Alfred D. Jones

JONES

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson
Date: 10/16/2004 at 14:22:02

From the book, "History and Business Directory of Madison County, Iowa, 1869"

In the early history of this county, perhaps no man has borne so conspicuous a part as Alf D. Jones. Of him may be said he "run-the-whole machinery of county affairs." He settled on the "Narrows," four miles east of Winterset, on the Fort Des Moines, road, where, the road enters the timber, and where John Orman now resides. Here he erected two log-houses; one he used for a dwelling, the other he used for a store house. This was the first store, and he was the first merchant in Madison County.

The first post-office was also kept here, and it was called Mt. Pelier. Mr. Jones was the Postmaster. A. Snyder, a brother to Samuel and Hardesty Snyder, was the mail carrier, and carried the mail semi-occasionally from the soldiers garrison, at the Raccoon Forks, now the capital of the state.

When the county seat was located and surveyed, Mr. Jones moved his store and family to Winterset. He was the first lawyer in and first prosecuting attorney of the county. He was the first county surveyor, and he surveyed the town of Winterset at the time the county seat was located. And he, together with E. Bilderback, the organizing sheriff, organized Madison county. Jones was the Deputy, and did the work.

Perhaps a brief sketch of his life would not be inappropriate here. He was originally a plasterer by trade. He educated himself at the Marrietta and Farmers College, Ohio. Emigrated to the West, where he has held nearly every office within the gift of the people, from school Director to Speaker of the House of Representatives ; studied and practiced law; was the M. W. G. Master of the I. O. O. F. of his state, and was elected Grand Representative to the Grand Lodge of the United States. He was a practical surveyor and civil engineer, and in the early days of the new settlements of the West, was familiarly known as the "Pioneer Land Hunter and Town Builder." He is now a successful retired merchant and land speculator, and resides at Omaha, Neb., in a magnificent mansion, and is said to be worth not less than one hundred thousand dollars.

Madison Biographies maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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