From A Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. I, p. 525
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902 

EDWARD W. JONES 

   The Groveland farm in Wilson township has been developed under the enterprising efforts of Edward Jones, its present proprietor.  It comprises four hundred acres of rich bottom land and the salient features of the place are its good buildings, its fine pasture and meadow lands and its waving fields of grain; there is also a beautiful grove, the latest improved machinery and every convenience that will facilitate farm work and render its returns more sure and speedy.  Groveland farm has a wide reputation in connection with stock-raising since Mr Jones became the owner of a herd of Galloway and Black Polled cattle, no finer stock being found in Rice county.

   The enterprising and progressive owner of this desirable property is a native of Wales.  He was born on the White Field farm in Cardiganshire, April 28, 1850, and is a son of John P and Ann (Lewis) Jones, also natives of the same locality.  The latter is a daughter of Joshua Lewis, deceased.  Mr and Mrs Jones were reared, educated and married in the county of their nativity, and in 1850 they bade adieu to friends and home preparatory to taking up their abode in the new world.  Crossing the Atlantic to the United State, they became residents of Gallia county, Ohio, where the father followed agricultural pursuits, although in Wales he had devoted his attention to the weaver’s trade.  In politics he was a Republican and warmly espoused the principles of his party.  In all his dealings he was straightforward, reliable, his word being as good as his bond.  For many years he served as deacon in the Calvinistic Methodist church, and in that religious faith he passed to his final rest in 1881, at the age of seventy-five years.  His wife, who is a member of the same church, still survives him and yet makes her home in Jackson county, Ohio.  She is a most estimable woman and her exemplary life has had a marked influence for good over the lives of her children and friends.  Mr and Mrs Jones were the parents of five sons and three daughters, of whom six are yet living:  John, who for four years served his country in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion, becoming a member of General Hancock’s Veteran Corps, and now resides in Ohio; Edward W, the next of the family; William, who makes his home on the old farm in Jackson county; David, who is a resident of the state of Washington; Phillip, who lives in San Francisco, California; and Mary E, who resides in Jackson county, Ohio.  Those who have passed away are Mrs Jennie Williams, who died in the Buckeye state, at the age of thirty-five years, and Anna, who died in infancy.

   Mr Jones, of this review, was brought to America in his babyhood and was reared upon the homestead farm in Gallia county, Ohio.  As age and strength permitted he assisted in the farm work and in the schools of the neighborhood he mastered the branches of English learning, acquiring a knowledge that fitted him for the transaction of business in later life.  He was identified with the farming interests of Ohio until 1878, when he resolved to seek a home in Kansas, believing that he would have better opportunities for advancement in a state less thickly settled than in the one in which he had resided.  Accordingly he came to Rice county and in 1879 took up his abode on Groveland farm, where his labors have since been prosecuted with such diligence and energy that he is now numbered among the citizens of affluence in his community.

   Mr Jones was united in marriage, in 1881, to Miss Kate Hughes, a representative of a good family in Jackson county, Ohio, where she was born, reared and educated.  Her parents, Lewis and Ann (Lloyd) Hughes, were both natives of Wales, and in their family were eight children:  Thomas, who became a member of the Ninety-first Ohio Infantry during the Civil war and died at Cloud Mountain, Virginia; Anna; Mary; Z Jenkins; Susie; Mrs Jones; Isaac; and Jennie.  The marriage of Mr and Mrs Jones has been blessed with four children:  John H, who is now in his nineteenth year and is a student in Cooper College in Sterling, Kansas; Ann B, Florence and Lewis H, aged respectively sixteen, fifteen and twelve years.

   Mr Jones exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party and is one of its valued advocates and leading workers, doing all in his power to promote its growth and secure its success.  He has served as a member of the central committee for a number of years and has thereby done effective service.  He has filled most of the township offices with credit to himself and the satisfaction of all concerned and in 1890 and 1891 was census enumerator.  He and his family are members of the Congregational church, in which he is actively interested, contributing liberally to its support and working untiringly for its advancement.  He has served as deacon and trustee of the church and also as superintendent of the Sunday-school.  The cause of education finds in him a warm friend, and for a number of years he has been a member of the school board.  His hearty co-operation is given to all movements and measures calculated to advance intellectuality and morality, to establish temperance principles or in any way uplift humanity.  His own life is well worthy of emulation for he has exemplified the principles of Christianity in his daily life and conduct.  He is one of the most honored and popular citizens of Wilson township and well deserves prominent mention in this volume, the purpose of which is to perpetuate the life records of the representative men of the community.