Grandma Jones was a small framed little woman. Her shoe size was a four. She always wore her hair up in a bun on top of her head. She was a very serious woman, a very hard working lady. She was very generous. When someone would come to visit her, she would go to her vegetable garden or fruit trees or flower garden and give them something to take home.
Grandpa and Grandma Jones lived in a log cabin house across the street from the flour mill. One day Grandma was cleaning the wood floor. Grease would splash on the floor in front of the stove. Grandma would take gasoline to get the grease off. As she was cleaning a spark flew out of the stove and started a small fire. She almost had it out when one of her kids opened the door and the whole kitchen went up in flames. Grandpa and Grandma had just gone to Ogden and had bought each of the children a new pair of shoes. Mama told me how she cried because her new shoes burned. Different families took them in their homes until they could build another log cabin house. The second log house was built. A nice house. On the south side it had a porch and pump which they pumped for water. They even had wallpaper on some of the walls. I was interested in this, so years later I went into the house and took off some of the wallpaper to see how it was fastened on. To my surprise they covered the logs with cheese cloth and wallpapered on the cheese cloth. I have a piece of the cheese cloth and wallpaper among my souvenirs.
Grandpa Jones died 16 April 1914 at the age of 66 years. William David died when he was two years seven months old, the first child. Mama told me he died from croup. Thomas, the third child, lived less than a month. Six of the children were married when Grandpa died. So there were five children at home. Uncle Alf was the oldest child living at home at the age of 28. Aunt Delila was only 10 years old when her father died.
Uncle Alf built Grandma Jones a beautiful brick home just east of the log house. It was a house with a front room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, one bathroom and a full basement. It had a lovely front porch across the front of the house. It had a screened-in porch on the west side of the house.
My mother, Bertha A. Jones, used to walk up to Grandma’s house once a week, which was over a mile away to help Grandma with the work and do her washing. Uncle Alf never married and was living at home with Grandma. Grandma was ailing with old age. She couldn’t care for herself and the home. We were living in Brigham City, Utah, at this time. (Mama had divorced from Papa in 1926 and we had moved to Brigham.) Mama, bless her heart, went to the aid of Grandma again and had her come live with us in Brigham. We made her a bed in the front room. I remember Grandma crying because she had to leave her home in Malad.
In 1938, mother got divorced from her second husband (William Henry Pingle) and went to Malad to care for Grandma Jones who was bed-ridden. Mother waited on her day and night. I went to live with them my junior year of high school. Mother put a single bed in Grandma Jones’ bedroom for me to sleep in so when Grandma needed something at night, she would ring a bell and I would get up and take her to the bathroom or get whatever she needed. I was up several times a night. I’m glad I was able to take care of her. While I was living there that year, Uncle Alf decided to take down the old log house and use the logs for a new chicken coop. I helped him take it apart and stack the logs and wood up. He left one frame wood room up which he used for little baby chickens.
Grandma was so weak and tired the last few years of her life. She always had a bad cough. She would cough so hard it was hard for her to get her breath. We would help her sit up to get air back into her lungs. She was a great lady. I am proud to be her granddaughter.
Rayda Mae W. Griffee
LUCRETTIA LUSK JONES (Found in Church Records)
Born at Pleasant Grove, Utah, 29 March 1857. She was baptized by Daniel Daniels, 1870 at the age of 13. Her schooling commenced at Wellsville, Utah. She was set apart as a teacher in the Relief Society in 1898. She was married to William E. Jones on 21 September 1874 by Daniel Wells in Salt Lake and endowed at the Endowment House. Her vocation was general housework. Height 5 feet. Weight 110. Chest size 36. Color of eyes, blue. Color of hair, light. General condition of health, fair. Especially interested in Relief Society work.