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JULIA JONES
Superintendent of Schools, Wells Fargo Postmistress, and Secretary To Mariposa Board of Supervisors
With the exception of Merle Goucher Daulton, formerly of Madera, one of the earliest benefactors of the Mariposa Museum & History Center, little is known of descendants of the Jones family of Mariposa. Yet one member remains as an outstanding contributor to the annals of history and her name was Julia Jones.
Born in Benton Mills (now known as Bagby) in the year 1857, the first of three daughters of Lewis F. and Sarah Allen Jones, Julia is remembered as school teacher, Wells Fargo Postmistress, as well as secretary to the Mariposa Board of Supervisors, serving simultaneously in all three capacities. Julia had two sisters, Lucy and Mary Ann(mother of Merle Goucher Daulton), and her brother Newman.
Her father Lewis Jones sailed to California via Cape Horn in the year 1849, returned to New York in 1852 to marry his college sweetheart Sarah Allen, whereupon the two traveled to California to settle in Mariposa. The family home was located on 6th street, facing Bullion.
Julia Jones, unable herself to cast a vote, some 25 years prior to Women’s suffrage, ran for and was elected to the post of Superintendent of Schools for three consecutive terms, commencing in 1894 at the age of 37, finally resigning in 1912 in failing health.
Managing budgets for some 13 to 15 schools, hiring and training teachers, cleaning both the Wells Fargo office and her schoolhouse were all part of her daily routine. Julia’s contract with the County of Mariposa prohibited marriage, and interaction with families of her pupils was discouraged as well.
With her sister Lucy as co-worker, she is reported to have kept the Wells Fargo station open on Christmas Day in order to deliver last minute arrivals of parcels to community residents.
A Wells Fargo historical memo notes they shipped gold dust produced by the neighboring mines, as well as “everything from eggs to oysters to bass drums and handcuffs”. In addition, steady shipments of yeast came through their office enabling the creation of the first bakery providing fresh baked goods to the people of Mariposa.
Little is known about her academic credentials except for the fact that her parents were both teachers and that her father, Lewis F. Jones also had practiced law in his former home of Massachusetts. It is possible, due to scarcity of institutes of learning in California, her parents were the source of her training.
On display in the Museum are children’s effects donated by her niece, Merle Goucher Daulton, as well as a replica of an authentic one-room school house, together with text books, chalk board, desks and benches as well as other school paraphernalia.
Julia died in Stockton, California at the home of her sister Lucy in the year 1923, aged 66. Despite her extraordinary achievements she seems to have led a relatively narrow existence. It is entirely possible that she never traveled beyond California borders.
Lucille Apcar
Mariposa, California, August 2010
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Obituary for Julia Jones
Dies at Home In Stockton
Mariposa Gazette, April 27, 1923
(submitted by Tom Hilk )
Greatly beloved lady passed away on Thursday morning at the home of her
sister, Mrs. Mirian GOUCHER of
Stockton after long illness. Was County Superintendent of Schools of
Mariposa
for eighteen years and a
prominent member of Las Mariposas Chapter, Order Eastern Star. A
telephone
message was received by
relatives in Mariposa Thursday, telling of the death of Miss Julia L.
Jones,
that morning at the home of
her sister, Mrs. Mirian GOUCHER of 840 N. Hunter Street, Stockton,
California.
Miss Jones had been in
declining health for many months and her death was not unexpected,
although
everything was done that
medical science and the best physicians could do for her. Julia L.
Jones
was born at the Benton Mills and
was, at the time of her death, 66 years of age. Her family were very
prominent
people in Mariposa where
they resided for many years. Miss Jones was a highly educated and
cultured
woman and was elected to the
office of County Superintendent of Schools of Mariposa in 1894, and
serving
in that capacity from January
1, 1895 to march 12, 1912, resigning from office on account of her
health
and moving to Stockton where she
has resided since. She was held in the highest esteem by the teachers,
children and parents throughout her
long useful term as Superintendent of Schools. Her many acts of
kindness
and charity will remain as a
monument to her memory for years to come. She was a charter member of
Las
Mariposa Chapter, Order Eastern
Star, and was faithful to its teachings in her daily work. And one of
her
last requests was that she be
laid at eternal rest under the solemn rites of the chapter which was so
much to her. She also was a N. D.
G. W. She leaves to mourn her, two sisters Mrs. Mirian GOUCHER of
Stockton
and Mrs. Lucy TURNER of White
Rock, Mariposa county, and one brother, Newman JONES of Los Angeles.
The
funeral will be held tomorrow,
Saturday, at 2 o'clock p.m., interment to be in the family plot, in the
Masonic cemetery at Mariposa,
beside her father and mother who preceded her to the grave many
years.
JONES, Miss Julia L. May 4, 1923 Mariposa Gazette
LAST SOLEMN RITES FOR BELOVED WOMAN
Funeral services were held at 2:00
o'clock
p.m. last Saturday, at the Masonic cemetery in Mariposa, for Miss Julia
L. JONES, former teacher and County Superintendent of Schools, and
greatly
beloved woman of Mariposa county who passed away at the home of her
sister
in Stockton on Thursday morning.
The
funeral, which was held under the
auspices of Las Mariposas Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, was one
of
the largest seen here in years, former friends coming from every part
of
this and adjoining counties, to join in paying their last solemn
respects
to the greatly admired lady.
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JONES, Mrs. Sarah Allen February 20, 1909 Mariposa Gazette
A PIONEER RESIDENT DIES.
Mrs. Sarah Allen JONES Passes to the Great Beyond.
Mrs. Sarah Allen JONES, a pioneer
resident,
and one of the most highly respected women in Mariposa county, the
widow
of the late Judge L. F. JONES, died at her residence in Mariposa, at
one
o'clock last Tuesday morning, February 16, 1909, as a result of a
paralytic
stroke, suffered twelve days previously, from which she never
recovered.
All that medical skill and loving hands
could do was of no avail.
While the hand of time had dealt gently
with this amiable, lovely white haired lady, the vital spark was not to
be rekindled in this world. Peacefully, tranquilly and without
suffering
she sank in slumber and passed to the Great Beyond without a shade of
pain,
in the presence of and surrounded by the members of her family.
While the grim reaper is never a welcome
visitor, a more peaceful death could not have been chosen.
In life, when speaking of the time when
she should be called hence, Mrs. JONES had expressed the wish that her
summons would not come at the end of a long, lingering illness, and as
if in answer to her expressed wish, the Almighty tempered with
gentleness
the visit of the grim reaper.
Mrs. Sarah Allen Jones was a native
of Pawlet, Rutland county, Vermont, where she was born April 14, 1829,
being at the date of her death, of the age of 79 years, 10 months and 1
day. She came to California and direct to Mariposa county in 1854, to
join
her husband who had preceeded her, and has continued to reside here
ever
since.
She leaves one son, Newman JONES, an
attorney of San Francisco, and three daughters, Mrs. Lucy S. MILLER and
Miss Julia L. JONES of Mariposa, and Mrs. Marian S. GOUCHER of Madera,
a number of grandchildren and a host of warm personal friends.
Mrs. JONES was an exceptionally bright,
refined, and educated woman of a kind and loving nature whose presence
will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
For more than half a century has the
home of this most estimable lady been among the rugged hills, the
wooded
slopes and magnificent scenery of Mariposa county. Her life's history
and
association for almost sixty years are inseparably mingled with
Mariposa,
both past and present, and in nature of things terrestrial it was meet
and fitting that her mortal remains be interred in the little grave
yard,
among the swaying pines, there to rest by the side of loved ones gone
before,
to await the coming of the resurrection word.
At the Masonic cemetery above town,
on Thursday afternoon, in the presence of her bereaved relatives and a
large number of sorrowing friends, assembled from near and far, the
internment,
the last tribute of the living to the dead, was had.
The church services, which were in part
held at the family residence, and part at the grave, were conducted by
the Rev. C. H. REYBURN.
The floral offerings made and presented
by loving friends, were extremely beautiful. The most sacred hymn,
"Safe
in the Arms of Jesus," was most touchingly rendered by the choir.
The solemn invocation for the dead by
the pastor was eloquent of life in the Great Beyond, and the grave,
which
loving hands had decked with evergreens, lost its dreariness, and all
things
combined to symbolize the immortal words:
" Oh Grave, where is thy victory?
Oh Death, where is thy sting?"
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