Jones, Julius M.

JONES, CHAMBERLAIN, FISHER, ELLIS

Posted By: Janelle Martin (email)
Date: 5/17/2009 at 22:21:36

History of Hamilton County Iowa, Vol. II, p.10

JULIUS M. JONES.

Julius M. Jones, one of the venerable and highly esteemed citizens of Hamilton County, took up his abode here in the spring of 1856 and has remained within its borders continuously since with the exception of two years' residence in Chicago. He bore his part in the work of early development and upbuilding and through the able direction of his business interests won a handsome competence that now enables him to spend the evening of life in well earned ease. For many years he was successfully engaged in general merchandising at Webster City and he likewise held the office of president of the Farmers National Bank, of which institution he was one of the organizers and of which his son is now at the head. His birth occurred in Milford, Massachusetts, on the i6th of February, 1832, his parents being John and Melinda (Chamberlain) Jones, the former of Welsh ancestry. The maternal grandparents of our subject were Nathaniel and Permelia Chamberlain.

Julius M. Jones was reared to manhood on the farm where he was born and supplemented his early education by a course of study in the Milford high school. In the spring of 1856, when a young man of twenty-four years, he came to Iowa and Webster City, becoming a sawyer in the old steam mill that stood on the east side of town, near Bank street, just east of the track of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. This mill, in which he owned a small interest that he had bought on time, was a factor of the first consequence in the early development and settlement of Webster City and Hamilton County. Mr. Jones worked in the mill until the autumn of 1858, when he was elected clerk of the district court, to which position he was reelected and in which capacity he ably served for six years. As candidate for a third term he received the unanimous vote of the county, and he was nominated without opposition for still another term but the following day received from Abraham Lincoln the appointment of major and paymaster in the army. He was stationed at Louisville, Kentucky, until the cessation of hostilities be- tween the north and the south. Of this period of his life Charles Aldrich has written as follows: "His bond was fifty thousand dollars, which some of his neighbors and friends made up among themselves without any consultation with him. At one time his paymaster's safe contained nearly a million of dollars. In the ordinary discharge of his duties under the government he seldom came into the possession of more than about four hundred thousand dollars; but this large sum was placed in his keeping by one of his old friends who had known Major Jones in his early boyhood—a Mr. Walker, an agent of the state of Ohio, to receive the pay of soldiers in the field and take the money home to their families. Mr. Jones was only individually responsible for the money and its loss would in no way have affected his bondsmen. I mention this fact merely for the purpose of stating how implicitly he was trusted by one who had only known him in years long gone by as a boy. Walker was compelled to go across with Sherman in the latter's march 'from Atlanta to the sea,' and the money remained in the safe of Paymaster Jones some three months. When Walker finally 'got around' to take charge of his great trust every dollar was forthcoming and the families of Ohio soldiers were only inconvenienced by a few months' delay in receiving their money."

After the close of the war Major Jones was engaged in the wholesale stoneware trade at Chicago for two years, on the expiration of which period he returned to Webster City and has here resided continuously since. For many years thereafter he devoted his attention to general merchandising, being first associated for two years with Kendall Young. After the retirement of the latter he continued in the business for about fifteen years and during the last five years of that period was associated with Cyrus Smith. Owing to failing health he then retired for a time from active business pursuits and devoted his attention to the supervision of his farming interests. In financial circles he was also prominent, being one of the organizers of the Farmers National Bank and directing its affairs as its president until his son, Robert Emmons Jones, became the chief executive officer of the institution. His business record is one of which he has every reason to be proud and he richly deserves the American title of a self- made man. Coming to Webster City with little or no means, he made his way steadily upward by dint of hard labor, close economy and unfaltering perseverance.

On the 4th of March, 1869, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Fisher, a native of West Medway, Massachusetts, and the oldest daughter of Elias T. and Martha B. (Ellis) Fisher, of that place. They became the parents of three children, only one of whom is living, Robert Emmons, who is a graduate of the State University of Michigan and who was formerly the vice president of the Farmers National Bank. As above stated, he is now the president of that institution and enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the successful and representative business men of Webster City. Mrs. Jennie (Fisher) Jones passed away at her home in Webster City on the 3d of November, 1909, at the age of sixty-seven years, after a lingering illness. The following is an extract from an obituary notice printed the next day: "Mrs. Jones was a pioneer woman here, widely known and esteemed highly for her many excellent qualities and lovable traits of character. More than two years ago she was taken
with creeping paralysis, which the best of medical assistance could not subdue. She was given treatment in Chicago, but returned home with no hope of recovery. She was a patient and cheerful sufferer, yet the final summons came as a sweet relief." We also quote in part the funeral address of Rev. F. O. Thrush. "* * * We are met here this afternoon dominated by the vision of a Christian character, the vision of one in all the grace and charm of womanhood, who has passed from the scenes of our earthly life. Her going was as the Hashing of angels' wings as the shining gates opened and she passed into the heavenly city. Mrs. Jones was born of Christian parents, the daughter of a New England deacon. In that Christian home she grew to womanhood. It is fair to presume that that home was the great force which determined her character and influenced her whole life. At the age of twenty-five she was united in marriage to Julius M. Jones and came to Webster City, where she lived for about forty two years. She was widely known in the city and entire community.

* * * We remember her as the perfect lady everywhere and always. I use that word 'lady' not in the ordinary and conventional sense. I never mean to use it in that sense, and certainly I could not on this occasion. She had the necessary refinement and gentleness of a true lady. Her refinement and gentleness appeared when meeting the high or the lowly, the rich or the poor, the educated or the uneducated, her social equals or inferiors. Her manner and attitude were always those of the perfect lady. This was the secret of her power to make friends. It has been said that one must be divinely souled in order to make friends and that one so constituted need not pass through life friendless. Then our departed friend must have been divinely souled to an unusual degree, for her friends were legion.

* * * She who presided in this house made it a home—a refuge from life's cares, an inspiration for life's duties, and an inner sanctuary for life's confidences. While such women preside over our homes we need not fear that this sacred institution will lose its power for good. I am certain that it cannot be construed other than fitting that I should speak at this time of her passion for the best things in literature, for there are present here this afternoon those who for many years, were associated with her in reading and study. About twenty-one years ago a few of the women of Webster City met and organized the Wednesday Club. Mrs. Jones was one of those women, and the club has maintained its organization for more than a score of years, and to the time of her invalidism she was a faithful and diligent reader in all the various departments of work the club undertook. She thus became widely read in all the best things of literature. * * * As I stand here in this beautiful home, now that she is gone, and have a vision of her who presided here, I am in no sort of doubt of what things are worth while; it is worth while for a woman to be a lady, and a man to be a gentleman; it is worth while to have the friendly nature, so that friends will gather about you to bless you in health, comfort you in sickness, and hold you in affectionate memory when you are gone. It is worth while for a noble man and a pure woman, guided by love, to establish a home and bring up a family, and find in that home the center for all life's activities, and the opportunity for the expression of the very best there is in them. It is worth while to have the trained mind and the cultured heart and spend much time with the great authors, for then you are associating with the true royalty of earth—the men and women who have five talents. It is worth while to seek to develop the spirit of benevolence that looks upon all sentient life as affording an opportunity to do good and bless. It is worth while to live in the faith of things unseen, and not be shut up within the narrow circle of things seen and handled, for life ever looks out upon the Infinite and Eternal. * * * I spoke of Mrs. Jones' desire that 'Thanatopsis' should be read to her. When living, her modest spirit would have resented the application of those last words of the great poem to her life and character. But now that she is gone, we, her friends, gathered in this home consecrated by her pure life and inevitable sufferings, may freely and truthfully make such application:

" 'So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent hall of death
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night.
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed,
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."

The following is a tribute by the Wednesday Club: "Among the many whose hearts have been saddened by the death of Mrs. Jones there are few, surely, who will more truly mourn her than the members of the Wednesday Club, with whom she had been associated for twenty-one years of study and loyal friendship. Her warm interest in the subjects studied, her friendly spirit, and the rare charms of her nature, made her one of its best beloved members. Life seems poorer when such as she are taken from us, but the benediction of her influence and her dear memory will long be in our hearts a precious heritage."

Major Jones has always given his political allegiance to the republican party and has been honored by his fellow townsmen in election to positions of public trust and responsibility. He was chosen a member of the board of supervisors in 1869 and acted as chairman during his term. In the autumn of 1883 he was elected a member of the Iowa house of representatives for the term of two years. He was very active in behalf of the important temperance legislation of the period, which resulted in the passage of the law totally prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors and which was the foremost topic of the times. His service in public office was always marked by great prudence and efficiency and over the record of his official career there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. There are few men whose lives are crowned with the honor and respect which is universally accorded to Major Jones, but through more than a half century's connection with Hamilton County's history his has been an unblemished character. With him success in life has been reached by his sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly principle. He has never deviated from what his judgment would indicate to be right and honorable between his fellowmen and himself. He has never swerved from the path of duty, and now after a long and eventful career he can look back over the past with pride and enjoy the declining years of his earthly pilgrimage with the consciousness of having gained for himself by his honorable, straightforward career the confidence and respect of the entire community in which he lives.

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