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Below is a family biography included in The History of Phelps County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Thomas M. Jones, attorney at law, and real estate and insurance agent, of the firm of Frost & Jones, was born in Pulaski County, Mo., in 1861, being the eldest of five surviving children born to the marriage of Thomas A. Jones and Cynthia Leake, natives, respectively, of Indiana and Virginia. The father was born in Indianapolis in 1838, and when about nine years of age came with his father, John G. Jones, to where Washington, Mo., is now located, where he was reared to manhood. He was married in and has been a resident of Pulaski County for over twenty years, and is a prominent Baptist minister. His father, John G., was a cabinet-maker by trade, and died in 1862 in Pulaski County. His father, the great-grandfather of our subject, Thomas A. Jones, came from Wales at a very early day, his wife being a native of Scotland. William Leake, the maternal grandfather, was born, reared and married in Virginia, and about 1833 came to Missouri, locating in Pulaski County, where he died in 1873, aged ninety years. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was a well-to-do farmer. His father, William Leake, was a Revolutionary soldier, and died in Virginia. Thomas M. Jones, whose name heads this sketch, resided on his father’s farm until fifteen years of age, and from that time until twenty-two years of age was in school, during which period he studied civil engineering in the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. In 1883 he became a member of the present firm, and gives promise of becoming one of the prosperous citizens of the county. He has been engaged in pedagoguing, his first term being taught when he was sixteen years of age. Soon after becoming the partner of Mr. Frost he took up the study of law, and in 1887 was admitted to the Phelps County bar. He has been city treasurer for three years, and is also secretary of the executive committee of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. In 1888 he was elected public administrator for Phelps County. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the I. O. O. F., and in politics is a Democrat. On June 24, 1886, he was married to Miss Lucy B., daughter of William and Lucy A. Morse, formerly of Massachusetts, and by her is the father of two children. She was educated in the public schools of the county and at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. Her father located in Rolla during the war, and there died in 1870, having been one of the prominent merchants of the town. He also held the office of probate and associate county judge, and was at one time mayor of Rolla.

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This family biography is one of 71 biographies included in The History of Phelps County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Phelps County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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To view a map of Phelps County, Missouri: Phelps County, Missouri Map

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