By Mrs. Ann Jones Lewis, February 26, 1935 

(PIONEERS – Brief Biographies of Malad Valley’s Early Settlers) 

Mary Stephens Jones was born June 20, 1842, at Pencader, South Wales. She was raised on a farm. She was talented in singing. She and Aunt Margaret Stephens, Uncle Dan’s wife, used to sing for most every gathering. She was also a good reader.  

On October 16, 1862, she married David C. Jones who was a carpenter by trade. 

On January 4, 1864, I was born, and I have heard mother say that when I was six days old she had to get out of bed to do her work. 

One and one half years later, July 4, 1865, David S., my brother, was born and when he was six months old, they started to this country for the gospel’s sake. At first it was thought it would be best for father to come alone and later send for his little family, but on second thought they decided to stay together, make money as they went the best they could, and all pioneer together, which they did. Mother was sick most of the trip, especially while crossing the plains. Mother’s family–her father, mother, brothers and sisters came with them, with the exception of Tom and Ann who had preceded them. 

They first lived in the back part of John Edward’s house and father worked at odd jobs, trying to get ahead. It was quite a handicap though, as neither father nor mother could speak a word of English. That winter he got a job helping to build the grist mill at Willard. 

In the spring of 1869, they went to the north part of Willard, which is now called Perry, and leased a farm where they worked hard. While father worked at his trade every chance he got, mother worked in the field, helping to put in crops and in the fall helping to cradle grain. On December 19, 1868, my brother Tom was born. They lived in but one room, where the fireplace was the only stove they had. Mother’s bed was a pile of straw in one corner of the room. It was a very cold winter. Mother’s health was poor, and that winter she developed a chronic ailment which bothered her as long as she lived. 

The next spring they moved down to the south part of Willard. Father bought a little home and leased another place so they had plenty of work to do. Mother would take all of us out in the field with her. I would take care of the little boys while father and mother cradled the grain.  

That summer mother took Titus Davis’ peach orchard on shares. She dried $75 worth of peaches for Mr. Davis while father was helping build the Willard store for the Harding boys. In the evening mother picked and carded wool for the neighbors. She surely worked hard and when fall came she had made $100. She felt well paid for her labors. 

My brother, John, was born at this place, as well as my sister, Jane. I never will forget the night she was born, for they sent me and the boys away up to John Morris Jones’. My how tickled I was when father came the next morning and told us we had a little sister! 

In the spring of 1874 we moved to Malad Valley and sold our Willard home. We landed at St. John and lived in a one-room log house owned by Uncle Tom Stephens. Matthew Hill’s family was our nearest neighbor. Mrs. Charles Devander was also a neighbor, and she was very good to mother for in June my brother, Evan, was born and she helped nurse her. Mrs. Peter Peterson was also a neighbor. They lived in a dug-out not far from us. 

We had to walk to school at Malad, as St. John did not have a school at that time. Dave S., Joe Peterson, Mrs. Emmy Thomas, and myself would walk to Malad every morning, and back at night for three months every year, for that was as long as school was held then. Professor Evans was our teacher. Later they held school at St. John in a two room house which was standing about in the center of Henry Jones’ field. Professor Edward Woozley was our first St. John school teacher. The water that supplied the school was from little wells dug like post-holes. There is a lot of difference in the sanitation now, but we all seem to have lived and thrived somehow.  

Father took up a 160 acre farm on Devil Creek, the place where Will and Jane live now. Mother plowed, harrowed, cut grain, and did everything while father worked at his trade in town to get money to live on and to raise the family. 

It was too far for the children to walk to school from the ranch, so they bought a lot from Grandfather Stephens where they built the home they lived in up to the time of their deaths. Father built only two rooms at first, but added on to it as they could until they were quite comfortable. 

Dan, my brother, was born September 19, 1877. Mary Ellen was born January 11, 1879, and Sarah was born March 9, 1883. They were all born in the new home. Mother had nine children. They are all married and have families. 

Mother had had her sorrows and worked hard, but she was blessed as she raised every one of her children, not having a death before her own father’s death.  

They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1912, with all their children present. They were each presented with a gold watch, but the celebration ended in sadness as Uncle Tom Stephen’s wife died that afternoon. 

Father died August 19, 1920, at the age of eighty, two years before Mother’s death. 

Mother had a cheerful disposition. All loved her who knew her. She always gave her grandchildren $5 for wedding gifts, and as a rule always put 50 cents in the hand of the new babies born in each family. 

She lived to go to the temple and receive her endowment. For one year before her death, she went to live with her girls. She was a pleasant, patient soul, always trying to make the best of everything. She died December 22, 1922, at the home of Mary Ellen, leaving nine children and fifty-one grandchildren. She now (1935) has 188 great grandchildren.