Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 1066 - 1067

JOSHUA A. JONES, one of the energetic and progressive young farmers and stock‑raisers of Salem Township, resides upon a farm of 160 acres of well-improved land which he owns on section 27. He settled on this place in the fall of 1882, and has made it his residence ever since, devoting his attention to its improvement and cultivation with most excellent results. He is honored and respected by the entire community, who look upon him as one of their most wide-awake farmers and model citizens.

             A native of Delaware County, Ind., Mr. Jones was born March 22, 1852, and is the son of Smith and Euphemia (Gibson) Jones, who were the parents of five children, three of whom are living. Their names are as follows: John, a resident of Sumner County, Kan.; Smith, living in Lafayette, Ind.; and Joshua A. The latter having lost his father by death when only eight years of age, was compelled to go out and battle with the world for an existence and to depend entirely upon his own resources. At the age of twelve years he went to live with Morris Kesling, in Delaware County, with whom he remained until attaining his eighteenth year. He drew his education from the common schools of that section of the Hoosier State, and has all his life been devoted to the tilling of the soil. After attaining his majority the subject of our sketch removed to Woodford County, Ill., where he remained some time, working as a farm hand by the month, and subsequently, for three years, engaged in agricultural pursuits upon a farm which he rented.

             While a resident of Woodford County, Jan. 2, 1880, Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Miss Olive Polhemus, who was the mother of one child which is now deceased. In December, 1880, he was bereft by the death of his wife, who passed to that life elysian beyond the skies. Mr. Jones remained a resident of Woodford County until the summer of 1882, when, casting his eyes westward and noticing the superior fertility and cheapness of land in the great State of Kansas, he decided to seek within its borders a new home, where he could have land of his own. Accordingly, in the fall of 1882, he made a settlement after coming to Kansas, in Salem Township, where he now lives. On the 26th of September, 1886, he again entered into a marriage alliance, this time with Miss Sarah J. Josserand, a native of Harrison County, Ind., who was born June 2, 1856. The lady is a daughter of Louis and Emily (Potts) Josserand, the former of whom is a native of France, and the latter of the State of Indiana. Her parents had a family of twelve children, viz: Sarah J., the wife of Mr. Jones; John, a resident of Gray County, this State; Sebron, living in Salem Township; Louis, Albert, Ulysses G., Dovie, Maud, Andrew, Clyde, Paul and Earl. All of the latter are still residents of Illinois, whither their parents removed when Mrs. Jones was but an infant six weeks old. They settled in Douglas County, Ill., where she was reared to maturity. She received the benefit of a most excellent education, and for two years after attaining womanhood was assistant in a grammar school at Newman, Ill. She spent more than eight years in teaching in the Prairie State, and after coming to Kansas spent two years in "teaching the young idea how to shoot" in Cowley and Sedgwick Counties. As a school teacher she has been very successful, ruling her pupils more by love than fear, and taking great interest in their moral training, as well as in the study of the text books.

             Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of one son, Glen M., whose birth took place on the 7th of July, 1887. Their home, which is a pleasant one, manifests by many unconsidered trifles that the wife and mother is of a most intellectual type. Possessing literary attainments beyond the common, Mrs. Jones still is content to devote her life entirely to her husband and child, and in assisting the former in his life work. They are both prominent and active members of society, and enjoy the esteem and cordial friendship of the entire community. In politics Mr. Jones is a Republican, but has no aspirations for office. He is largely interested in any movement that is for the improvement of the township and county, or that will elevate and benefit the people among whom he lives.

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