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Benjamin F. Jones, Sr., a retired farmer of Ladora, Iowa, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th
of April, 1839, of the marriage of Samuel P. and Mary Ann (Vance) Jones, both natives of Philadelphia, where they
were reared and married and where two of their children were born. The father was employed as a cabinetmaker in
Philadelphia, but upon his removal to western Pennsylvania about 1832 he took up the carpenter's trade, which he
made his life work. He died in Greene county, that state, in 1870 when seventy one years of age, and his wife lived
to be seventy nine years old.
Benjamin F. Jones, Sr., was reared at home and received a common school education. In his young manhood he worked
as a farm hand for a number of years, but on the 6th of August, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, First West Virginia
Cavalry, and served with that command until the close of the war, participating in the following engagements: Blues
Gap, West Virginia, on the 6th of January, 1862; Blooming Gap, Virginia, February 14, 1862; Kearnstown, Virginia,
March 23d; Fort Republic, Virginia, June 8th and 9th; Kellysford and Cedar Mountain, August 9th; second battle
of Bull Run, August 28th and 29th; Chantilly, Virginia, September; Warrenton Junction, Virginia, May 3, 1863; Hanover,
Pennsylvania, June 28th; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 2d and 3d; Monterey Pass, July 4th; Hagerstown, Maryland,
July 6th; Brandy Station, Virginia, October 5th; and Bucklin Mills, Virginia, October 19th. At the last named battle
he was captured and for eighteen months and ten days was confined in rebel prisons, at the Pemberton building,
Belle Isle, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen and Black Shear, Georgia. On the 27th of April, 1865, he was released
near Jacksonville, Florida, and returned home.
In 1866 Mr. Jones purchased a farm of fifty two acres in Washington county, Pennsylvania, but did not operate it,
reentering the employ of the man for whom he had worked before joining the army. On the 1st of January, 1868, he
migrated westward, locating upon a farm in Deep River township, Poweshiek county, Iowa. He purchased a quarter
section of land there and was successful in its operation. In 1870 he returned to Pennsylvania for his bride and
they began their married life upon his farm. He continued to reside in Poweshiek county for a number of years and
ford six years was superintendent of the poor farm there and for one year was deputy county clerk. In 1886 he came
to Iowa county, locating in Sumner township a mile and a half southeast of Ladora upon a farm of one hundred and
forty acres belonging to his wife, which is still in possession of the family. He continued the cultivation of
his land until June, 1907, when he rented the place and removed to Ladora, where he is now living.
Mr. Jones has been married three times, his first wife being Miss Amelia Reed, whom he wedded in Pennsylvania in
1870. They were the parents of five children, two of whom are living: Benjamin F., Jr., who is operating the homestead;
and Mrs. Maud Shedenhehn, a resident of Des Moines. Mrs. Jones passed away on the 2d of October, 1880, at Montezuma,
Iowa, and on the 26th of April, 1885, Mr. Jones married Miss Margaret Mauser, of Deep River, Iowa. Her demise occurred
in April, 1905, and on the 17th of April, 1907, Mr. Jones was joined in wedlock with Mrs. Ruth Martin, the widow
of James S. Martin. She is a sister of his first wife, was in her maidenhood Ruth Reed, and resided in Newcastle,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. Jones is a republican and never lets an opportunity pass of striking a blow at the liquor traffic which he
believes to be the cause of many of the evils of our civic life. Fraternally he is connected with Montezuma Lodge,
No. 74, I. O. O. F.; Poweshiek Encampment, No. 15, I. O. O. F.; and W. B. Bricker Post, No. 174, G. A. R., of Ladora.
He and his wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian church in Ladora and their influence is invariably on
the side of righteousness and truth. He takes a commendable interest in public affairs and has displayed in times
of peace that same spirit of patriotism that prompted him to enlist in the Union army in the Civil war. His three
brothers, Louis B., John C. and Joseph V., likewise went to the defense of the Union and the last named died of
cholera in New Orleans soon after the cessation of hostilities.
From:
History of Iowa County, Iowa
And its People
By: James C. Dinwiddie
Vol II
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Chiago 1915
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