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The Joneses - William
Stephens Jones II (Uncle Billy), son of William Stephens Jones, husband of
Mary Lou.
William Stephens Jones ll,
Mary Lou Barbee Jones. The child they are holding is probably Alonzo
(Lonny) Carpenter Jones.
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, died June 6, 1938. Her
marker is in a cemetery at Healton, Oklahoma.
William Stephens (Billy)
Jones was the son of William Stephens Jones and Mary Ann.
There are records in the
archives at the Oklahoma Historical Building behind the Capital Building
to show Joneses in the Bartlesville area in l844. 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 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 l997,
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.
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, “L.C.”
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. |
