Daniel Webster Jones
a chronology of his life
April 25, 1851 - May 23, 1929
Dedicated to the memory of
Lucy, Lillian, Aileen and Ivor Jones
and their descendants
on the 150th anniversary of Daniel W. Jones' birth
1851. . . .Daniel Webster Jones [photo right] born April 25, 1851 in Elihu, Pulaski County in log cabin of parents: Allen and Elizabeth (Zachary) Jones. Allen and Elizabeth had married in 1848 and had a daughter, Sarah born in Aug 10, 1849.
By a previous marriage to Zerelda Fitzpatrick, Allen had three other children: Mary Jane Jones (1839-1845), George Washington Erwin Jones (b.1843, m. Mary Gover) and Margaret Ann Jones (b.1847 and died six months later). Zerelda died less than a month after Margaret was born probably from complications of pregnancy.
Thus, when Daniel was born, the household consisted of Allen, Elizabeth, George (age 8) and Sarah (age 1 1/2).
1853. . . .Isaac Gruelle [photo right] (b. 1802, d. 1855) father of D.W.J.'s future bride, Sallie Gruelle, purchased 149 acres of land east of Bourbon from the Illinois Central Rail Road. Isaac Gruelle had moved to Illinois from Harrison Co, KY in 1834 after the Black Hawk War and was the brother of John B. Gruelle, the grandfather of Johnny Gruelle.
Malden Jones [photo at 1861 position] (brother of Allen Jones) had moved to Coles Co, Ill in 1840 and in October 1853 laid out the town of Bourbon. Malden and Isaac operated a general store together for about six years when Malden left to Charleston following his election as Sheriff of Coles County in 1858. In 1870 Daniel W. Jones moved to Illinois and stayed with his uncle.
1854. . . . Martha Jane Jones, d/o Allen & Elizabeth, born 1854 (died a year and a half later)
1855. . . . Isaac Gruelle (b.1802) died 16 May 1855. He was survived by his wife Mary Jones Gruelle [photo right] (a.k.a. called Polly and not related to the Jones family of D.W. or Malden) 
and children: Martha (dau of Isaac and 1st wife) m. 1842 Matthew Threlkeld, Mary Gruelle m. 1850 Malden Jones, Mariah Gruelle (b. 1839 and m. 1864 Henry Compton), John Jones Gruelle (b. 1843 and died 1875 unmarried) and Sallie Jones (b. 1847 m. 1878 Daniel Webster Jones). Mary Jones Gruelle died 15 April 1888 of pneumonia. By the time of the 1880 census Mary was living with Daniel Webster and Sallie Gruelle Jones.
1856. . . . Desdamaona Jones, d/o Allen & Elizabeth, born 22 Feb 1856 (m. 1881 Lovell Rousseau and moved -- eventually -- to Arizona)
1858. . . . Eliza Jones, d/o Allen & Elizabeth born 13 April 1858 (m. 1879 Millard Huffaker)
1858. . . . Lydia (Veach) Jones, grandmother of Daniel Webster, died 20 Sep 1858 in Bourbon, Ill. She had moved to Ill to stay with her son Malden Jones. Her husband Levi Jones had likely died around 1850 probably in Whitley Co, KY.
1860. . . . John Bell Jones [photo right], s/o Allen & Elizabeth, born 16 Sep 1860 (m. 1886 Eliza "Lida" Parker and settled on the farm in Elihu). John Bell Jones became Sheriff of Pulaski County, KY and also enjoyed serving as ring master for the County Fair.
1861. . . . Allen Jones' family [Allen, Elizabeth, George (17 yo), Sarah (12 yo), Daniel (10 yo), Desdamona (5 yo), Eliza (3 yo), John Bell (1 yo)] moved into two story wood frame house with stone chimneys (still standing with date of "1861" visible. The house was built by Elizabeth's brother-in-law Dave Cundiff and his nephew Brent Cundiff.
Pictured left to right in the 1902 reunion photo above:
Riley Neeley (farm worker)....John Bell and Lida Jones, Mary, Elizabeth, Lillian, Parker....
Elizabeth Zachary Jones....Frank Wolford Jones....Eliza Huffaker....Alice "Allie" Newell,
Joe and Roy Newell....Desdamona Rousseau....Eva Cowan, Mattie and Zella Cowan,
James F. Cowan
1861. . . .Malden Jones [photo right] moved back to Bourbon following his time in Charleston as Sheriff of Coles County. During that three year time of office he had witnessed the Lincoln-Douglas debates and on at least one occasion before 1860, he and his wife Mary entertained Abraham Lincoln for dinner.
Gen. Grant asked Malden Jones to lead a regiment, but Malden declined for health reasons. He was an active recruiter, though, and followed with interest the various engagements of the 123rd Illinois Regiment.
In about 1900 Malden asked his great niece, Lucy Jones, to accompany him to the dedication of the Illinois Monument at the Chicamauga Battlefield near Chattanooga, TN.
Malden Jones had married Issac Gruelle's daughter Mary in 1850, and their first child, Charles F. Jones, had died in his first year of life. They had eight more children, the last, Luta, born in 1874.
1863. . . . Frank Wolford Jones [photo right], s/o Allen & Elizabeth born 10 Aug 1863 (m. 1893 Mary Parker in CO).
Daniel Webster, John Bell and Frank Wolford Jones were the three sons of Allen and Elizabeth Jones.
1864. . . . M. Yoter, D. Miller and Otto were early Amish settlers to Douglas County. By the end of the 20th century most of the land of Bourbon was owned by Amish families.
1865. . . . Lincoln assassinated April 14 and died April 15, 1865.
1864. . . . Malden Jones (Republican) was elected the Illinois Legislature and re-elected in 1866. He was the first member elected from the new county of Douglas (formed from Coles in 1859 and named for Stephen Douglas.) In 1867 he spoke in favor of passage of the XIV amendment which passed 60 to 25.
1865. . . . Alice "Allie" Jones [photo right], d/o Allen & Elizabeth born 4 Dec 1865 (m. 1884 Robert Newell and moved to Colorado). On one occasion when she was in her late teens, "Allie" or "Ollie" visited her brother in Tuscola and had a photo taken by the same photographer who had taken one of Sallie Gruelle.
1868. . . . Eva Parker Jones, d/o Allen & Elizabeth, born 12 Apr 1868 (m. 1888 James Cowan)
1869. . . . Polly Gruelle sold land to McCombs and McCombs sold land to Allen Jones of Somerset. Allen Jones later sold this same parcel of land to his son, Daniel Webster Jones in Dec 1872. Allen Jones purchased the land through a proxy rather than actually visiting Illinois. His brother, Malden Jones, probably interested him in a speculative land deal.
1870. . . . Daniel Webster Jones moved to Illinois and stayed in the home of his uncle, Malden Jones. Daniel left Elihu, the story goes, because he got mad when his brother-in-law (probable future brother-in-law John Milton Jones) reneged on a $500 loan DW had made to him. DW never returned to Kentucky or his homestead again.
1871. . . . Sarah Jones (age 22), Daniel's older sister, married John Milton Jones, her first cousin.
1871. . . . Mallie Veach Jones born 16 Jul 1871 (died two years later) to Allen and Elizabeth. This was the last child born to Allen and Elizabeth and the last born of Daniel Webster's siblings.
1872. . . . Indiana and Illinois Central Railway was finished through Douglas County in 1872, and Malden Jones was one of three County Commissioners who had acted on behalf of the county to purchase 2,459 shares of stock in the company in 1868.
1872. . . . Allen Jones [photo right], Daniel's father, sold a parcel of land in section 18 to Daniel Webster Jones, which he had purchased probably via agency of brother Malden.
1873. . . . Malden Jones sold land to Daniel Webster Jones adjoining Daniel's previous purchase of 1872. In 1883 Malden sold DWJ another parcel in section 17.
1873. . . . Allen Jones was elected to two year term in the Kentucky Legislature
1875. . . . Map of the Bourbon area of Douglas County, Ill shows land owned by Mrs. P. Gruelle. She was Mary Jones (no relation to the Pulaski Co Jones) before she married Isaac Gruelle 1830 in Harrison Co, KY. Isaac died 16 May 1855. Daniel Webster Jones apparently helped farm this land and in 1916 moved into the house on the farm.
1876. . . . Malden Jones was elected to the Illinois State Senate where he served for four years.
1876. . . . John B. Gruelle (brother of Isaac Gruelle) died in Arcola. Richard Gruelle returned from Decatur to look after his mother and an elderly aunt, Lucinda Moore.
1878. . . . Daniel Webster Jones married Sallie Gruelle [photo right] 7 Feb 1878 in Bourbon probably at the home of Malden Jones. Sallie was the younger sister of Mary Gruelle who had married Daniel's uncle Malden in 1850.
1878. . . . Daniel W. Jones moved with Sallie to land a half mile north of Bourbon. This was land noted to belong to G. Wilson in 1875. His mother-in-law may have continued to live on her land south of Daniel's or she may have moved in with DWJ. Polly Gruelle sold land to Cyrus and CC McCombs on 16 April 1878.
1879. . . . Lucy Merrimon Jones, d/o Daniel & Sallie, born 8 Jan 1879 (m. 1910 Eugene B. Arnett in Magoffin Co, KY). Lucy was born in Camargo which at the time was the largest town in the county--larger than Tuscola. Many of the physicians had there offices there.
1880. . . . Census indicates that Mary Gruelle ["Polly"] was living in the household of Daniel Webster and Sallie (Gruelle) Jones. She may have rented out her house and moved in with Daniel.
1880. . . . Malden Jones was narrowly defeated by Joe Cannon in an election for the U.S. Senate.
1880. . . . Lucinda Moore died, and Richard B. Gruelle moved to Florida for a year. In 1882 he relocated to Indianapolis and pursued a career as a landscape painter. There, he struck up a friendship with James Whitcomb Riley and did some illustrations for him.
1881. . . . Lillian Jones, d/o Daniel and Sallie, born 25 Jun 1881. She never married
1883. . . . Aileen Jones, d/o Daniel and Sallie, born 27 Jun 1883 (m. 1908 Charles Taylor)
1885. . . . Daniel Webster Jones purchased 40 acres land from Wildman at the bend in hwy 15 at the intersection of hwy 16 from Tuscola. This appears to be the same parcel which DWJ is showed occupying on the 1893 map.
1886. . . . Ivor L. Jones, s/o Daniel and Sallie, born 11 Aug 1886 (m. 1910 Jennie Garneau)
Pictured to right are Lucy, Lillian, Aileen and Ivor in front center
1886. . . . Polly Gruelle (Isaac's widow) sold a parcel of land to Malden Jones in April, 1886.
1888. . . . Mary Elizabeth (Jones) Gruelle died 15 Apr 1888 (82 yo) in Bourbon, Ill of Typhoid pneumonia. Sadie Apperson wrote her obituary.
1888. . . . Daniel W. Jones moved into Tuscola where he operated a livery business with Mr. I. T. Branham. He continued to operate the farm north of Bourbon
1891. . . . Bourbon Baptist Church established. Sallie Gruelle Jones was a member of the building committee.
1893. . . . map of Bourbon area of Douglas Co, Ill shows D.W. Jones owning land north of Bourbon which had been owned in 1875 by G. Wilson. Daniel probably occupied this land in 1878 after his marriage to Sallie Gruelle. Other plots of land are owned by Polly Gruelle (Isaac's widow), Mary Jones (probably the same person but now using her maiden name) and M. E. Compton (Mariah, daughter of Isaac and Mary Gruelle, who m. Henry Compton.) Mariah died in 1913, She had a daughter, Mary Elizabeth "May" Compton. "May" was born 1869 and m. 1920 John Akerly. By 1893 the RR had put down tracks.
1893. . . . Sallie (Gruelle) Jones died 12 Oct 1893 at age of 46. Daniel never quite recovered from this loss and never wanted any of his daughters to marry. Lillian didn't, but Aileen did in 1908 and Lucy in 1910.
1893. . . . In a letter to his son, Frank Wolford Jones, Allen Jones made the following comments: "Mary and Woolle, Dear children it has been so long since I have written to you. I hardly now how to start in and we have som sad news to write to you your sister in law dide. Dans wife she was not sick but a short time. She had stommie trubel. He had to of the best docs tha had in that country. She went to Maldens to Cutes [Luta's] wedding and stayed in a coaled rume and tood coaled had several chills. She leaves Dan and 4 loving children you know them better than I do. I think lucy is about 15 years oaled. . . your pa as ever."
1893. . . . World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Depression which would last until 1898.
1895. . . . Mary (Gruelle) Jones, wife of Malden Jones, died 23 Jun 1895 (age 62).
1897. . . . Lucy Jones began college work at Ohio Wesleyan. While there she did the Sir Galahad charcoal drawing. After college she studied for two years at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and then rerturned to Tuscola where she taught for about six years.
1897. . . . Allen Jones died in Elihu, near Somerset, Pulaski Co, KY age 82.
1899-1900. . . . Daniel Webster Jones purchased two parcels of land (52 acres total) north of the Chicago and Eastern Ill RR tracks northeast of Bourbon: one tract from Cliff Jones in 1899 and another from Henry and Maria Gruelle Compton in 1900. Maria was Sallie's sister.
1901. . . . Aileen attended Ohio Wesleyan for a year but got homesick and returned home.
1902. . . . Family reunion of the children of Allen (dec'd) and Elizabeth (Zachary) Jones. All the living sibs returned except Sarah Jones and Daniel W. Jones who remained in Illinois.
Pictured left to right in the 1902 reunion photo above:
John Bell and Lida Parker Jones, Mary, Elizabeth, Lillian, Parker....
Elizabeth Zachary Jones....Frank Wolford Jones....Eliza Jones Huffaker....Alice "Allie" Jones Newell, Joe and Roy Newell....Desdamona Jones Rousseau....Eva Jones Cowan, Mattie and Zella Cowan, James F. Cowan
1902. . . . Daniel's daughter, Lucy Jones [photo right], was teaching school in Tuscola.
1903. . . . Daniel Webser Jones purchased lot 8 in the town of Tuscola
1904. . . . Malden Jones died 1 Nov 1904 in Bourbon, Ill (age 86).
1908. . . . Aileen Jones m. 22 Apr 1908 Charles B. Taylor. Lucy Jones served as her maid of honor. The wedding was performed secretly in Charles' brother Edward's home since Daniel W. Jones had objected to his daughters marrying. The local paper ran the following item: "The marriage has created much surprise for outside of a very few intimate friends no one knew of the wedding. Miss Lucy Jones, sister of the bride, and Mr. David Hanson, an intimate chum of Mr. Taylor's were the only guests." Aileen was 22 and a gifted musician. She sang in the "Butterfly Society." She and Charles became active in the Tuscola Presbyterian Church where she sang in the choir and played the piano.
1909. . . . Lawrence Taylor, s/o Aileen & Charles, born 2 Jan 1909. Lawrence lived until Nov 1986 and spent his last years in Phoenix, AZ.
1910. . . . Ivor Jones m. Jennie L. Garneau in Mar 1910. Jennie's father Philip Garneau had moved from Canada to St. Louis where he learned the confectionery business and settled in Tuscola, Illinois in 1879 and opened a bakery. Jennie's mother was Mary Schmidt.
1908-09. . . . Lucy Jones had wanted to be a missionary to China, but her dad said, "No." She learned of a new Southern Baptist mission school in the mountains of Appalacia and packed her bags to take a teaching position at the Magoffin Baptist Institute in Salyersville, KY. There she met and later married E.B. Arnett, a local merchant.
1910. . . . Lucy Jones m. Eugene B. Arnett 4 May 1910 in Salyersville, KY.
1910. . . . Daniel Webster Jones' mother, Elizabeth Zachary Jones, died in Pulaski Co, KY on 7 Sept 1910. Daniel W. Jones didn't make it to either of the events of 1910.
1911. . . . Paul Jones Arnett [photo with Lucy], s/o Lucy & E.B., born 2 Jan 1911. Paul became an architect and built several WPA courthouses in Kentucky before taking a job working for the State of West Virginia in Charleston. Paul lived until Oct 7, 1987.
1912. . . . Walter Wendell Arnett [photo with Lucy], s/o Lucy & E.B., born 5 May 1912. Walter became a commercial artist working for the Courier-Journal in Louisville for thirty years. He was also a prolific painter of portraits and caricatures. Wendell lived until July 10, 1998.
1916. . . . Daniel W. Jones sold the livery business and moved back to the farm. Lillian, his daughter, had likely continued to live there while he had his business in Tuscola, and she continued to take care of her dad until he died.
1919. . . . Bernice Arnett [photo right] d/o Lucy & E.B. Arnett, born 4 May 1919. Bernice suffered from Downs Syndrome, and Lucy cared for her at home until she died in 1941.
1921. . . . Martha Taylor [photo right], d/o Aileen & Charles, born 12 Aug 1921
c.1925. . . . Wendell and Paul Arnett accompanied their mother Lucy (Jones) Arnett on the train for a one week visit to Daniel W., Aileen & Charles, Lillian, and Ivor & Jennie in Ill. Wendell recalled D.W. having a large moustache. The RR ran though their land, and he recalled talking to the brakeman when it stopped one day to take on water. Wendell also recalled riding DWJ's horse named Dock and traveling in his buggy.
1927. . . . Ivor Jones purchased land on the west side of hwy 15 across from DWJ.
1929. . . . Daniel Webster Jones died 25 May 1929 at the age of 78 yo. His obituary stated that he "was what would be called a just man. He was fair with those who came in contact with him in a business way and friends with all who he thought worthy of friendship. In business he is said to be scrupulously honest."
1929. . . . Lillian Jones [photo right] continued to live in DWJ's house and took courses at the Univ of Illinois. She later moved to Villa Grove and became a librarian and worked for forty years at the Camargo township library in Villa Grove which opened their new building in 1926.
1930. . . . Ivor Jones died 23 Feb 1930 apparently of a heart attack. He was 43. He and Jennie had no children.
1931. . . . Aileen, Lillian and Lucy sold Jennie their interest in farm land they owned as part of DWJ estate.
1932. . . . Jennie Garneau Jones [photo right] (Ivor's widow) met Arthur Snider at a creamery where she was working after Ivor's death, and they got married in October, 1932. Arthur had five children by a previous marriage to Minnie Thompson: Merle (22 yo), Paul (18 yo), Erma (16 yo), Earl (14 yo) and John (12 yo). [Erma married Wayne Burnett and they had five sons.]
1939. . . . Lillian, et al sold land they owned (from the DWJ estate) to C. Sipp.
1941. . . . Jennie L. Snider & Arthur H. Snider, Aileen, Lillian and Lucy sold the 1931 parcel of land to Eugene R. Selle.
1950. . . . Eugene Britton Arnett, husband of Lucy, died 28 July 1950.
c.1958. . . . Wendell, Leila, Mary Lou and Elaine visited Aunts Aileen and Lillian in Tuscola.
1958. . . .Jennie L. Garneau Jones Snider died Nov 11, 1958
1960. . . . Lucy Jones Arnett died 3 May 1960 Paintsville, KY (E.B. d. 1950)
1967. . . .Charles Taylor, husband of Aileen Jones, died Sept 18, 1967
1968. . . . Aileen Jones Taylor died 22 Oct 1968, Des Plaines, Ill. (Chas d. 1967)
1971. . . . Lillian Jones died 1 May 1971, Villa Grove, Ill. Wendell attended the funeral service and wrote an account of the proceedings and his visit with Lawrence and Virginia Taylor.
1991. . . . Eugene Selle sold 137 acres (containing that portion of land once belonging to Daniel Webster Jones) to Rachel B. Selle. This land now is owned by some Amish families who are still actively engaged in farming.
1991. . . . In the fall of 1991, John Arnett made contact with descendants of Daniel Webster Jones' brother's (John Bell Jones) family in Somerset, and started the project which culminates in this memorial tribute.
Editor's Note
Prior to 1991 all that I'd been told about Daniel Webster Jones the father of our grandmother, Lucy Jones Arnett, were the following items:
- His wife was Sallie Gruelle, a cousin of Johnny Gruelle of Raggedy Ann and Andy fame.
- He'd left Somerset as a young man upset about having been stiffed for a $500 loan he'd made his brother-in-law vowing never to return. (He didn't.)
- His brother in Somerset, John Bell Jones, was once the county sheriff and rode a large grey horse.
- He had four children: Lucy, Lillian, Aileen and Ivor
In the fall of 1991, while tracking down some information about Dr. George Washington Wheeler, a former associate of my great great grandfather, Ambrose Arnett, I was talking with Jean Prather in Somerset, Wheeler's great granddaughter, and, on a lark, I asked her if she'd ever heard of John Bell Jones. She said she had and that his grandson didn't live too far away. She gave me his phone number and soon I was talking with his wife who told me she had a thirty page manuscript which Lillian Jones Nelson had put together about the Jones family. I traveled to Somerset and obtained a copy of the document and saw that "Daniel Webster Jones left home and has never been heard from since."
Over the next ten years, I'm been privileged to meet many of the descendants of Daniel Webster's siblings and cousins and have been able to amplify our knowledge of his family. This chronology is not an extensive genealogy of this Jones family but rather a beginning outline of some of the facts associated with Daniel Webster Jones. Other details will be added as they come to light, and some may wish to expand these into a more easlily flowing story. Thanks to Erma for saving the photos of Daniel Webster Jones which were discovered this past week.
Some of sources of photos:
Daniel Webster Jones - Erma
Isaac Gruelle - Marianne and Edmund
Mary Jones Gruelle - Marianne and Edmund
Malden Jones - Margueritte and History of Douglas County
Mary Gruelle Jones - Margueritte
Elizabeth Zachary Jones - Mary
Allen Jones - D Coates of Somerset
John Bell Jones and Lida Parker - Jim and Elizabeth
Frank Wolford Jones and family - Betty
Allie Jones - Mary
Jennie Garneau Jones Snider - Erma
Lillian Jones - Villa Grove Library
Lucy Jones in 1902 - Marianne
John W. Arnett (great grandson of D.W.J.)
April 25, 2001
copyright 2001 . . John W. Arnett
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