John Wesley Jones ^{1 2}

  General Notes:

JOHN WESLEY JONES.

It is with no small degree of satisfaction that the biographer e.s.says to
set before the reader the salient pomts and facts in the life history of the
estimable gentleman now deceased whose name initiates this paragraph, for
his life was one singularly full of good deeds and his influence was ever whole-
some and ameliorating, so that today he is remembered as a man who was
held in the highest res])ect and admiration of his many friends and acquaint-
ances.

John Wesley Jones was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on August 22.
1842, the son of Isaac Jones and wife, of whose six children he was the
youngest. Isaac Jones' family came to DeKalb county, Indiana, in the early
days, where, at Aulnirn, Mr. Jones later ran a tin shop, though he subse-
quently moved to a farm two and one-half miles south of Auburn. Pearly in
the Civil war John W. Jones enlisted as a member of Company .'V, One Hun-
dredth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served about
nine months, being then discharged because of physical disability. He re-
cruited his health and on March 19, 1864, he agahi enlisted in the First
Indiana Battery of Heavy Artillery, with which he remained in the service
until the end of the war. On April ig, 1864, soon after his enlistment, be
was married to Sarah A. Plum, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, the
daughter of Jeremiah and Jane (Scott) Plum, .\\t the age of five years she



DEKALB COUNTY, INDIANA. 59 1

came to DeKalb county with her parents who located about out mile east of
Waterloo. Jeremiah Plum became the sheriff of DeKalb county a few years
after the close of the Civil war, holding that office for four years, and his son,
Philip, was sheriff of the county in later years. Here Jeremiah Plum fol-
lowed farming during nearly all of liis acti\\e life and also gave some atten-
tion to auctioneering, in which he was very successful. He was a member
of the United Brethren church, as was his wife, ;uk1 they are both now de-
ceased, their deaths occurring on their farm east of Waterloo. After John
W. Jones received his final discharge from the military service at the close of
the Civil war he engaged in farming a year on his father's farm and then was
similarly engaged two years on the farm of his father-in-law while the latter
was serving as sheriff of the county. During the remainder of his life Mr.
Jones was employed by the Lake Shore Railway Company in various capac-
ities, the last nine years of his life being in th.e freight service of that com-
pany at \\Vaterloo. He was iiidustriims antl energetic, anil was luunbered
among the valued employes of tiiat c<im])any, enjoying a well deserved i)opu-
larity among his fellows.

To Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born nine children, of whom two died in
infancy, .seven being raised to maturity: Frank Leonard, who lives a mile
east of Waterloo, married Mary Mergy, and they have two daughters; Otie
is the wife of Byron Leas, who lives west of Waterloo, and who is mentioned
specifically elsewhere in this work; Josephine is the wife of E. W. Miles, of
Hammond, Indiana, and they have a son; Norah is the wife of James Rainier,
of Auburn, and they have two children, a boy and a girl; Mary became the
wife of Thomas Ferguson, who lives two and one-half miles south of Auburn :
Edison, who lives in ^^'aterloo, married Lena Durst; Daisy Fern is the wife
of Chester C. Bowman. John Wesley Jones died on October 6, 1895, ^^^^
his death was considered a distinct loss to the community, for he had been a
man who, though not very prominent in the public life of the community, had
nevertheless been an earnest and constant supporter of everything which
promised to advance the best interests of the locality, and he was numbered
among the sterling and consistent citizens of Waterloo. Religiously he was
a member of the L^nited Brethren church, of which Mrs. Jones is now an
earnest member, and fraternally he belonged to the Knights of the Maccabees
and the Grand Army of the Republic. A kind and loving father, a faithful
husband, a public-spirited citizen. Mr. Jones had for many years quietly but
consistently fulfilled his duties as a citizen in his community and he exerted
an influence which has been for the moral and social upbuilding of the people.

John married Sarah A. Plum, daughter of Jeremiah Plum and Jane Scott, in Apr 1864. (Sarah A. Plum was born in Stark County, Ohio, USA.)