William Evans Stevens Jones (1832 - 1917)

Born 5 Sep 1832 in Trenton, Oneida, New York, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Marilla (Hunt) Jones — married 31 Dec 1857 in Weyauwega, Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA

Husband of Sarah Minerva (Hopkins) Jones — married 6 Oct 1860 in Iola, Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA

Descendants

Died 3 Dec 1917 at age 85 in Iola, Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA

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Biography

W.E.S. JONES. No man in Waupaca county is probably more worthy of representation in this work than the gentleman whose name introduces this record. He has been identified with the agricultural interests of this county from an early day, and now makes his home on his fine farm of one hundered and fifteen acres in Section 19, Helvetia township. The place is one of the best farms in this section of the country, and indicates in its appointments the supervision of a man of intelligence and sound judgement.

Mr. Jones was born at Trenton, Oneida Co., N.Y., in September, 1832, and is a son of Robert and Sophia (Evans) Jones, the former is also a native of Oneida county, N.Y., where his death occurred when his son was quite young. In the family were six children, two sons and four daughters. At the age of seventeen years, our subject removed to Granville, Licking Co., Ohio. His mother died in Wisconsin, at the home of her daughter in Portage county, when past the age of sixty years. While in Licking county Mr. Jones was in the employ of Salsbury & Pound, driving a team for which he received $8 per month. He hauled whiskey and pork barrels, provisions, rakes, cradles, etc., to the surrounding towns before the railroads had been completed. He there remained three years and a half when he was joined by his brother John, who was more than two years his junior, and they emigrated to Coles county, Ill., driving the entire distance. Our subject there secured work on a farm, where he spent one summer, when he went to Oshkosh, Wis., but as he failed to find work in that city, he hired with C.J. Lewis, of Fond du Lac, to repair a sawmill at Shawano, Wis., whence he went by boat to New London, and then by an Indian trail the remainder of the distance. No wagon roads led through the country, and there were only three houses between New London and Shawano. At the latter place he remained a few months, when he returned to Illinois for a short time, but later came to Weyauwega, Waupaca county, where he was employed for a time as a cooper. On leaving that city he removed to Iola, the same county, where he worked at the carpenter's trade.

At Weyauwega, Mr. Jones had bought a lot and erected on it a small house, to which he took his bride. He was married in that city to Morilla Hunt, a native of New York, and to them a daughter was born--May, now Mrs. Eugene Brazelton, of Hortonville, Wis. The mother died after the removal to Iola. On October 6, 1860, at that place Mr. Jones wedded Miss Minerva Hopkins, who was born in New Milford, PA., December 7, 1843, and is a daughter of William and Salom (Adams) Hopkins, the former a native of Rhode Island and the latter of Connecticut. Her parents later removed to Illinois, where her father died, after which her mother became the wife of Anthony Stearns, who came to Iola about 1857. Mrs. Jones received an excellent education, having attended the high school of Amboy, Ill., after which she taught for five terms, receiving $6 per month and boarding around among the scholars. She was engaged in teaching for three terms in District No. 2, Iola township, Waupaca county. By her marriage she has become the mother of five children--Josephus B., a farmer of Iola township; Edith C., who became the wife of Halver Amberson and died in Stetsonville, Wis.; Effie, at home; Martha, a school teacher; and Lucy, at home.

In December, 1863, our subject became a member of Company K, Tenth Wis. V.E., under Captain Roby, who was then commander of the regiment, which had been terribly slautered, having only thirty-five men at the time of Mr. Jones enlistment at Fond du Lac, Wis. They then went to Madison and were put in charge of three hundred conscripts, after which they proceeded to Chattanooga. The first engagement in which Mr. Jones participated was at Buzzard's Roost. In the spring of 1864, he was taken ill and sent to the hospital at Nashville, where he recovered consciousness. The authorities wished to send him home, to which he objected, and he did patrol and picket duty at Murfreesboro until the fall of 1864, when he rejoined his regiment at Marietta, GA, which only had a few members remaining, and was later consolidated with the Twenty-first Wis. V. I. At Savannah he was detailed to go to the first division hospital of the 14th Army Corps as carpenter, which trade he followed during the remainder of the campaign. After participating in the Grand Review at Washington, D.C., he proceeded to Louisville, KY, where he was discharged August 14, 1865, from the Third Wis. V.I., to which he had been transferred. He sustained his worst injuries on the forced march to Richmond, VA, after the conflict had closed.

Soon after his second marriage our subject had removed to a tract of unimproved land in Section 18, Helvetia township, and their home consisted of a little shanty twelve feet square. They had to set one bureau on top of another in order to have any room in their small house, but in the fall of 1863 they removed to the village of Iola where Mr. Jones returned at the close of the war. During his absence his wife left in a destitute condition; cut off from all communications with her husband she was compelled to work at various kinds of labor, such as a man would usually do in order to support the family. She deserves great credit for her labors, and it was often the woman who remained at home who suffered most during that great struggle. For two years Mr. Jones endeavored to work at his trade of carpentering in Iola, but on account of his injuries was forced to give it up. He then removed to Section 19, Helvetia township, where he purchased seventy-five acres of land from Joseph Keating, and has since made that place his home, though he has added to his original tract until he now has one hundred and fifteen acres. All the buildings upon the place stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise, having been erected since his residence there. Mr. Jones has ever been a patriotic and loyal citizen, serving his country faithfully in days of peace as well as on southern battlefields, where he was one of the boys in blue and so valiantly aided in the defense of the stars and stripes. As an honest man and worthy citizen he deserves the respect and esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens. In politics he is a Republican, intelligently supporting his party by voice and vote, and before the war was ever a stanch Abolitionist. For a few years he has been supervisor of his township, and has held a number of offices in the school district.

Military Service

Private William Jones served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: DEC 14, 1863
Mustered out: JUL 18, 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): 10th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry; 21st Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry; 23rd Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry

Military Service: Co. K, 10th Wis. Infantry

Date: 14 DEC 1863^[1]

Military Service: Discharged

Date: 18 JUL 1865

Object: @M49@

Burial

Burial:

Place: Iola, Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA

Cemetery: Riverside Cemetery

Date: 1917

Note: Section 3

Row 59

Grave N4

http://wigenweb.org/waupaca/RivCem/R2.htm

Object: @M6@

Property

Property: Original Homestead

Date: 10 APR 1856

Place: , Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA

Object: @M45@

Military

Military: Civil War Veterans Schedules

Date: 1890

Place: Iola, Waupaca, Wisconsin, USA

Object: @M49@

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S5249 Quality or Certainty of Data: 3 Page: Page 34 Data: Text: Jones, William E.S. Born September, 1832, in New York; died Dec. 3, 1917. Married Minera Hopkins. Children: Joseph, Edith, Effie, Martha and Lucy. Lived in Ohio and Illinois before moving to Iola in 1863. Worked as a carpenter. Enlisted in 1863 in Co. K 10th Wis. Infantry; discharged Aug. 14, 1865 and returned to Iola. Purchased 70 acres in Section 19, Helvetia Township and built it up to 115 acres. Later moved to the village of Iola.

• Source: S5249 Title: A History of Iola, Wisconsin Author: Robert M. Poeschl Note: #NS52492 Repository: Call Number: 78-52775 Media: Book User ID: 2DEAD25BFDD59C1C462A2BF4722458DC Data Changed: Date: 15 SEP 2008 Time: 09:57:43 WT_USER thezfunk

No NOTE record found with id NS52492.

• Source: S5250 Abbreviation: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin Counties Title: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin Counties: Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano Author: Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co. 1895 Publication: Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin Counties: Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade and Shawano