John Davis Jones
(Editor's note: John
D. Jones was also known as John Jones Davis). John Jones Davis was born
November 2, 1831, at Yetgoch, (which means Red Gate
in Welsh) in the parish of Llanllwny,
Carmarthenshire, South Wales and was the son of
Benjamin Jones Davis and Elizabeth Thomas. Yetgoch
was a cottage on the Llanybyther Mountain.
John was the oldest
child of Benjamin Morris Jones, a wool weaver, and his wife Elizabeth Evans.
His brothers and sisters were Evan, Rachel, Mary, Morris, Thomas, David,
another Morris, Elizabeth, and
Sarah.
It is believed that
John's father, Benjamin Morris Jones, was raised by his maternal grandfather,
Evan Jones, a weaver,
thereby taking his grandfather's name and trade. Bejamin's
parents were Morris David (Davies) and Rachel Evans
John wrote in his life
sketch, "My first recollection we lived in a place called Waingron in Llanybyther Parish,
then moved to Blaenllain in Llanliwni
Parish when I was about seven years of age. I herded stock for David Evans at Penywern and lived there most every summer until the tenth
of September 1846. On that day I embraced the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and was baptized by Thomas E. Jeremy in the river Live.
"Then
my father hired me to Evan Cornel in Llanlburg for
one year and received in payment twenty-one shillings. This place being a long
way from the Saints' meetings I prayed continually for the Lord to open the way
so I could be nearer the Saints' meetings. Though far away I never missed a
meeting
and when my year was up the Lord had heard my prayers. Brother Thomas E. Jeremy
and my father
came and Jeremy hired me for one year for four times the amount that I was
getting at Cornel and all of the
branch meetings were held at Jeremy's home.
"The following
fall I started for Utah in company of Captain Dan Jones and 750 Saints. I left
all my friends and relatives and started from Llanybyther
and we traveled to Swansea in carts then
went on board of the Trubadore for Liverpool. We
stayed there over two weeks then got on board the
Buena Vista and in seven weeks and three days we landed at New Orleans and from
there we traveled
up the Mississippi River and when at St Louis, Missouri we had lost sixty-two
of our brethren and sisters in forty-eight hours from Cholera Morbus. I was taken sick at the same time but the power of
God saved me
and many others.
"Through
much we were permitted to come to Council Bluffs. There we stayed for over six
weeks, then started across the plains for Utah with ox
teams and I had to stand guard every night. A great many things transpired
which are too numerous to mention here. Indian troubles on the Platt River,
four feet of snow in the Quaken Aspen Hollow, the
loss of cattle was great. We arrived in Utah October
1849. Brother Jeremy left word with his wife for me to go and hunt for work. So
I started in the company of a man by the name of John Jones from Badw-Bach, when we got to Salt Lake the distance of seven
miles it was dark and we were very hungry and cold and neither one of us could
speak English. We started for the Hot Springs, but had to crawl into a little
stack of hay, about two loads, near the Warm Springs without any bedding or
food since breakfast."
John married Mary Jane
Jones January 28, 1854. They lived in Willard, Utah, for a time. In February of
1857, he married a second wife, Sarah James. She also lived for a while in
Willard. In 1869, he moved to Malad Valley, settling
in Cherry Creek. John built a rock house for each of his wives. He also helped
to build the rock church in Cherry Creek. He is the father of twenty-two
children, eighteen of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. John was musically
inclined. He played the violin and sang and taught several of his children to
play.
He
was set apart in 1880, as bishop of Cherry Creek Ward, holding this position
until 1885. In 1888, the Malad Stake was organized
and John was called as a stake high councilor. In 1891, the ward was
discontinued and John was appointed as the presiding elder
over it till his death October 28, 1900. He is
buried
in the Cherry Creek Cemetery. He is listed as John Jones Davis on his
headstone.
Mary Jane Jones
Mary
Jones was born December 23, 1834, in the village of Pont Yates, within the
Parish of Llangendeime, Carmarthen. Wales. Her
parents were John Jones, a farmer, and his wife, Jane Trehorne.
They were married November 12, 1822, in the parish church at Llangendeime. Her brothers and sisters were, William, Anne,
John, David, and Sarah.
The family sailed from
Liverpool, England on the ship Buena Vista, February 25, 1849, with 249 Welsh
saints on board, under the direction of Dan Jones. The ship arrived in New Orleans
April 18, 1849. From there they traveled up the Mississippi in the steamer The
Highland Mary to St Louis and then to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Mary married John
Davis Jones January 28, 1854. They settled in Willard, Utah, where seven of
their ten children were born. In April of 1869, John moved Mary and their
children north to homestead Cherry Creek, Idaho, which it was then a desolate
sage brush flat with any number of snakes, coyotes, and wolves.
Mary
had a very pleasant personality. Her grandchildren always liked to go visit
her. She would have them gather up chips for her fire so she could make her
tea, like the typical Welsh woman she was. She and her daughter-in-law Gwenford Williams Jones would talk together in Welsh, and
of course the children couldn't understand what they were saying. Mary was left
a widow in 1900. In her later years she went blind. She died August 25, 1917,
in Cherry Creek at the age of 82 and was buried there beside her husband.
Sarah James
Sarah
James was the daughter of David James and Catherine Bowen. She was born at St.
John, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales
April 18, 1840. Sarah and her family celebrated it on April 19.
Sarah's father died
when she was a small child. Her mother was left to raise seven children. One
evening as Sarah's brothers, who were miners, were returning home from work,
they listened to two Mormon elders who were conducting a street meeting. They
were interested in the missionaries' message. They talked about this with their
mother, after which they invited the missionaries to their home and attended
their meetings whenever possible. They compared this new message to what
knowledge they had of the scriptures and with other teachings they previously
had as members of the Baptist Church. They felt inspired after their
investigation that the missionaries were teaching the true Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
By 1855, several
members of the family, including Sarah had been baptized. Then the question of
emigration to Utah was discussed. They began to save money so that they would
be prepare to journey to Zion.
On April 19, 1856, the day after Sarah’s sixteenth birthday,
they set sail from Liverpool for America on the ship The Samuel Curling. Dan
Jones, the great Welsh missionary, was the director of the company of 707
saints on board. Upon leaving Wales departed with some sadness, leaving friends
and relatives. They couldn't take many of their belongings, wearing apparel.
They arrived in the Boston Harbor May 23, 1856. From Boston the family traveled
by rail to Iowa City, Iowa. After waiting for three weeks for handcarts, they
started their trek across the plains June 23, 1856, with Edward Bunker Company.
There were 300 persons in the company and 60 handcarts. Near Des Moines, Iowa,
Sarah's mother Catherine Bowen passed away. They buried her in a crude grave
along the trail. It was a sad blow to her children, especially Sarah, who was
the youngest. They arrived in Salt Lake City on October 2, 1856.
Sarah
was married and sealed to John Davis Jones on February 10, 1857, by President
Young in
his office in the Council House in Salt Lake City. She was his second wife in
plural marriage. John, Mary,
and Sarah lived in Willard, Utah, a number of years. Here eight of Sarah's ten
children were born. In 1869
John took Mary and their children north to homestead in Malad
Valley. It is believed that he didn't move
Sarah and their children to Cherry Creek until after the birth of their
daughter, Hannah, in 1876 in Willard. The last two children were born in Cherry
Creek. Sarah had several years of hardship in the valley.
John built her a rock house, and he helped build the church house.
Her family fondly
remembers her as having had blue eyes. She was only about five feet tall. She
always wore glasses and often misplaced them on her forehead. She would have to
be reminded that they were there. She continued to speak Welsh with her
friends.
Taken from a sketch
written by: John D Jones
and histories written by. Granddaughter,
Laura May Jones Bouhuis
and
Great-Granddaughter,
Beverly June Bouwhuis Hill.
Submitted by: Barbara Jones, K.E. Harris and
Judy Goodsell
