Jones Placeline

Like the Hansens, I do have a handful of Jones lines, so I will clarify that this is my grandmother's father's line. Unfortunately, it doesn't go back far because it is not as well traced as the Howells line is, and tracing Jones family is like looking for a needle in the famed haystack. I will say here that I am amused that both of my grandfathers had super uncommon surnames, and both of my grandmothers have two of the most common European surnames. It's almost like someone did that on purpose...

As usual, Bold is Birth, Marriage, and Death locations, and italicized is any other locations they lived in for around a year or more.

1. Merle Tydfil Jones

A. Bellevue, Washington. My mother's family moved down to the Seattle area in 1960, and my grandmother lived in the Bellevue area until her death in 2012. So much of our family history was in the house they moved into shortly after moving to the area, including my parent's wedding party, my great-grandmother living with them for a time, and so much of my mom and her younger brother's childhood, as well as mine and my sister's.

B. Vancouver, BC. After Grandpa went to war, Grandma returned to Vancouver and lived with her parents there while he served. My uncle was born here. They moved to a suburb of Vancouver after grandpa returned to Vancouver, and all three of their other children were born there. They lived there until they moved to the US in 1960.

C. Truro, Nova Scotia. For a time, Grandma lived with Grandpa here while he trained to go overseas for the war. I am not sure how long they were here together, but I feel the need to include it because it was the beginning of their marriage to each other.

D. Vancouver, BC. Grandma and her three siblings were all born here, and lived here their whole childhood and young adult lives. None of them moved away from the area until after they were married, but they generally stayed near the Vancouver area even after they moved.

2. Daniel Thomas Jones

A. Vancouver, BC. I don't know exactly when Daniel arrived in Vancouver, but shortly after, he met my great-grandmother, Bessie. They married in 1911, and so he never went back home to Wales except to visit. They raised all four of their children here in the city. They celebrated their 50th anniversary with three of their four children and all their grandchildren in 1961, just three years before his death in 1964. 

B. Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Daniel was born here in 1882, the fourth of eight children. His parents ran the local post office, and he stayed here with his family until he and his friends decided to take a working trip to Canada, where they worked at farms to make money to travel across the country. When he reached Vancouver, he met and fell in love with Bessie, my great-grandmother.

3. Benjamin Jones

Here's where my knowledge fades. I have a picture of Benjamin and his wife with their daughters, but until I found some census records, I didn't even have all their childrens' names. I do have one story about one of their sons dying from pneumonia, but otherwise, my information is very minimal.

A. Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Benjamin lived here with his wife and children until his death sometime between 1901, where I have him in the census and before 1920, which is when my grandmother and her family came to visit the family. I have all their children having been born here, including my great-grandfather, and I believe I have a census record showing him with his mother and a brother, but I have almost nothing else about how he came here, or who he came with.

B. Caio, Wales. This is the place I have recorded as Benjamin's birthplace. I looked it up, and it appears to be a mining area as well, so it's possible the family moved to Merthyr Tydfil because they were already part of the mining life. But I don't know why they moved, or when. Or even if his father came with them. All I know is that this is where he was born.

I do have a father for Benjamin, but at this time, I have nothing more than a name, David, and that not proven, so he will have to wait until I can prove more. So just five places for this one. Hopefully someday I'll be able to learn more about Benjamin's early life and his parents. 

If you have any more information about this family, I would love to know more about them. Feel free to leave a message, or even email me at elfflame at hotmail dot com.