1814: Silas Washington Robinson Jones was born the 3rd of 15 children born to Thomas Jones and Frances Bybee Jones in Clark Co, Kentucky.

His grandfather would ask him to tell him his whole name when he was a little boy and Silas would just smile.

1825: At the age of 11 years he moved to Owen Co, Indiana with his family. He remained in the Indiana, Kentucky area until heading west in 1853 at the age of 38.

1836: At the age of 24, S.W.R. Jones was married to Elizabeth Allen, the daughter of Judge Thomas Allen and Rachel Hart on November 27 in Owen County, Indiana.

11 children, 8 boys and 3 girls, were born in this area: James Thomas; Joseph Philip; Rachel; Twins William Henry and Susannah; Twins John Calvin and Silas Allen; Jesse Berryman; Madison LaFayette; Samuel William and Elizabeth Frances. John Calvin died in 1844 and was buried near their home located close to Gosport, Indiana.

Spring of 1853: Silas and Elizabeth packed up their 10 children and headed over the Oregon Trail ending up in the rich Willamette Valley of Oregon. The wagon train consisted of 19 wagons and a lot of cattle. The families walked 20 miles a day for 5 months.

They settled in a grove of trees in a small cabin the first year. 17 people in a one room cabin. The area was named "The Nook" by their daughter, Rachel. This original property is still owned by his descendents where they hold a yearly reunion in August.

SWR was a shrewd business man and amassed a great deal of rich farmland in the Willamette Valley. Estimates of his worth ranged from $100,000 to $250,000. In 1900, the census showed the average yearly income was $449.50.

4 more children were added to the family in Oregon: Emily, Sarah and twins Scott and Harrison for a total of 15 children born to the couple.

His children remembered watching him ride off on his horse, often with a grandchild behind him. He wore black boots and a knee length black cape with red lining that would be flying in the wind as he rode away.

Education was of primary importance to Grandpa Jones. He was very well spoken (and written) and many of his children were university educated.

SWR and Elizabeth acquired thousands of acres of land in the Willamette valley. This was subdivided among the children and donated 400 acres to Philomath College and 350 acres to the United Brethren Church. Much of his land was divided among children and grandchildren.

SWR outlived 6 of his children. Most of their children remained close to the area throughout their lives. Many of their grandchildren and even great grandchildren were raised on the lands originally owned by SWR. The majority of the family are buried in the Pioneer Memorial Cemetery in Brooks which was founded for a son who died at 13 years old at The Nook in 1855. An acre was set aside for the Jones family at that time.

1890: Elizabeth and SWR had been married for nearly 54 years when she died at the age of 70. Her death was very difficult for her husband of so many years. A large memorial is at her gravesite in Pioneer Cemetery containing information about SWR and Elizabeth.

This began a second life for SWR at the age of 76. In his grief and loneliness, Grandpa Jones placed an advertisement in the Portland paper for a woman to marry him and be rewarded with $5,000. If she produced children for him, she would get the remainder of his estate.

He was then swindled out of $5,000. by a lottery scheme. This got a lot of publicity in the Portland, OR newspaper and Grandpa Jones really wanted these people put in jail. He didn't really care about the money. They were never located..

His children went to court to try to get guardianship and Grandpa took off to the East. He married Cynthia Harbine whose "brother" turned out to be her husband. He went to Denver, where he married Maud Boatright whose "brother" was also her husband! 2 weeks later, on 1-10-1891 he divorced both women, even though he was not legally married to either since they were both married.

SWR left for Texas and met up with one of his brothers there. He left for Indiana to spend time with his siblings and their families.

1891: He went to Kokomo and was finally reunited with his brothers Mathew and Thomas and sister Lucy McDade. Then he met a very nice, decent 41 year old lady, just what he had been searching for. Hannah Slyter and Silas were married on October 14, 1891. She was a well respected widow whose husband was killed several years earlier.

An officer from Denver came to Kokomo to arrest Mr. Jones for bigamy. The local officials managed to delay his train departure and were able to avoid the trauma of more problems related to those marriages in Denver. After all, the poor old guy was 77 years old!

He and Hannah settled in Howard County, the cities of Greentown (1901 - 1906) and Kokomo for the next 20 years. Things seemed to go well. He acquired more real estate and continued being a businessman.

1908: When the presidential election day came in 1908, a few men surrounded him to help Silas walk to the polls. He voted for Taft He remained at the polling place for some time as people came to talk to the oldest man in the county. He was 94 and when he decided it was time to go home, he walked the distance himself without assistance.


1911: Silas passed away at the age of 97. His obituary appeared on the front page of "The Kokomo Daily Tribune. Silas was the last of 15 children to pass away. One son, Harrison, had come from Oregon when his father fell ill. He attended his father's funeral. S.W.R. had always dreamed of returning to Oregon.

He died at his home at 725 North Courtland Avenue with his wife, Hannah, at his side. His funeral was held at this house.

He lies next to his sister Lucy Jones McDade. According to accounts in the family book, she was his favorite sister.

The photo of the memorial is that of his first wife, the mother of his children. The gravesite in Marion County, Oregon. See her bio, with the link below, for more details of their life together. Burial location of his last wife, Hannah, has not been located.