Hearing the
gospel of Jesus Christ in the Last Days :
"According to John's diary they heard the first principles of the gospel
explained about 1 May 1841 by Elders John and William Frodsham who were
laboring in St. Helens, Lancashire, England. Quoting from his diary
he says, "I was not baptized until 2 August, 1846, at about 8 o'clock in
the morning in the river Are near Leeds, because there was no opportunity
to do so earlier. I was confirmed the same day, both the
baptism and the confirmation being done by Elder Charles Miller. My
wife had also been touched by the message of the gospel and she was baptized
23 Sep 1846, by Elder Miller and was confirmed by Elder Isaac Riddle the
same day."
Again quoting from his diary, ‘When Apostle John Taylor
visited us in December of the same year, 1846, he advised us to be re-baptized
and we both heeded his council and were again baptized by Elder Miller and
confirmed by Apostle John Taylor.'
From his dairy again, ‘On 7 February, 1847, I was
ordained a Priest by Elder Miller and 14 February, 1847, I stood up to preach
for the first time.'
...John's work in the Church continued to grow and
by September, 1847, he was ordained an Elder by Elder Orson Spencer and Elder
Mitchel. He was called to serve as missionary in Kirkstall and spent
every spare bit of his time explaining the Gospel to those who would listen.
A little later he was called to preside over the branch of the Church in
Leeds where he lived."
Going to Zion: History of John Pidding Jones and
Margaret Lee.
August 1848: "Because of his activity in the Church, his oldest brother,
Sylvester, became bitter against him and was determined to hurt him by
dissolving the partnership in an iron foundry that existed with the three
brothers, Sylvester, Joseph and John with an older sister, Jane, as the
business manager. ...The fact that he (John) had been able to convert
his other brother, Joseph, and his sister, Jane, to the truth of the Gospel...and
though he tried to explain the Gospel to Sylvester, he (Sylvester) would
not listen. (John) was sure his work in the Church was the cause of
his dismissal from the partnership.
...John took his family and left Leeds on the 22nd
of August 1848, and went to St. Helens.
After due preparations they set sail for America from Liverpool, England,
7 September, 1848, in the ship "Erin's Queen."
The following from: Millennial Star. 15 September, 1848.
"The ship "Erin's Queen" sailed from Liverpool for
New Orleans on the 7th day of September, having on board 232 second cabin
passengers, including infants; all of these, with the exception of two or
three persons, were Saints. The people of Liverpool were astonished
to see the order and regularity among them. While large companies of
emigrants upon other ships were cursing and swearing, and finding fault one
with another, songs of praise and prayer are ascending up to heaven from the
‘Erin's Queen'."
Winters Quarters: History of John Pidding Jones
and his wife, Margaret Lee
...They landed in St. Louis 5 Nov 1848, and John Pidding obtained employment.
After obtaining money enough to buy two yoke of oxen, chains and yokes
and wagons without (iron) tires on them, they started to move with other
Saints west. They brought supplies, clothes and etc. to last them
one year. They traveled west through part of Missouri
and Iowa, to a place called Winter Quarters (Council Bluffs).... The roads
were axle deep in mud part of the time, as a great deal of rain and snow
fell. The roads were rough and rocky...
When they arrived at Winter Quarters, most of the
wagon wheels were broken and the fellowes split, due to the fact they had
no iron tires on them. ...Unable to go father on their journey, John and
some of the other men decided to return to St. Louis and work to get money
to buy more wagon wheels with iron tires on them so they wouldn't break down
again. The broken wagons were left at Winter Quarters
for the family to live in, and ... a small farm was bought, which
had been planted in wheat and vegetables by some of the Saints.
During the winter, while her husband was in St. Louis
working, Margaret lived with her children on the edge of civilization, where
there were many Indians and no conveniences. The snow came early and
it was necessary for her, with the help of her two small sons, John Lee (10
years ) and Joseph (8 years) to dig under the snow to get the carrots and
turnips that were still in the ground. They had nothing to dig with
except their hands and they got very cold. One son, Joseph, caught
a cold and in a few short days was gone. (Joseph W. Jones died 27 Nov
1851, Winter Quarters, Nebraska, age 8 Joseph was buried on the upper crossing
of Keg Creek, on the hill about three miles from where the family lived.
) Here troubles seemed more than Margaret could bear. Here she was,
alone, with no way to get word to her husband of the death of their boy and
no way to bury him. A neighbor, Bro. Thomas Davenport, came to her assistance
and built a little coffin from a packing box, into which she place the body
of her darling. Then with his ox team and wagon, Bro. Davenport took
her with the body to a burying ground where some Saints had been buried.
They dug a shallow grave in the snow-covered ground and left her boy in the
wilderness. Only her faith and her firm belief in the gospel and her
constant prayers made it possible for her to endure her affliction.
She prayed, "O Lord, be help in every time of need. Give me strength
to endure this loss." John returned in the spring, and he and Margaret
departed Winter Quarters, 20 Jun 1852.
Salt Lake Valley: History of John Pidding Jones and Margaret Lee
" Finally, after days of slow difficult travel, up hills and down, they
came to the summit and there before them was a beautiful valley with the
blue waters of a lake shimmering in the distance and all surrounded by snow-capped
peaks They had reached the land of Zion, the place they were seeking.
They knealt and thanked God that they had been spared to come to this promised
land.
They had arrived just in time for the Octorber, 1852,
Conference and such an inspiration ...to hear the teaching of... the Prophet
Brigham Young himself. They thanked their Heavenly Father that they
had been guided to this land." *Jones book
J.P. Jones Family Organization
Jones, ElRoy Smith. (1972). John Pidding Jones, His Ancestors and Descendants.
Salt Lake City : American Press. 929.273 J71.
P. 562
The following background information is from William G. Hartley, "Pushing
on to Zion: Kanesville, Iowa, 1846-1853," Ensign, Aug. 2002, page 14.
Location:
"Winter Quarters
Distance: 266 miles from Nauvoo
An instant city on the plains, Winter Quarters served
as the headquarters of the Church for less than a year, until the leadership
moved west in 1847. By Christmas 1846, Church members had constructed a large
stockade and about 700 homes ranging from solid two-story structures to
simple dugouts in the bluffs. For many, however, the rigors of the Iowa crossing,
exposure, and poor nutrition and sanitation proved too much, and several
hundred saints died during the winter of 1846–1847. "
Pioneer Story. http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/
13_Winter_Quarters.html
Location: Iowa: Bitter Beginning
"Of the entire trek to the Valley of the Great Salt
Lake, it was the first 300 miles across Iowa that most tried the
stamina, courage and equipment of the Latter-day Saint pioneers. Mere
weeks into
the journey—through sleet, blizzard, and mud—it became apparent to
Brigham
Young that his people would never reach the Rocky Mountains in the time
or in the manner that most had hoped for. So throughout the spring of
1846,
thousands of refugees trudged across the windswept Iowa prairies,
preparing
the way for those yet to come: building bridges, erecting cabins,
planting
and fencing crops. By mid-June, nearly 12,000 Saints were still
scattered
across Iowa. The Rocky Mountain entry would be
postponed."
http://www.lds.org/gospellibrary/pioneer/13_Winter_Quarters.html
"To go west by wagon and teams was not cheap. People
had to obtain their own outfits or pay to go with someone else. President
Hyde reported in 1850 that outfits that year cost about $600 each, equivalent
in today's dollars to about $13,000. 25 It was not wise for any to head for
Utah unless they had "team and wagon sufficient to come through without any
assistance from the valley," the First Presidency instructed from Utah in
June 1849. "And they should bring breadstuffs sufficient to last them a
few months after their arrival." 26 Given cost and distances, Saints by the
hundreds stopped in the Kanesville area for a few days, weeks, months, or
years, depending on needs. When the trail season for 1850 opened, the First
Presidency urged Elder Hyde to "push the Saints to Zion and persuade all
good brethren to come, who have a wheelbarrow, and faith enough to roll it
over the mountains." It was a "duty devolving upon the Saints to gather to
the Valley, as soon as circumstances will permit, to assist in building up
Zion."
Order "John Pidding Jones, His Ancestors and Descendants"
My name is Larry Jones. I
found your web site after doing an internet search on the name "John Pidding
Jones". I'm a great-great-great grandson of his.
For some time now I've been working
to make an electronic version of the 580 page "John Pidding Jones, His
Ancestors and Descendants" book. I scanned the entire book and converted
it to PDF format. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader program is used to view
the PDF file.
I gained a real appreciation for
our ancestors and relatives after reading their stories. For some time
I've felt a pressing need to make the book more widely available.
I've decided that I'll make copies
of the book available on CD for $5 each. That will help cover the cost
of CD burning and shipping. People can order as many as they want or can
order one and burn other copies for themselves or other family members.
I may be able to eventually make the book available for download on the
internet but that won't be ready for a while. The PDF file is almost 18MB
so it's kind of large for most people to download. I'd appreciate any help
in spreading the word about the book being available if you know of
any relatives who would be interested.
If you're interested, you can
order a copy from:
Larry D. Jones
1598 Ridgeview Drive
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Pictures:
Isaac Jones 24 Feb 1771
Mildenhall, Wltshr, Engl
wife: Mary Pidding
1 May 1774 Marlborough, Wltshr, England, mother and father of John Pidding
Jones
Memories of My
Grandmother–Margaret Lee Jones
By Pearl Jones Halterman
The following are things that I vividly remember about Grandmother.
She was a very stalwart member of the church. She knew the Bible from cover
to cover. You could recite one passage of scripture and she could give you
the next one and the chapter and verse. Her two valuable possessions were
her song book and her Bible. No one was ever allowed to touch or play
with them. She was a very devoted member of the church. She loved
it from the time she was converted in England until she died.
Grandma was a very beautiful singer. She had a beautiful soprano voice.
She displayed it wherever she went. She was the chorister to the Cedar 1st
ward for years and years. Sunday mornings when the boys weren't able
to go to church, she would take her Bible and song book and walk to Cedar
and conduct the choir for service. The song's grandma sang most of all were
"Love at Home," "Come, come Ye Saints," "High on A Mountain Top," "Oh My
Father," and"The Spirit of God Like a fire Is Burning," and when she sang
that song, believe me she sang it from the depths of her heart. She always
ended up with "Come, Come Ye Saints." In the winter evenings we would sit
around the fireplace and Grandma would sing, and we children would all sing
with her. Her favorite song that she sang most of all with us children was
"Love at
Home." She displayed her beautiful voice to all of her children.
Aunt Mary Dalley was a most beautiful singer just like Grandma. She
conducted the singing in her ward in Summit for years and years.
She was very talented and had a very talented family, not only with their
singing but also with musical instruments. Grandma loved music and her main
aim in life was to share her music and give it out to all of her children,
grandchildren, great grandchildren and her great great grandchildren. Down
through the ages you can go thru the families and find in each that there
are some members who are really talented in music. One thing that she always
admired and taught was how to share a talent of music with others. She was
a wonderful teacher of beautiful music.
Grandmother was not only a religious woman but she had such a sense
of humor with her. She displayed that to all of her grandchildren and great
grandchildren down thru the ages.
A wonderful story I would like to tell about Grandmother occurred after
she began to get kind of childish and wander off. I had to take care of her
and watch her while mother did the work. And of course my girl friend Ivy
Lee Jones Williams today was my very best friend and we spent hours and
hours making mud cakes under the old tree there in front of Grandma's house.
Mother would bring her out of the house of a morning and would say "Now
my dear girls, you watch Grandmother and don't let her wander off, because
she will." We were so engrossed in our playing and making mud cakes
and talking and singing and grandmother ups and leaves and wanders
off. Mother comes to the door and says "Pearlie, where is Grandmother?"
Well, we didn't know where Grandmother was because she had just slipped
away. But we jumped up quick and looked down the meadow, down thru the field
because we knew just about where she would be going was down to Aunt Mame
Armstrong's to have tea. So we broke and ran just as her head went
over the little hill going down thru the pasture. But we didn't get
there quite in time. There was only just a small board that you could walk
on to go over the spring to get to Aunt Mame's and Grandmother had already
started across it and fell off into the mud. And Ivy
and I tried to pull her out and get her out and I think we finally
made the grade and got her out and she wasn't going to go home with us she
was still going down to Mame's to have tea, but I coaxed her to come
on home and get some dry clothes and then I would take her down to
Aunt Mame's. Well she finally decided she would go home with us and
get cleaned up. We went back up to mothers. Mother said "Oh merciful
heavens Grandmother, where have you been?" and Grandma said "Just going down
to Mame's to have a cup of tea." Mother had to quit the washing and
take grandma's clothes all off and all the while she was taking her clothes
off and getting her ready to have her bath Grandma was saying, "Oh Suzannah,
you're just a rubbin all me ‘ide off, I cannot tand this bathing."
Mother would say, "Now well Grandma you've got to get this mud off,
you've got to be bathed." So finally she got grandmother into the tub and
got the worst of it off and her hair washed.That was the highlight of the
day to have Grandma go down to Mame's to have a cup of tea, and
Ivy and I drag her out of the mud. We never let Grandma get out of our sight
again. After that we always kept pretty close tabs on her because we knew
very well we didn't want any more of getting her out of that swamp again.
I could tell you 80 many more things about Grandmother, but time will
not permit. I feel that anyone that has ever known her has been blessed
a great deal by her wonderful talent, and her beautiful music. She died in
our home.
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to Leatham's Launch Genealogy Revised June 2004
