Alonzo (Lon) Jones, Grandson of William
Stephens Jones and Mary Ann This is the son of Mary Lou Barbee Jones and
William Stephens Jones, II, who was a brother to Joseph Hubbard Jones.
Mary Lou's marker shows this: Born June 30, 1864, died June 6, 1938. Mary
Lou's son's marker shows this:
Lon Carpenter Jones's marker: Born November 1894, died march 15, 1945 I've
wondered if this is where Dempsey's, Dad's nephew's, initials came,
Dempsey L.C. Jones, son of Bertha Big Eagle and Dennis H. Jones. There is
nothing I can record as to Alonzo's life, other than, my father spoke
affectionately of him, calling him, "Lonny. The story around this picture
and the fact that he was buried next to his mother which tells he must
have been living around the area of Healton, Oklahoma when he died.
His mother, Mary Lou and her husband Billy
lived in various places
throughout the state. They lived in the panhandle where they were
pioneers of that area. Probably, they left there during the Oklahoma
drought or dust bowl.
The family lived in the early days of
Oklahoma at "Whiz Bang," an early day oil field camp close to Shidler,
Oklahoma. Mary Lou was said to have set up a tent where she cooked for the
oil field workers. Their surroundings were very rough, but she, I'm told,
was an excellent cook and made the best of everything. Family members who
remember her spoke of enjoying her wonderfully delicious pickled beets.
For all the people who lived and died in
Oklahoma with no statues erected to them or any great deeds attributed to
them, these are the ones who truly built the state. They were the workers
and the doers. Walter was another son of Mary Lou and Billy. Lee Otis
Jones told that he was a superintendent of an oil company pipeline, but
there is no research to verify, therefore details are not available.
For all the beauty of having material
shared by family elders, one must accept that the information is not
always accurate. For instance, ten years after the above was compiled
brother to the author, Dennis Michael Jones, located the graves of Mary
Lou Jones and her son, Lon Carpenter Jones at Healton, Oklahoma. This
material is also recorded under the picture of Mary Lou Barbee Jones with
her husband, William (Uncle Billy) Stephens Jones.
Nancy Bellzona's Picture Book
The Joneses - William Stephens Jones II
William Stephens Jones ll, (Brother of Joseph Hubbard Jones,) and Mary Lou
Barbee Jones
William Stephens Jones II (Uncle Billy), son of William Stephens Jones and
Mary Ann Witt. He was husband of Mary Lou Barbee. Born in Arkansas, 1859.
William Stephens Jones ll, (Brother of Joseph Hubbard Jones). Mary Lou
Barbee Jones, wife of William (Uncle Billy. Mary Lou was born June 30,
1864, Missouri, died June 6, 1938. Her marker is in a cemetery at Healton,
Oklahoma.
Mary Lou and Uncle Billy's (William Stephens Jones) children:
A. Horace Edward Jones, born 1891, Oklahoma. He married May and they lived
in Healton, Oklahoma
B. Alonzo (Lonny) Jones born in 1895 (a twin, only he lived). His wife was
Grace.
C. Baby Jones, twin to Alonzo, died at birth, 1895
D. Gussie Jones, died before 1910
F. Walter (Queeter) Hubbert Jones, b. February 22, 1900, Oklahoma.
Walter married Mary Jane Beach Woodall. They had no children. Mary
Jane was born February 2, 1903. Died July 1965 in Oklahoma City, at age
65.
Mary Jane Beach married Austin Homer Woodall. He died April 7, 1990.
Mary Jane had three children by Austin. They were:
1. Georgia Mae Woodall, Georgia was born April 7, 1919. She married Mr.
Brymer.
2. Mildred Woodall, She was born November 18, 1921, She married Mr.
Portman
3. Homer Lee Woodall
There are records in the archives at the Oklahoma Historical Building
behind the capital building to show Joneses in the Bartlesville area in
1844. Since this was over fifty years before statehood and because
Oklahoma was Indian territory no others were supposed to be living in the
state. This Jones recorded in the archives was living in the state and had
listed a number of improvements on the land, buildings and such. In order
to do this he had to be using his Indian blood to be here or using his
wife's Indian blood. Among themselves they spoke of their Indian blood,
but it is a different matter when it comes to finding a recording of it.
Old letters in the historic section in the back room of the Pawhuska
library can only be accessed by those involved with the Historical group.
In these records there are letters to Dan Jones, brother to William, and
William Jones, agents, who worked for the federal government. One
particular letter is about how the “Little Osages” (Kaws) were complaining
because Jones had delivered food first to the “Big Osages.” The location
of the Kaw tribe is quite some distance from Pawhuska and would have been
the reason for that. It is humourous to me to see tribes were fighting
over U.S. government provisions even way back then.
Billy and Mary Lou settled around Guymond,
Oklahoma and they were separated from Joseph's, his brother's, family.
They were spoken of affectionately by any family who knew them. The
children, who were acquainted with them, remember Uncle Billy and Aunt
Mary Lou with good thoughts such as: “Aunt Mary Lou always had the best
meals. Her pickled beets were especially good." During the oil boom at
Shidler, Oklahoma around 1920 Mary Lou had a tent under which there were
tables. Here she cooked meals for the workers in the oil patch. Unless a
person has ever cooked in a café they cannot appreciate the work that goes
into this.
There is a faint photograph of Mary Lou's
family standing in front of a "half dug-out," a house dug into the ground
with a roof built over that space, close to Guymond. This tells they
suffered the same hardships and trials many Oklahomans knew when the state
came into statehood shortly after the turn of the century, 1900.
In the year of 1997, Dennis Michael Jones,
(Mike) my brother and son of Lee Otis Jones, located the markers for Mary
Lou Barbee Jones, and her son Alonzo (Lonny) Jones at a cemetery in
Healton, Oklahoma.
A sentence can hardly describe the hours of
searching that went into this. Mike, at the time had a business for land
improvement along highways, ecological projects, and road designs. His
businesses took him to many locations where old settlers might have at one
time lived. This was when he was pushing new highways through uncharted
places. On his own time in the evenings and on Sundays he searched for
this marker and was able to find it. |
