"An Illustrated History of Whitman County, state of Washington." San Francisco:
W. H. Lever, 1901.  p. 324.
 
ELI C. JONES

     Among the respected pioneers of Whitman county who have now passed off the
stage of action is to be numbered the honored old Civil war veteran and
successful ranchman whose name gives caption to this memoir.
     Mr. Jones was born in Bradley county, Tennessee, on January 19, 1846, his
parents being Jesse F. and Clara H. (Cleveland) Jones. He grew to manhood and
was educated in that state, receiving at least a part of his intellectual
discipline in an academy there. Young though he was when the war was in
progress, he felt it his duty to contribute his mite toward the preservation of
the Union and the upholding of his country's flag. He was in active service for
one year and eight months as a member of the Fifth Tennessee Infantry. On
retiring from the army, at the close of the war, he returned to Tennessee, where
he farmed until 1871, then going to Missouri. He was numbered among the
agriculturists of that state for a number of years, but in 1884 he came to
Whitman county and settled on a homestead near Steptoe Butte, where his home was
until Mav 11, 1892, when he was summoned to the life beyond. Whitman county then
lost one of its most esteemed and trusted citizens. In religion Mr. Jones was a
Baptist, and in fraternal affiliations he was a Mason. He was married on January
19, 1871, to Miss Sarah M.,daughter of James H. and Nancy (Walker) Johnston, and
they became parents of nine children: Jesse F., Clara H.. Eli C., Jr., living;
and Oscar and James, deceased; and four who died in infancy.
     Jesse F., now a resident of Garfield, was born in Missouri, February 20,
1872. In 1884 he accompanied his parents to this county, where he acquired the
major portion of his educational discipline. For three or four years he was a
student in the Colfax College. At the present time he is residing in Garfield
with his mother, but his business is farming, he having charge of the parental
homestead near Steptoe Butte. He also is active in the work of the Baptist
church.
 

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in July 2009 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.