Hiram M. Jones, who resides on his fine ranch and comfortable homestead on the Woterloo road five miles from Stockton, is a typical California pioneer, a man of rugged qualities, of almost numberless experiences in the life and activities of the Pacific slope, and counting as his the esteem and regard of hundreds of fellow citizens with whom he has come in contact, through business or social relations, during the course of a long life of almost fourscore years. Mr. Jones has been intimately identified with California since 1850, and in the subsequent years hs traversed the width of the continent fourteen times, six round trips by land and one by water. Mercantile affairs, farming, wheat-growing, stock-raising, and multiple other interests have occupied his time and attention, and it would be difficult to find a man versed in a braoder way with life in general than is Mr. Jones.

On the paternal side of good Welsh stock, his grandfather Rev. Cornelius Jones a solder in the Revolution, his parents, Cornelius and Fannie (Wlson) Jones, both native New Yorkers, Mr. Jones himself was born in Washington county, New York, February 27, 1826. After spending the first seven years of his life in his native county he was taken by his parents to the then new country in Illinois, becoming early residents of DuPage county, where he was reared to manhood, and that being the era of the log-cabin school he received his early education in such a primitive temple of learning, the winter season being the time for theoretical learning and the rest of the year being devoted to the practical experience of farm work.

In 1850, with his father and one brother, he set out from Illinois and crossed the plains to California, where for several years he engaged in gold mining in various sections of the state. In 1852 he returned to Illinois, and in the following year he brought out his family, consisting of wife and one son, across the plains to this state, also driving along with him a small drove of cattle. On his arrival he angaged in agriculture in Santa Clara county. He was one of the first growers of wheat in that county, being a pioneer in the production of the great staple which now forms one of the state's most important agricultural commodities. He shipped the first cargo of flour, containing five hundred barrels, from Alviso to San Francisco, this being done in 1854. For a time he was engaged in farming in Alameda county, and in 1862 he went to Arizona and located on Link creek, fifteen miles above Prescott, where he followed merchandising and mining about two years, and during that time assisted to lay out the town of Prescott. On his return to California he went into the dairy business, having his residence in San Francisco. In 1872 he located in San Joaquin county, and since 1888 has resided on his fine ranch near Stockton. This delightful homestead contains one hundred and twenty-five acres, and he also owns a place of four hundred and eighty acres north of and near Escalon, in San Joaquin county. Mr. Jones is a Republican in politics. For several years he served as a trustee of the Greenwood school district. He is a member of the San Joaquin Society of California Pioneers, and his wife is a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the same society.

Mr. Jones was married in DuPage county, Illinois, November 30, 1847, to Miss Zepry N. Trowbridge, a native of New York state. There were four children by this union, and two are living, Fremont and Fillmore, both of San Joaquin county. June 7, 1877, Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Mrs. Lovenia S. Morton, by whom he has one daughter, Bertha A., at home. Mrs. Jones was born in Knox county, Ohio, May 5, 1841, being a daughter of Adam and Experience (Middleton) Cahill, the former a native of New York state and the latter a native of Ohio. Her parents took her to Union county, Ohio, in childhood, and there she ws reared, and was there married to her first husband, Leighton Strong. She was the mother of four children by Mr. Strong, and the three now living are Truman A., of San Joaquin county, Richard W., in the same county, and Elpha C. A., wife of Henry Armbrust, in San Joaquin county. Mrs. Jones married for her second husband Juster D. Morton, a brother of former Governor Oliver D. Morton, of Indiana. Both the children of this marriage are now deceased. Mrs. Jones came out to California with her husban in 1877, and has since been a residence of San Joaquin county.

Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume II

The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine