He returned to Havana in 1865,
and his marriage to Nancy L. Hickey, a resident of Havana in 1866, might
indicate he had lived there earlier.
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Leon Franklin Jones was
born July 29, 1845 in Preble County, Ohio. As far as is known, lived
there until he enlisted, during the Civil War, as a Private in Co M 2nd
Reg of the Illinois Cavalry at Havana, Illinois (halfway across the state
of Illinois from his birthplace) on November 11, 1861, at the age of seventeen.
His tour of duty included Division Headquarters and the Div. cattle yard.
While on a patrol he was taken prisoner and returned during a prisoner
exchange on Feb. 18, 1853 minus his sabre, carbine, horse, and equipment.
He was at Div HQ until discharged in Baton Rouge, LA in 1865.
He returned to Havana in 1865,
and his marriage to Nancy L. Hickey, a resident of Havana in 1866, might
indicate he had lived there earlier.
Their first two children were born in Illinois.
| Melinda | b. Sept 15, 1867 | d. Jan 15, 1915 | m. Dave Henderson |
| Edgar | b. Oct. 17, 1871 | d. Oct 10, 1938 | m. Rose Dobrowsky |
In 1874, they joined Leon's
brother Tom in Dedrick, a mining town west of Weaverville in Trinity County.
Their other six children were born there:
| Arthur | b. June 15, 1877 | d. July 18, 1909 | in Bartle, logging accident |
| Tom | b. Feb. 9, 1881 | d. May 1, 1889 | drowned |
| Leon | b. Mar. 8, 1882 | d 1931 | m. Bessie Reed |
| Albert | b. June 13, 1885 | d. May 9, 1956 | m. Evelyn Klineschmidt |
| Joseph | b. Feb. 6, 1881 | d. Sept. 1, 1968 | m. Myrtle Donner |
| John | b. Oct. 8, 1888 | d. Aug. 13, 1964 | m. 1st Laura; 2nd Marie |
While working in Humboldt
Co. Leon broke his hip and leg after being caught between two redwood logs.
In 1881, Leon purchased the Weaverville/Canon City Express and was co-owner
of the Chloride-Bailey mine in Dedrick with a partner, Dan Dedrick.
Eight-year-old Tom fell in a
sluiceway and was drowned; he was buried in Weaverville Cemetery before
the rest of the family moved to Keswick. Leon became manager of the Stump
Ranch. The childen attended school in Shasta and worked on the ranch after
school; Albert recalled delivering meat and dairy products to people's
homes when he was nine years old.
Leon and Nancy and the boys
who were still at home lived on a ranch in Happy Valley from the early
1900s until 1911 when they moved to Redding where the couple spent their
last years. He died December 15, 1925 and Nancy followed him on June 2,
1930. Except for Tom who is buried in Weavervi1le the family is buried
in Redding Cemetery.
Source: Shasta Historical Society - May 2001
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