAR?

Hey!  I found out we have an ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War!  His name is Zebulon Moses and he was born in 1754 in Connecticut.  That would have made him 22 years old in 1776 when the United States won the war and declared independence.  So if you want to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution or Sons of the American Revolution, you can apply for membership.  :)  In order to belong to one of these groups you have to prove that you had an ancestor who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennington_Battlefield_State_Historic_Site#mediaviewer/File:
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I want to find out more about him.  All I know is that he fought in the Vermont Regiment and was at the Battle of Bennington.  The marker for the Bennington battlefield is in the picture above.  There's also a "Zebulon Moses Farm Complex" in Lima, New York that is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Road trip, anyone?  Wouldn't it be cool to go back and see where he lived??

Guess who won the last challenge?  It WASN'T TRAVIS!  Can you believe it?!?  It was David!  Five bucks on its way to San Antonio with David's name on it.

Who's Named After Who?

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Time for another challenge!  This time the challenge is to find out who in Harold Jones' (your grandpa) family was named after another family member.  This one will be pretty easy if you go onto familysearch.org, click on Harold Guy Jones who is your great grandpa and find out the names of his kids.  Then look at their parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles to see who was named after a family member.  I found 8.  In the comments of this post put the name of Grandpa Jones' brothers or sisters and who they were named after.  Don't forget to include your Grandpa Jones too!  Middle names count as well as first names.  Good luck!  And may the best niece or nephew win!! The prize is a $10 gift certificate to one of these eating places, you choose: Arby's, Domino's Pizza, or Olive Garden.

Do you know who YOUR mom and dad are named after?  Go ask them!

Saving Baby Alice

Alice Ryan Jones

As I was reading stories of our pioneer ancestors yesterday I was very moved (to tears!) by this one comment written by my great grandmother, Alice Ryan Jones, about her travels across the plains at a very tender age, "My mother often said that I would not have survived because I was so tiny and frail if it hadn't been for the teamster who carried me most of the way."

Because of the daily kind act of this man carrying three month old baby Alice with him on the wagon, my great grandmother was granted the opportunity to grow to adulthood, marry, have children, and live a full life.  I have no idea the name or identity of this man but I am truly grateful to him for the great kindness he showed in caring for this small baby who was one of my ancestors.  He didn't have to do it.  He had no obligation to baby Alice or her mother.

Alice's mother set out across the plains with her 2 year old daughter, Kittie, and Alice who was only 3 months. Alice's father and 16 year old brother were to follow two weeks later to drive mule teams and freight.  During the trek, Kittie died and was buried near the Platte River.

Blessed, Honored Pioneers

I got an email from FamilySearch today with this link showing how many of my ancestors (that they know of) were Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains.  Any guesses how many?  YOU count them!

Pretty cool!  And I think there are even more.  We come from some pretty tough people who had faith in God that was strong enough to get them half way across the United States on one very tough trek.

http://historyofmormonism.com/files/2012/05/mormon-women-ruth-may-fox.jpg

One of them was Ruth May Fox.  She is your Grandma Jones' grandmother so that makes her your great-great grandmother.  She was 13 years old when she came across the plains.  She wrote the song "Carry On" which is in our hymnbook.

Here is Grandma Fox's testimony:
“Ever since I could understand, the gospel has meant everything to me. It has been my very breath, my mantle of protection against temptation, my consolation in sorrow, my joy and glory throughout all my days, and my hope of eternal life. ‘The Kingdom of God or nothing’ has been my motto.” 

Here is a story she remembers from the trail:
"One day we camped a short distance from a river, and we girls were sent for water.  Apparently we stayed too long. While we were gone, Father had unyoked the cattle and being very tired had thrown himself on the ground to rest. One of the brethren came along and asked, "Brother May, how are you?" The answer came back, "Oh there isn't much the matter. I have a sick wife, two sore heels, and two dummies." I was one of the dummies."

And this was her reaction when she first saw the Salt Lake Valley:

"At last the long journey was ended. We had pulled up the hill out of Parley's Canyon just as twilight shrouded the valley. We could still catch a glimpse of the city below, but I confessed to some disappointment as I asked, "Did we come all this way for that?" This, however was my first and last disappointment."

Take a Family Name to the Temple! Another Challege

Have you ever found a family name to take to the temple so you can do their ordinance work?  I know Easton has.  I have and it's a very cool thing.  I found a woman, Grace Davis, who is my 6th great-grandmother.  She and her husband, William Sanger, are the first two names I found when I started doing research.  It was VERY EXCITING!

There are 6 ordinances that our ancestors need to have performed for them in the temple: 1) baptism, 2) confirmation, 3) initiatories, 4) endowment, 5) sealed to parents, 6) sealed to spouse.  I stood proxy for Grace in each of the ordinances performed for her and now I feel like I somehow know her a little bit.  I can't WAIT to meet her after I die.

Which ordinance do you think I felt the spirit most powerfully while I was performing it for her?  Her confirmation!  When the temple worker spoke the words, "I confirm you a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," I felt this amazing, powerful feeling and a HUGE rush of joy that I believe came from Grace.  It was a very special experience for me and I think that Grace is overjoyed to finally be a member of Christ's church.  No doubt she has been taught the gospel in the Spirit World and I believe she has been waiting for the opportunity to belong to this church.  Grace was born in 1723 at a time when Christ's church had been taken from the earth so she had no chance of finding it during her lifetime.

Here's YOUR chance to find a family name of one of our ancestors to take to the temple.  I've already done some of the work for you and so I know this person's temple work needs to be done.  The challenge: all you have to do is go find John Kelbrick on Family Search, click on "request ordinances", print out a request form, then take it to the temple and do the baptism and confirmation for them.  There's also a $5.00 reward for the person who accomplishes this first.

You need to get on Family Search and do the hunting to find him.  I'll give you a hint, look at Mary Grayson's ancestors (she's my grandma.)  After you've found John Kelbrick and completed his baptism and confirmation (girls, you can print the name and ask your dad, brothers, or husband to do the temple work) then post in the comment section to let me know it's done.  I'll go to Family Search and be able to see that his baptism and confirmation are completed and then I'll send you the cash!  Good luck!

The Little Birdies Story Winner!!

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Travis has done it again!  He won the little birdies challenge and $5.00 is on its way to Texas.  OK, cousins, is anyone going to challenge Travis or are y'all going to let him win every time?

In case you didn't get to read the Little Birdies story, here it is.  The person telling the story is Grayson Hyrum Jones.  He is Harold Jones' (your Grandpa Jones) big brother.  Harold wasn't born yet when this story took place.

LITTLE BIRDIES LEARN LIFE'S LESSON

Mom had baked a cake.  Cakes were few and far between.  Most of the eggs were bartered at the store for needs such as baking soda, matches, and coal oil, but this day we were getting a cake.

Boy, did it smell good.  Gertrude and I watched its creation every step of the way.  After it was out of the oven and cooled, mom did a strange thing, she set it down on the low bench by the side of the table.

"Children, I am going to the post office.  I am leaving this cake here.  Do not touch it.  We will eat it later tonight after supper.  Grayson, you are responsible for Gertrude and Alice."  She put on her broad-brimmed black hat and left for the post office.  She always wore her hat to keep the sun from damaging the skin on her face.  It was approximately a half mile from the outskirts of Tabiona to the post office.  

We were good for about ten minutes.  Then I said, "I am a little birdie.  I will eat just this crumb."  I selected a small crumb on the edge of the plate.

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Gertrude copied me.  "I am a little birdie too."  She selected another crumb beside the cake.  I took another peck.  She took another peck.  Soon it was necessary to select a small spot on the bottom of the cake, where it was not too obvious, for me to take my little peck.  Gertrude, being three-and-a-half, was not as coordinated as I was and her peck really showed.

Baby Alice, who was just beginning to walk, toddled over.  She took a handful.  I knew we were doomed.  We all began to eat as much as we could.  Finally, Alice climbed up and straddled the bench beside the cake.  Needless to say, it was a mess.

As soon as I heard mom walking up to the door, I headed for the bed and crawled under it.  Gertrude followed.  Alice sat contentedly with the cake between her legs, eating.

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Mom came in, methodically took off her hat, picked up Alice, washed her off and set her on the bed.  She put the remains of the cake up on the table.  Then she took the razor strap off the door handle and called for Gertrude.  Gertrude did not budge.  Mom came over, leaned down beside the bed, grabbed Gertrude's foot and dragged her out.  Gertrude got several swats with the razor strap.  I knew I was really going to get it.  I flattened myself tightly against the wall but then I realized that if I resisted it would be worse so I crawled out from under the bed.  I got five swats, one for each year of my life.

Three or four years later I asked mom why she left the cake right where we could get it.  "I knew you would eat it," she replied.  "That's why I left it there."  

This is who WE are!  We were raised by parents and grandparents who were taught to be honest and obey their parents.  My Grandma Jones set her kids up for failure that day.  She knew they would eat the cake while she was gone.  And I really respect her for it.  It was a difficult lesson to learn but one that really stayed with them the rest of their lives.  Grayson was an old man when he told this story to his little sister, Meada, to put in her book, but he still remembered it all of those years later.

Fan Chart

Have you ever seen one of these?  It's called a fan chart and is a cool way to look at your genealogy.  You are in the white circle.  Your parents are in the half circle around you.  Your grandparents are in the next white half circle then it just keeps going out from there.  The color coordination helps keep things in order.  You can see 9 generations of your ancestors when looking at this fan chart.  Of course, you can make it larger so you can actually see the names and dates of the people.  And all those blank spaces?  Those are people we still need to find and get their temple work done for them!  Since I first printed out my fan chart about 2 years ago, some of the blank spaces have been filled in...and some of them by ME!  It's exciting when you find someone!!

Here's how to make your own fan chart.  Go to createfan.com then use your LDS login and follow the easy directions.  You can download a copy.  Go try it!

Don't Be a Weak Link

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There is a talk given by Gordon B. Hinckley that has always made an impression on me.  (Entire talk found here.)  He talks about how each of us is a link to the generations that came before us and the generations that come after us...especially a link of faith.

Gordon B. Hinckley

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As President Hinckley sat in the celestial room before the dedication of the Columbus Ohio Temple, he had these thoughts:
"In that sacred and hallowed house there passed through my mind a sense of the tremendous obligation that was mine to pass on all that I had received as an inheritance from my forebears to the generations who have now come after me.

As I sat in the celestial room of the temple pondering these things, I said to myself, “Never permit yourself to become a weak link in the chain of your generations.” It is so important that we pass on without a blemish our inheritance of body and brain and, if you please, faith and virtue untarnished to the generations who will come after us."

He also said at a different time, "We stand on the shoulders of those who preceded us, men and women of courage and conviction who, in the midst of adversity, put their trust in the Almighty and worked endlessly to make their dreams come true."

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We are so blessed in this Jones family to have a long heritage of faith that has come down through the years and has been passed on to us.  Our ancestors have preserved this faith and taught their children and grandchildren "that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26)

Elisha Jones is one of our ancestors who was a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He passed the legacy of faith on to his son, Hyrum Jones.  Hyrum Jones maintained his testimony and passed his faith on to his son, Harold Guy Jones.  Guy taught his children the gospel through example and passed his faith on to his son, Harold Jones, who is my father.  My father taught me the gospel and I am very grateful for men and women of faith whose shoulders I stand on!

Elisha Jones 1813-1880

Here is Elisha Jones' conversion story in his own words.

"About 1842 there came a man into the neighborhood that told of a people called Mormons. His name was James Dunn. My brother James believed the work and left immediately for Illinois. I read their books and believed them, especially the Voice of Warning. My wife was dissatisfied with my reading so I laid them by for a while. My brother James went to Illinois and joined the Church and was gone four years. 

At this time Joseph Smith and Hyram Smith were murdered on the 27th day of June 1844. The Church was driven from Illinois to Winter Quarters. My brother James came back to Ohio to my father's and stayed all winter. 

As soon as my brother came I was anxious to know about the work of the Lord. My brother James N. Jones baptized me and my wife in the nighttime, because of persecution, about the 3rd of March, 1847.

I immediately began to get ready to start for Winter Quarters with my family that was left: Martha, Richard, John, Mary, Sarah and Elizabeth. The mob spirit raged and enemies would have mobbed me if they had known I was going. We arrived in Winter Quarters on July 27, 1847. Heard Orson Hyde preach. My wife took sick with the fever and lay three months. About this time I was building a log house and broke a blood vessel in my breast. I lost so much blood I could not stand. I lay five months and lost all of my property."

Elisha Jones and his family came across the plains with the Mormon pioneers soon after their stay at Winter Quarters.  You can read more of Elisha's journal here (after signing in to familysearch.)

The Ranch

The Riverside Livestock Ranch near LaBarge, Wyoming has been a gathering place for our extended Jones family for years.  My brothers and sister and I spent most of every summer there when we were kids.  My grandpa, Harold Guy Jones (known as Guy Jones), bought the ranch in 1946 with another family named the Taylors.  I don't know the history of how the Jones family acquired the entire ranch but I know we have owned it for many years...at least as long as I've been alive.  Guy's four sons, Grayson, Harold, Bruce, and Cecil bought the ranch from their dad and 2 families (Bruce's and Cecil's) stayed up there year round to ranch.  The background picture of this blog is another picture of the ranch.

Thanks to my cousin, Chirelle Weaver, for the picture

Last weekend much of the Jones family once again gathered at the ranch for a huge family reunion.  There is a great deal of strength and love in this large family.  My first cousins know each other quite well because we were often taken to the ranch when we were kids...even the California and Texas cousins visited quite often.  It's estimated that there were about 140 people in attendance.

Little Birdies...An Important Life Lesson

If you still live with your mom and dad, you have a book that looks like this somewhere in your house.

My aunt, Meada Jones Ouzounian, wrote this family history of the Joneses.  I haven't read the whole thing yet, but one of my favorite stories so far is about some little birdies.  Are you ready for another challenge??  I'll send $5.00 to the first person who finds the story about the little birdies and summarizes it in a few sentences.  Be sure to include the important lesson that the little birdies learned.  Just click on comments and write the summary.  Hint: look in the Table of Contents of the book to find where the Little Birdies story is.