EDWARD SPENCER JONES -- Another illustration of the lure of California for those who have once lived here and wandered away is afforded in the experience of Edward Spencer Jones, a worthy rancher, who by hard work and the application of the best that he had to offer, has done his share and liberally, too, toward making Orange County what it is today. He first settled in this country in 1874, but from 1880 to 1885 he was absent from the state and only returned in the middle eighties to remain here "for good". He is a native of Illinois and was born in Huey, Clinton County, in the Prairie State on July 7, 1857. There he received his education and early training in the great task of earning a living and in 1874 he came directly from Illinois to what is now Orange County. His father was John M. Jones, who married Miss Mary J. Phillips, born in Kentucky and Indiana, respectively. The father was a farmer and died when thirty-two years of age, his wife having preceded him several years. Three uncles of Edward Jones served in the Civil War, Michael, Charles and James Jones, the former and latter holding commissions as officers. Three children were born of the union of John M. and Mary (Phillips) Jones, but the subject of this sketch is the only one of them now living.
Left an orphan when fourteen years old, Edward S. Jones since then has
paddled his own canoe, working on
farms in Illinois for a livelihood for a
time. In 1874 he arrived in Santa Ana, Cal., and found employment on the
O'Neill ranch, where he rode the range
for two years; next he drove the stage between Santa Ana and San Diego, being engaged in this hazardous work for a period of two years; then we find him riding the range in Oregon and later in Washington and British Columbia. After spending four years in the northern country he returned to Santa Ana, which by comparison he decided was the best region he had ever seen and here he settled down to make his home and improve his ranch.
In 1885 occurred Mr. Jones' marriage to Maud Turner, the ceremony being performed at Santa Ana, and their union has been blessed with four children; Edward M., Annie L., Jane and Frances, and all make their home under the parental roof. Mrs. Jones is a native of Purdy, Tenn., where she was born on June 7, 1870, and presents in a charming and unpretentious manner the culture of the South. All in all Mr. Jones has had a valuable, if at times a discouraging experience along agricultural lines. When he purchased his ranch he set it out to grapes, and these having proven a failure, he set out walnuts. When he found that the soil was not adapted to their growth, he put in apricots, and after testing the foregoing fruits, he planted oranges, succeeding at last with his latest venture. Mr. Jones has been a member of the Santiago Orange Growers Association since its organization. He has always enjoyed popularity and nowhere more so than in the circles of the Odd Fellows, to which famous order he belongs.
