History of LOUISA TONKS JONES Born ,28 February 1863 in Sal t Lake City Died 7 March 1942 in Idaho History presented Sept 9, 1981 by Veloy Tonks - e e LOUISA TONKS JONES Louisa was born on February 28, 1863, in Salt Lake City, to William and Martha Derricott Tonks. She was the fifth of eight children (three boys and five girls ). They lived in the old 19th Ward area. a few blocks northwest of the Temple grounds. Louisa's father opened up a nail factory and blacksmith shop while in Salt Lake City. In 1866, her family was called to help colonize Morgan County, where William again worked at his blacksmith trade, establishing the first blacksmith shop in Morgan. Their first home in Mor gan was a one room dugout which was located on the lot that is now occupied by the Homer Francis home (96 South State Street). It had steps going down into it just like a cellar and when it rained everything would get soaking wet. They later moved to a log house where the L . D.S. Seminary is now standing. Louisa recalls it was so cold here that the flowers in the house would freeze. The vegetables would also freeze and it would make the potatoes so sweet t hey didn 't like them at a l l. In 1872, her parents bought land in South Round Valley where they built a l_arge stone home. Louisa travel ed back and forth to Morgan by horse and buggy or wagon to attend school. As kids, she and Benjamin Jones, attended school together. When they g rew ol der, Ben woul d bring the drills from the lime k iln to her father's blacksmit h shop and Louisa would see him then . Their affection for each other grew and on October 25, 1883, they were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. She was twenty-one years old. They made their home in Morgan until the following May when they moved to Arizona. A number of peopl e were being sent to settle in Arizona and Ben decided to go with them and get some l and. He had always worked on the lime kiln and didn 't have any l and and couldn't find any to buy. They traveled by team and wagon and e e e -2- 150 everything went well until they reached southern Utah. While mak ing camp one evening on the bank of a large river, a man came along and told them that if they were going to Arizona they were going to have to cross the river that night or wait for a week or two, as the river would be flooding the next day. They decided th_ey didn't want to wait so prepared to cross that night in the dark. They had many problems and it took them all night to get across. The water was so high that it got into the wagon boxes and soaked everything. They spend the next day drying out and all of this was unnecessary because the river didn't flood after all. The next river they came to was so high that they had to take the wagons apart and go across in a row boat. They rea ched St. Johns on August 1 4th. Their little girl, Lou, was born here in October. They didn't have any house except the wagon to live in so they stayed in it until the next spring when they got a piece of land and went to farming. The crops grew fine until the people living above them took all the water and everything dried up and died. Ben then started hauling freight to get money to live on. In October they decided to move down to Mesa and so the little family started out. They had to find the road as they went along and after traveling for a few days stopped to make camp for noon and water the horses. They watered the horses from a bucket as they had to carry their water on the side of the wagon. The horses were very thirsty and were both trying to drink at the same time and so Ben asked Louisa to keep one of them away. All at once it kicked her and she fell. down. When she tried to stand up she realized that the bone was sticking out of her leg and it was bleeding. They wrapped it as best they could and traveled on to find help. Two days later, after traveling about 15 miles and being turned away a few times, they finally found a place to stay. It was a littl.e granary with a small fireplace in which a bed was made for her . Ben did the cooking and took care of -3- 151 the baby and Louisa. After six weeks she was able to move and so Ben made her some crutches. He was so tickled to think that she could walk, that he suggested they go over to the neighbors and show them. On their way over, her crutches slipped into the little ditch next to the path and Louisa fell and broke her leg open again. She was carried back to the granary where she stayed for another six weeks. The leg was never set and so she had a crooked leg the rest of her life. Erysipelas, an acute infectious disease of the skin characteri 7ed by local inflammaqon and fever, set in her leg and they tried everything they could to c ure it. With no success they were told to go back to Utah. They sold everything except one horse, and hired a man to take them to the depot in a wagon. They arrived in Utah in February and spent all the rest of that winter getting her leg cured. Louisa spent all the next summer on crutches . While she was recuperating, Ben went north with cattle and returned about two years later. In May of 188 9, Ben and Louisa's older brother, William Henry Tonks, went to Victor, Idaho, where they homesteaded a farm, clearning the ground of willows and sagebrush. Louisa and Henry ' s wife, Susan, with the childr en traveled to Market Lake, Idaho (now called Roberts), in August. Ben and Louisa lived in a wagon for awhile then in a little shack on the flat near Victor. They didn't have any windows or door and so would hang quilts up to keep the snow out. The early life in Idaho was not easy as there weren 't any stores at first. Whenever they needed things they would go to Rexburg, about 60 miles away, to get them. The roads were very poor, and it would take a week or more to make the trip there and back, camping along the way to rest the team. The first winter they had three sacks of potatoes which they divided with Henry and Susan, and still. had to save enough of what was left to plant the next spring. They had dried wild fruit and lots of dried corn. - -4- Whenever they were out of meat, Ben would go down to the brush by the river and get deer and all the ducks they could eat. When they g ot their first cow they were so thrilled and how they did enjoy the butter and milk. For entertainment they had lots of parties which included dancing. Sometimes they would dance all night and when it would snow a real lot it would be impossible for them to get back home until the next day. Everyone 1.iked picnic s and they had many o f them. They went fishing often and would have big fish suppers on the creek bank. Louisa was the mother of seven children. She died in Idaho on Mar c h 7, 1942.