CHARLES W. JONES

Sacramento County

Biographies

CHARLES W. JONES

CHARLES W. JONES--The transformation of a stretch of land along the Sacramento River, adjacent to Steamboat Slough, which was a swamp land in 1892, when Charles W. Jones first located there, to one of the most attractive and remunerative farms in the delta section of the county, represents the untiring efforts of this energetic farmer. His birth occurred near Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio, August 16, 1857, in the family of David and Mary Ann (Sabin) Jones, natives of New York and Maine, respectively. David Jones lived to be eighty-four years old, and his wife was fifty-two when she passed away. Seven children were born to them, Charles W. being the only one in California.

Charles W. Jones came to California in 1877 and settled at Coleville, Mono County, where he mined for eight years. In 1892 he located in the delta section of Sacramento County, where he leased 600 acres of swamp land; he also leased other farms, and at one time cultivated 1,600 acres to beans, grain, and vegetables. In 1898 he bought 400 acres on Steamboat Slough, where he now resides. He has built a house and other farm buildings, and has set ninety acres to orchard of pears and peaches; and 200 acres is devoted to asparagus-raising. Mr. Jones siphons the water from Steamboat Slough for irrigation purposes, except about sixty acres which he irrigates by a pumping-plant. In partnership with Mr. Batcher he owns 800 acres of land on Liberty Island, Solano County; and he individually owns 250 acres near Verona, Sutter County. A believer in cooperation for marketing farm products, he is a member of the Asparagus Growers' Association, the California Pear Growers' Association, and the California Bean Growers' Association.

In Stockton, on October 19, 1884, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Emma Brower, born in San Jose, Cal., a daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Martha (Griffin) Brower, born in Indiana and Ireland, respectively. Her mother came to New York when nine years of age, and had grown to young womanhood when, in the early fifties, she came with her married sister and brother-in-law in a sailer around Cape Horn to California. She married Mr. Brower in San Jose in 1858, and four children were born to them; Hannah and George, both deceased; Mrs. Jones; and Thomas Jefferson Brower, of Tracy. The father of Mrs. Jones passed away in 1869, her mother surviving until 1922, when she died at Lodi, aged eighty-seven years. Mr and Mrs. Jones are the parents of five children. Leanna is Mrs. George H. Jensen, and has two sons, Charles Seymour and George H.; Edna is Mrs. E.C. Emigh, and has three children, Edna Mae, Edgar Clyde, and Olive Louise; Frederick C. married Miss Flavia Stuber, and they have three children, Charles Frederick, Betty, and Marjorie; George D. married Miss Verna Sivils, and they have two children, Charles and George.; Carl W. is attending the agricultural department of the University of California at Davis, Cal., where he has made a record as an athlete. Mr. Jones is a Democrat in his political affiliations. Fraternally, he is a member of the Isleton Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of the Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. Elks. He has been a trustee of Reclamation District No. 3 of Grand Island, and for some years was president and manager of the Venice Island Land Company of San Joaquin County. He served as clerk of the Walker school district, and is now clerk of the board of the Beaver union school district.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 714. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.