John F. Jones, a well-to-do farmer of Claremont, was born here, June 2, 1830, son of Worcester and Sarah (Dove) Jones. His great-grandfather, Asa Jones, came here from Colchester, Conn., in the early days of the town, and settled along the river at Claremont Junction, taking up a large tract of land. Asa was a Lieutenant in the army and a man of importance in the town. He married Sarah Treadway, of Colchester, and had a son, also named Asa. Asa Jones, Jr., born July 18, 1752, died June 4, 1828. On January 20, 1783, he married Mary Pardee, who, born July 7, 1759, died May 17, 1835. They left the following children: Worcester, born November 8, 1783, who married Sarah Dove, and died December 2, 1858; Zabina, born June 30, 1785, who married Elvira Alden, and died June 7, 1828; Asa, born February 22, 1787, who married Sarah Jones, and died August 7, 1862; Mary, born October 18, 1788, who married Henry Simons, and died August 25, 1825; Augustus, born June 6, 1793, who married Amanda Sheldon, and died August 7, 1862; Fanny Beecher, born April 28, 1795, who married Henry Ainsworth, and died in 1893; Sally R., born July 13, 1797, who married German Hendy, and died April 18, 1878; Nancy Malinda, born September 17, 1799, who married John Simon, and died March 28, 1840; Philanda, born August 13, 1801, who married Elizabeth Day, and died February 22, 1871; and Elizabeth M., born March 9, 1804.
Worcester Jones, the father of John F., settled on the farm of his grandfather in Worcester, then containing about one hundred and fifty acres. He became a large farmer, and added considerably to the estate. Besides keeping all kinds of cattle, he produced butter, pork, and cheese, which he sold at market. He was also interested in the Claremont National Bank, of which he was a Director. In politics he was a Whig, and he attended religious service at the Union Church. Publicspirited to a high degree and a supporter of every good cause, he was a leader among his townspeople. He died December 20, 1858. His children were: Sarah, who married Laban Ainsworth, and is deceased; Mary Ann, who died at the age of seventy-eight years; Frederick, who married Lucy Dean, daughter of Horace Dean, and died at the age of sixty-two years; Fannie, who died at the age of twenty years; Maria, who died at the age of fifteen; Hellen, who died when a child of five years; and John F., who is the only survivor.
John F. Jones obtained his education in the district schools and at the academy in Claremont. He assisted his father with the farm until 1855, when he and his brother Frederick were given complete charge. They carried on the farm until 1862, when Frederick married. John then assisted his brother until the fall of 1869, when he bought the Horace Dean farm, a place of three hundred acres, where he has since been farming on a large scale, thereby earning a comfortable income. He married Helen Dean, daughter of Horace Dean. Her grandfather was Lemuel, a Revolutionary soldier, who settled early in Claremont. He married Lucy Perry, and had three children, namely: Maria, who died in infancy; Maria (second), born in 1800, who married James Ballock, and died in 1885; and Horace, who married Emaline Pressy, and had eleven children. For several years Horace Dean carried on the hotel and Cupola Farm, and afterward bought the farm now owned by his son-in-law, Mr. Jones. The Cupola Farm was considered, perhaps, the best farm in the State. It contained five hundred acres of well-tilled land. He raised fine stock for the Boston markets, dealt in horses, and kept a dairy. He was a member of the Union Church, was influential in town affairs, and he acceptably served the town for a time in the capacity of Selectman. A poor boy at the outset, he became one of the wealthiest farmers of the district. He died in 1884. His other children were: Lucy, who married Frederick Jones, and died in September, 1894, having had no children; John, who married Hannah Harlow, became a superintendent of railroad construction in Kansas, and served through the war, had no children; Lemuel, who died in September, 1849, aged ten years; Alice, who married James Thompson, and had one child, who died in infancy; Elizabeth, who married Charles Fisher; Thomas, who became a hardware merchant of Memphis, Tenn., served on government farms during the war, and died in 1867; Samuel, who married Kate Cotton, daughter of Charles Cotton, and is a farmer in Dakota; Charles, living in Texas, who successively married Ophelia Roberts, of St. Louis, and Carrie Johnson, of Springfield, Vt., and has a daughter Edna by the first wife, and a son, Thad P. George, by the second; and Kate, who is unmarried. Thad P. George, son of Charles Dean, resides in California, engaged in mining, lumbering, and hotel-keeping. The elder Mrs. Dean died in April, 1897, at the age of ninety years. Mr. Jones and his wife are members of the Union church. He has represented his town in the legislature, serving during his term of office on the Insurance Committee. He is a public-spirited man and universally liked.