History of William Parsons Jones
Contributed By JensenAnnC1 · 2013-10-25 22:45:05 GMT+0000 (UTC) ·
HISTORY OF WILLIAM PARSONS JONES
William Parsons Jones married Elizabeth Shaw on February 25, 1858, while he was on furlough from service in the Utah Militia, which at the time was assigned to protect the Mormon settlements from the approaching US forces under General Johnson, in what history has come to call the “Utah War.” Their first home was a dugout at Kaysville furnished with a few pieces of home-made furniture.
Elizabeth was the same age as William. She was also a convert from England. In 1857, she came across the Great Plains to Utah with Israel Evans Handcart Company. Her Uncle, Al Fletcher, introduced her to William Parsons Jones and romance bloomed immediately. Their first child, William Clinton Jones, was born in Kaysville in 1859, then they moved to West Weber in the spring of 1860.
Three children were born in West Weber, then the family moved to South Weber, at the mouth of the Weber River in 1864. William and Elizabeth spent the remainder of their lives in South Weber. They had thirteen children, eight of whom lived to adulthood. Their first child, William Clinton, and their third child Ellen, died of whooping cough while the family was still at West Weber.
William was a farmer, a hard worker and a good man. Always active in the Mormon Church, he was a Superintendent of the Sunday School and later a Bishop. He also served on the community School board as a trustee.
A daughter, Annie E. Jones Peterson, wrote the following regarding her parents:
“They had thirteen children and they assisted in the work, the girls helped in the house and the boys helped with the outside work. Schools were in session from three to five months a year. The dancing parties were about the only entertainment they had. The people of the community were mostly Latter Day Saints and were an industrious, thrifty class. The only public building was a school house used for school, meetings and dancing. Many things had to be learned such as making soap from lye and grease, after making the lye from ashes.
Sheep raising was another industry. The wool was clipped from the sheep, washed and picked to get the dirt out. It was then sent to the carding mill and made into rolls, which my mother spun into threads for weaving. She afterwards wove the cloth which they called jeans and linsey, the jeans for men’s suits and the linsey for women’s and children’s clothes, also for men’s shirts. My mother did all her own sewing and knitted all the socks and stockings.
My parents struggled along, enduring many hardships. They finally built a comfortable home and raised their family. Elizabeth Shaw Jones was the mother of thirteen children, eight of whom grew up and raised families which were an honor to her name.”
History of William Parsons Jones continued
On July 9, 1891, at the age of fifty-four, William suffered a sunstroke while working in his fields. He died a few hours later. Like his father, he set a worthy example for his posterity. His wife survived him by twenty-five years, dying on December 13, 1916. She was a noble pioneer mother.
William Parsons Jones a son to Thomas E. Jones and Mary Parsons
(transcribed from what was typewritten by/for Veldon Wheeler Jones. A few notes are added by me [Jenni] in brackets for clarification.)
Juliette Wheeler Jones--some additional events in her life that are remembered by her son, Veldon
John Jay Wheeler, Juliette's father, had fought all through the Civil War and had contracted consumption. His poor health made him decide to go to a warmer climate, so in 1877 or 1878 he took his family to Texas. On the fourth of May, 1878, Mary Elizabeth, Juliette's younger sister, was born. She lived for a year and was laid to rest on the 8th of June 1879.
The warmer climate didn't seem to help John's health and on February 3, 1880 he passed away.
Eliza Ann, Juliette's mother, eventually accepted the proposal of a friend of her husband, Jesse Mantonio. He was a gambler and mean to his wife and daughter. He once beat little Juliette with a stick with a nail in it, and that was about all she could remember of him five years later.
In Reinback, Iowa Juliette found to girl friends, Bertha Marble and Cora Starrett, who became her pals. They were together as much as possible. When they were about 18 years old Cora cut her hand one night and died from lockjaw [tetanus] a few days later.
The L.D.S. Missionaries had been to the Bistline and other homes in the community and Juliette and her uncle became interested but wouldn't join without coming to Utah to investigate thoroughly.
It was on the 24th of December 1897 that Juliette and her uncle arrived in Ogden, Utah. One of the missionaries who had visited the folks in Iowa was a clerk from Liberty, just outside of Ogden, and Juliette went there and stayed for about six weeks helping with a new baby.
The following probably took place in the log cabin [which Juliette and her husband John built when first married] and I am going to relate it as I remember Mother telling it to me, as she didn't write about it in her history.
One night John's sister was staying with John and Juliette, so John slept on the couch in the kitchen and left his bed for his sister. During the night he awoke and saw a person standing in the doorway between the two rooms. Thinking it was his wife and something was wrong, he called to her. She didn't answer so he called again, and then a third time. Then she vanished. By that time Juliette was awake and came to see what was wrong. John told her, but there was nothing to do but go back to bed.
A few days later John, Juliette, and John's sister were looking at some pictures when one picture came into view. John said, "That's her, that's the person I saw in the doorway the other night." It was a picture of Cora Starrett.
The next time they saw Patriarch Larkins they told him about the experience and he advised them to do the temple work for Cora as soon as they could. This they did.
This sojourn in Idaho was the winter of 1918-1919, the year the flu raged so much. The whole family had it, but John was the only one who received any ill effects from it. He never regained his health completely.
No matter where they lived John & Juliette kept busy in the church and as the children grew they participated in church activities and all were happy in Church service.
After they moved to South Cottonwood Ward near Murray, John's health began to fail fast. After two years in South Cottonwood Ward the family moved to a farm in North Point, a place Northwest of Salt Lake City. That winter John lay at death's door for three months and some times there was no food in the house and no fuel except wood, which Juliette and Beth could scrape out of the snow. It was only the goodness of the Lord through the neighbors that gave them what food they had for they were snowed in most of the winter. 
