Butte County
Biographies
ELIAS HARRIS JONES
E. H. JONES.--A highly intelligent, progressive and prosperous
stockman, who comes of an old pioneer family and has been prominent in the
cattle business, is E. H. Jones, one of the most liberal and hospitable of
Californians, of whom, as man and citizen, everyone likes to speak in terms of
admiration and praise. He was born near Cherokee on August 24, 1863, the son of
Thomas R. Jones, who came from the vicinity of Neath,
Glamorganshire, one of the most picturesquely beautiful and historic parts of
South Wales, and arrived in California about 1852, after having crossed the
great American plains with the typical ox team of that time. On his arrival he
settled in Butte County, and tried his luck at mining on the Feather River.
Afterwards he mined at Cherokee, and was in the employ of the old Cherokee
Mining Company, with which concern he continued for the best part of thirty
years. He also engaged in stock-raising; and when his herd grew to handsome
proportions, he quit mining to give all of his attention to the raising of stock.
He homesteaded and preempted land in Beatson Hollow,
about six miles north of Oroville, and bought more land adjoining, until he had
a ranch of eighteen hundred acres devoted to cattle-growing. When he died, in
September, 1912, he was eighty-two years of age.
Mrs. Jones, the mother, was Jane Williams
before her marriage. She was also born in Wales, and came to America in the
fifties with her brothers. She met Mr. Jones, and they were married, and lived
together in exceptional happiness until 1908, when she died. She had six
children; and of these, five boys grew to maturity. Frederick T. resides at
Prineville, Ore.; Richard died at Oroville on February 24, 1918; J. L. is
a stockman near Cherokee; D. D. is mining at Golden Summit, Cal.; and E. H.,
the subject of our sketch.
Growing up at Cherokee,
and attending there and at Oregon City the public schools of the neighborhood,
E. H. Jones assisted his father in stock-raising until he was seventeen years
old, when, with his brother Richard, he bought some cattle from a Mr. Canon.
There were about one hundred head in the lot, and they were secured at fifteen
dollars a head, with the calves thrown in. They also secured the old anchor
brand which had been brought across the plains and was originally owned by Frank
Canon; and this brand they used together until they dissolved partnership,
after which Richard kept it until his death. After the partnership was
dissolved, E. H. Jones continued for himself. At first he leased certain
ranches; but in 1895 he bought his present place, the old Smith Ranch, located
on it, and made all the improvements necessary, erecting the needed farm
buildings. He has three hundred sixty acres here; and he also leases other
ranches convenient to his place. He ranges his cattle in the mountains in
summer time, and in the valley in winter. Of late he has taken his son Ivan
into partnership with him, and they run between two hundred and two hundred
fifty head. His brand is the Bar S., frequently seen on the best of Shorthorn
Durham cattle.
At Oregon City, Mr. Jones was married to
Miss Hettie Grummet, the daughter of Albert Grummet,
the well-known pioneer miner of Butte County, who died a prosperous stockman.
He was a native of Germany, and came to America when a young man. He heard of
the discovery of gold in California, and as early as 1849 reached San Francisco
by way of Panama. He mined on Feather River and in Oregon Gulch, and discovered
a quartz mine and set up a mill on what afterward became known as the Grummet
place. His wife was Elise Ebeka, also a native of
Germany. She came to California by way of Cape Horn, and their marriage was the
result of a romance begun in the Old World. Mrs. Jones is a sister of Mrs.
Richard Jones. Both of the Grummet girls were belles in their day. Mrs. E. H.
Jones was the second of four children. She has had five children, four of whom
are still living. Maude is in Oakland; Isabelle is Mrs. Cratt,
of San Jose; Ivan is in partnership with his father; and Anita is Mrs. Cole, of
San Diego.
For many years Mr. Jones was a school
trustee in the Oregon district. He was made a Mason in Table Mountain Lodge,
No. 124, F. & A. M., at Cherokee; and he is Past Master of the lodge.
Mrs. Jones was a school trustee for years, and is a member of the Order of
the Eastern Star at Oroville. In national politics Mr. Jones is a Republican
and has served on the Central Committee and has been a delegate to county
conventions.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
13 May 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages
916-917, Historic Record
Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies