John Lloyd Jones

October 20, 1832 - June 6, 1908

CLICK HERE TO READ Life of a wisconsin Farmer, an essay by Judith Hayner

In the famous “Ten Children” photo, John Lloyd Jones stands tall among his siblings—strong-featured, wild-haired, gimlet-eyed. Who could have guessed at the time of his birth in Wales more than 175 years ago, the paths that would lead John Lloyd Jones to our country, our Valley, our chapel, our graveyard?

John’s parents, Richard and Mallie Lloyd Jones, eked out a living farming a small parcel of land in Llandysul, Wales. They already had one son, Thomas, who preceded John by twenty-two months. Nine more children were to follow. But at the time of John’s birth, America seemed as far away as the moon. Welsh valleys and hillsides, pastures and sheep folds were the familiar as John began to grow. His tongue never lost the soft Welsh song of his early years. The days spent watching sheep and guarding against wolves seemed endless and unchanging to a small boy sent far from home each morning—but change was inexorably approaching. Five more children were born to the family. Richard’s siblings began emigrating to America and sending back excited reports. Economic times in Wales were hard and religious freedoms were threatened. The time for action had come—and the Lloyd Joneses joined the multitudes of emigrants coming to America, looking for a better life.

As the second oldest, John was strong, hard-working, energetic. And there was much to do. He was a true pioneer in the forests of Wisconsin, chopping wood, rearing the log cabin, clearing Jefferson County with axe and maul, ox team and horse.

Given little chance for an education himself, he valued education hugely and worked towards its betterment all of his life. As he matured he became intensely interested in the politics and potentials of this new land. As his brother Jenkin recalled during John’s funeral service, “(John) was every inch an American. No member of the family, perhaps no man of his countryside, kept such close tabs on current affairs, was so intimately acquainted with the details of public administration in state or nation as this ardent citizen who believed with all his heart in the democracy of God. He was on the liberal, the freedom side in religion and politics.”

All very well and good. But what was Uncle John LIKE?

Maginel Wright Barney, in The Valley of the God Almighty Joneses, remembers him as a man who took in “protegés” —David Timothy, the Valley’s splendid stone mason, and a “Mr. Sweet,” someone of no known heritage or background or clout. When Mr. Sweet’s days as a farmhand were over, Uncle John gave him a little land and let him build a shack on it. When John’s wife Nettie cooked a particularly good meal, Mr. Sweet was included at the table. Through such small actions a picture emerges of John as a man of generosity, a man of kindness.

He was a County Commissioner for many years, overseeing care for the indigent, the mentally ill, the ignorant. His love for his country extended beyond county. Jenkin, in the obituary, recounts the only friction that ever occurred between the two brothers: Which would bear arms for freedom during the Civil War? But John, older, more mature, was needed on the farm “where he served his country more efficiently with the sweat of his brow and the toil of his hands...yielding to me the lighter, the easier and less responsible position of private in the front.”

John was in his mid-30s when the family moved to the Valley. His second home, a large white farm house stands today on Highway 23. It had a small back building that served the Valley as a post office, but John’s calling was first that of miller. He ground the grain of all the farmers in the area and Maginel recalled watching the water wheels turning as “Uncle John would come to the door of his mill to watch and greet us, a spectral figure whitened with flour from head to foot.”

There may be signs of that mill around today. Frances Nemtin said she saw foundation fragments of the mill by the upper dam at Taliesin, and Craig Jacobsen believed he had read of the “old mill” being transported to Midway Barn and turned into a house—possibly the house that Frances and Stephen Nemtin occupied. “Repurposing” is not a new discipline.

Four children were born to John and Nettie: Dick (who amused neighbors by papering the privy with cut-out jokes and cartoons), Thomas, Mary, and the youngest, Jenkin. Jenkin, a great favorite, died of scarlet fever at the age of 15, and Mary had no children, so our only “John line” descendants come through Dick and Thomas.

1891, “Our Jenkin” (John line): b. Spring Green 3 / 25 / 1877; d. Spring Green 6 / 25 / 1891. Buried Unity Chapel

Home News

07 / 02 / 91 Died in Helena Valley, Thursday, June 25th of heart disease, Jenkin Lloyd, youngest son of John L. and Nettie Jones, in his fifteenth year. He had a long lingering illness for many months, but through it all he was cheerful, patient and courageous, deepening the love of friends about him day by day. He was a boy of bright intellectual promise and was universally loved by his teachers. To know him was to love him. The burial services were held at Unity chapel Saturday morning, Reverend Jenkin Lloyd Jones of Chicago, officiating. A beautiful, tender service, full of consolation to the bereaved friends. May the fond mother and father realize that “love can never lose its own”, that living or dying we are enveloped by the enfolding love of God.

Only two years before son Jenkin’s death, John and his brothers founded the Unity Chapel Cemetery. Here is the letter John wrote to his brother Jenkin at the end of that day. It contains a mystery that research has not yet solved.

April 14, 1889

Dear Brother
Ere I lay me down to rest I wish to tell that all the forces interested in the little...chapel have been busy Saturday planting evergreens and filling up around the building and the lots. And today our forces were divided five men and three teams went over to the Green and brought back to the valley Father and Mother and the little name sake and the two brave boys...and tonight they are laid down in the green garden of their affection by the little chapel.

Now you will see that the little spot is dearer than ever as it holds in its bosom the two grandparents and their five little grandsons. There were 4 teams and nine men of us at work in the little yard today. Shall continue tomorrow until completed. I wish you were here so as to give us some hints of what your wide observations have enriched your mind of what is beautiful in ‘honor of the dead.’

Eve Jenk laid 25 years his father could know him. Mother 18 yrs lace and dress in good condition. Both coffins in good condition. Father 3 years almost as good as when laid away but the shame of the day plainly seen in that the coffin in far worse condition than the other two although said to be of black walnut.”

The mystery: Who were the five grandsons? We know that toddler Paul (James line) was first in the cemetery before it was even laid out. Enos’ unnamed infant son soon joined him. That’s two who were already there. Eve-Jenk (Thomas’ son) was brought from Spring Green with his grandparents. Charlie Evans (Margaret’s son) drowned as a young adult trying to rescue a friend who had fallen through the ice of Lake Pepin during a skating excursion. Undoubtedly, he was a “brave boy.” It is his older brother, Orren Evans, who is in question. Orren died of a virulent throat cancer the day before Unity Chapel was dedicated in 1886 and was buried in Dodgeville where his wife and infant daughter remained. Was he disinterred and brought to the chapel? There is no written proof of this, and his wife and daughter were later buried next to Orren’s marker in Dodgeville. However, Orren is the only other “brave boy” who could fill that fifth slot. All other family deaths are accounted for.

Excerpt from an oral history garnered from Charlie Lloyd-Jones, a son of James, by Charles’ nephew John Metcalf in 1974:

Uncle John had 80 [acres] where Porter ’s house [Tan-y-Deri] is now. Had another 160 down where the old mill was. Where Wright’s pond is now. [Uncle John] had a raceway there. In summertime on Saturday nights we’d go down there and take a bath. We had a lot of fun. He’d take a bar and pry the boards and we’d just shoot through. I had a big time.

He built that pond. It washed away a couple of times. Washed out and he’d have to build it over again. His mill is all gone. He had a stone flour mill. Two story building. Quite a place. 

01 / 21 / 1892 (Printed in the Home News):

He Narrowly Escaped:

The Eye and Star of Dodgeville tells of the narrow escape Mr. John L. Jones of Helena Valley had on New Year’s morning from drowning. The paper says he awoke early that morning and fearing the heavy rain falling at the time would take out his mill dam, hurriedly dressed and went to the mill to open the flood gates. He attempted to cross the stream on an old bridge, but it was already washed away and he walked directly into a raging torrent, was carried to the opposite bank, where his hand came in contact with a root by which he attempted to climb out, but it was rotten and he fell back headlong into the water. He was then carried across the stream again, when his hand touched some willow twigs which he grasped, and with great presence of mind, drew himself out on the bank. He was then on the opposite side of the stream from the house and was forced to go home by way of the bluff, arriving in a deplorable condition before the family had missed him from the house. It was a lucky and probably miraculous escape.

At the time of the accident, John must have been living in the mill house, although he had owned the present home’s property since 1880. Warren Hoyer, who later lived in the house John built, wrote: “My abstract shows J. L. Jones and wife Hannah bought the property September 30, 1880, from a Price Lewis. Then April 27, 1893 J L Jones sold two acres to Mrs. J W[?] Greenleaf right across 23 from Taliesin drafting, etc. Maybe money from sale was basis for financing new home."  

Charlie Lloyd-Jones:

He had a farm, too. 240 acres. Add 80 [Porter property]. 320. You know where Andrew [Porter] is with the pine trees? [Tan-y-Deri] Used to be the driveway in. That’s where the Valley folks would come this way. And then the lower valley folks come in the lower gate just at the bridge. Come from miles around. Be all day getting the grist ground. Was there quite a few years.

Home News excerpt: John L. Jones

7 / 10 / 84: Mill doing well

11 / 13 / 84: Kept busy at his mill during fine weather

1 / 22 / 85: Cow in creek. Hired experienced miller

8 / 25 / 87: Trying to repair damage done to dam from recent floods. Hopes to be back in production soon.

12 / 8 / 87: Graham and buckwheat is of very fine quality. Selling cheese 

5 / 17 / 88: John L Jones’ cheese factory commences

5 / 17 / 88: John building a barn. 32 x 48 feet.

12 / 26 / 89: A daily mail route has been established between Spring Green and Wyoming. Service on the new route will commence January 1st. A post office will be established at the Hillside, with John L. Jones as postmaster. 

 01 /16 / 90: John L. Jones has received the appointment of postmaster at Hillside.

01 / 16 / 90: Jones’ mill dam nearly washed out by rains, but saved by hard work.

09 / 07 / 93: Helena Valley is being dotted with new structures of late. At the Hillside a silo and two wings to the large barn are being built. John L. Jones is building a new house, and James L. Jones has a new barn underway.

09 / 14 / 93: Mr. J. L. Jones’ house is growing rapidly.

04 / 26 / 94: Mr. John L. Jones is laying a fine stone walk in his front yard and carpenters and painters are at work completing his house.

Warren Hoyer:

When I purchased farm in 1947 someone told me there had been a house closer to barn—just short way from old well that is still near tree clump by my yard light. The dates of property sale and construction sure coincide. I believe the Greenleaf house was later used by teachers at the Home School. 

J. Richard Ll J [Cousin Dick, son of John] told me that one time there was a board walk part way from Home School to Chapel. Dick had purchased my farm from his father J Ll Jones and as I said I took farm in 1947 even though I lived on my father’s farm by ski hill and my parents lived on my place [Dick Jones farm]… 

From Charlie Lloyd-Jones:

[John] was one of the older brothers. Got a piece of steel in his hand. Operated on in Spring Green. Then took him to Madison. Had to cut his hand off. He never got over that.

We know John Lloyd Jones to have been patriotic, idealistic, hardworking, compassionate. He could also be both stubborn and brave. John’s life ended when a piece of metal was lodged in his hand and he refused to have it removed. After infection and cancer set in the hand was amputated, but the cancer had spread too far. Still, despite the agony, he refused anesthetic. “No anesthetics. They would blur the mind. I will have none of them!

Home News:

Jan. 10, 1907 John Lloyd Jones was advised by the surgeons, on his return to Milwaukee, to have his hand removed, as the hand as pictured by the x-ray was shown to be diseased in the bone. So Saturday morning the operation was performed—removing the hand and also the arm about two inches above the wrist. The patient stood the operation surprisingly and at the time of writing is getting along very nicely. James Ll Jones went to Milwaukee to be with his brother through his operation.

Jan. 24, 1907 Although he had to sacrifice his right hand to rid himself of his long-seated trouble, John Ll Jones’ friends all rejoice that he is in a fair way to recovery, and hope that he has many years of enjoyment still in store for him…

Feb. 7. 1907 Mr. and Mrs. John L. Jones of Hillside arrived home on the 11:12 train this morning from Milwaukee. Mr. Jones is looking well considering the operation he recently passed through, the pain he suffered with his hand previous to the operation and his extreme age.

Feb. 21, 1907 John L. Jones has had an ill turn this past week, but he is very much improved at the present writing.

Spring, 1908 Hillside: The friends of Mr. John L. Jones will be sorry to hear that at the time of this writing he is very low.

June 11, 1908 John Lloyd Jones died at his home June 4th after a long and painful illness. He was laid to rest last Sunday.

Whisperings of the Hillside Pine (publication of Hillside Home School):

In the summer of ’08 “Uncle John,” the benign post-master of Hillside, passed to his rest in his 76th year. To the last he made delightful visits paid him by the teachers and pupils thro’ the relating of his experiences in the varied life of a pioneer, or in discussing the topics of the day, or the living issues of the government.

If there was any special item of information needed, Uncle John was the Solon who was sought. One seldom left his presence without a feeling of spiritual profit. Many a seed thot [thought] did he drop into the minds of the boys and girls as he doled to them their stamps and letters.

His name is enrolled in the calendar of the school’s benefactors.

As the Reverend Jenkin eulogized his brother, he summarized his life and religion by saying, “thank Heaven he had a religion which was not a matter of phrases or formalities, but a matter of realization and exemplification. His was a religion based in the love of justice and an enthusiasm for humanity.”

Exemplary words for an exemplary man.

And so, John joined his parents and siblings in the Chapel graveyard—whispering at the end to brother Jenkin his great fear that the “little shrine” where he would rest might be neglected and underestimated by those to follow.

What peace his soul must feel if it looks at our living, working Chapel now.