My Great-Great Grandmother: Mary Ethel Jones

I have long been a fan of genealogy, so when I saw this assignment for week #6, I was extremely excited to say the least.  And since we are currently living in a pandemic, I thought the following story would be more than appropriate. 
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On the surface, the life of Mary Jones probably seems insignificant.  She wasn’t born into money or prestige, and her tragic early death at the age of 25, due to sickness caused by the Spanish Influenza, made her just another lonely statistic of a time long forgotten.  Mary Jones’ life and story probably would not matter to most people, but it matters a great deal to me for one particularly important reason: she is my great-great grandmother. 

As a child, I recall spending time at my grandmother’s house, which was always full of unique keepsakes (my grandmother was a bit of a hoarder).  One of the many items that caught my attentions was an old grave marker which read “Mary Jones Looney.”  I remember asking my grandmother why she kept a gravestone in her home, to which she replied, “It is my grandmother’s, and one day I plan to place it on her grave.”  Apparently, a typo had been made on the grave marker, which is why the marker had never been placed on the grave itself.  My grandma told me of her plan to one day travel to Mary Jones’ grave where she could have an appropriate gravestone placed where her grandmother laid. 

Years went by and eventually my grandmother, who lived a long and wonderful life, passed away. While going through her home, my mother found a box containing the only remaining possessions of my great-great grandmother.  Inside the box were several old post cards from 1907, a handkerchief, a book collecting notes from family and friends, and a small Bible.  Knowing that I was interested in genealogy, my mother elected to give the box and its contents to me, which I consider to be a treasure.  I have spent a great deal of time trying to piece together Mary Jones’ life story. Thankfully I have been able to piece together the major events of her life through genealogical records and family histories. 

Born July 5, 1893 in Fort Morgan, Colorado, Mary Ethel Jones was the 9^th of 11 children.  Her parents, John and Alice Jones, had moved to Colorado from Canada in the hopes of finding better prospects for their family.  Based on family stories, I have learned that Mary’s father (John) was probably a railroad man which would make sense, since Fort Morgan (where they settled) was an important stop at that time for the Union Pacific Railroad. 

Mary Jones’ life was, unfortunately, short and full of tragedy.  Her older brother, Bert (born just 17 months before Mary) died in 1914.  Her Father, John, passed away just two years later, on Christmas Day, 1918.  Family history reports that the family was unable to bury their father for several months, due to the ground being hard and cold. As a result, John’s body was kept in a barn until the spring. 

Death was not the only tragedy to beset Mary Jones.  Her marriage to Lloyd Looney in 1910 proved to be a disaster.  Unbeknownst to Mary, Lloyd was married to another woman in a neighboring city.  When she discovered the betrayal, Mary immediately packed up her two young children (ages 6 and 2) and returned to Colorado, where shortly thereafter Mary contracted Spanish Flu.  Family history tells of how Mary’s oldest child, Ivonne, remembered her mother being removed from the home due to her illness.  Mary grabbed hold of the door frame as the men tried to forcibly escort from the home.  Her nail marks remained in that door frame for several years. It was shortly thereafter that Mary Looney succumbed to the flu and died at the age of 25, on December 18, 2018. 

Unfortunately, my grandmother was unable to fulfill her wish of placing a marker on Mary Jones’ lonely grave.  For 100 years, Mary’s grave remained vacant of any marker or stone and appeared as just a patch of lonely grass in the Brush, Colorado Cemetery. 

Just a couple years ago, I had the unique opportunity of fulfilling a promise made by my   On the 100^th anniversary of her passing, I traveled the two-hour distance to Brush, Colorado where we placed a marker on Mary Jones’ grave.  I marked the occasion by bringing with me the small box of Mary Jones’ possessions I had been given by my mother.  Inside her little Bible, given to her by her Sunday School teacher, I found a handwritten message to Mary which read:

grandmother, to her grandmother.

This is a good book to play by:

to work by:

to live by,

and to die by.

In addition, I found the following note, written to Mary by her mother, Alice, in 1907:

God grant you many and happy years

Till when the last has crowned you

The dawn of endless day appears

And Heaven is opened to you.

Though her life was short and seemingly insignificant, the history of Mary Jones matters not just because she was my great-great grandmother, but because God has given all lives value.  Mary Jones may have endured a great deal of tragedy, sadness and betrayal in her short 25 years on this earth, but as her mother’s wise words remind us all, “the dawn of endless day appears, and heaven is open” to all.  The life of Mary Jones is a powerful reminder to all who wish to study, research and teach history.  All lives, even those which seem insignificant and uneventful, have value and deserve our sincere attention and best effort.  As historians, this should be our commission.  Never forget the "little people" of the past.