Zelma Atkinson Jones 

I, Zelma Atkinson Jones, was born April 26, 1915, at Samaria, Idaho, in Oneida County. I was the tenth child of Alfred Henry Atkinson and Hannah Elizabeth Waldron Atkinson. I was blessed on July 4, 1915, by Daniel M. Williams and baptized in the Samaria Willows on June 3, 1923, by John P. Roderick, confirmed by Howard S. Cordinally. My ancestors on my father’s side were from England and Sweden and on my mother’s side from Wales. My father’s father, Charles Joshua Atkinson, came from England and his mother, Margaret Ann Olsson, came from Sweden. Grandfather Levi Waldron was born in this country in the state of Iowa in 1850 and grandmother Davinah Elizabeth Roderick Waldron was born in Wales in 1859. She crossed the plains with her parents when she was ten years old and was fourteen when she came to Samaria, Idaho. My great grandparents on my mother’s side were Benjamin Waldron and Emaline Savage Waldron. They crossed the plains in 1851, driving an ox team, and lived in Utah until 1855 when they came to Malad Valley in the spring of that year. 

I spent all my childhood days on a farm in Samaria and Pocatello Valley, until the time of my marriage to Vernon Adams Jones, December 2, 1931. On June 5, 1935, we were sealed to each other in the Salt Lake Temple. I am the mother of two children, Mary Connie Jones, born August 9, 1934, and Vernon Ronley Jones, born November 27, 1939. 

I have held the following positions in the church: A Primary teacher at Samaria, Idaho. A Sunday School teacher in the Malad First Ward. October 26, 1943, I was appointed secretary for the First Ward Primary and set apart by George Ward, November 17, 1946. I held the position of secretary for five years and am now a Primary teacher for the second year Zion’s boys and girls. I am also a Relief Society Teacher. 

Photo of Zelma Atkinson Jones.