The physician who would succeed in his profession must possess many
qualities of head and heart not included in the curriculum of the schools
and colleges he may have attended. In analyzing the career of the successful
practitioner of the healing art it will invariably be found true that a
broad-minded sympathy with the sick and suffering and an honest, earnest
desire to aid his afflicted fellow men have gone hand in hand with skill and
able judgment. The gentleman to whom this brief tribute is given fortunately
embodies these necessary qualifications in a marked degree and by energy and
application to his professional duties is building up an enviable reputation
and drawing to himself a large and remunerative practice, being recognized
as one of the leading physicians of this locality and a man of honor and
integrity at all times.
Dr. J. T. Jones was born in Foster township,
Marion county, Illinois, August 26, 1861, and "his sober wishes never
learned to stray," consequently he has preferred to remain on his native
prairie rather than seek uncertain fortunes elsewhere. His father is Eli W.
Jones, a native of the same township and county. Grandfather James Jones was
an early pioneer of Marion county and man of many sterling qualities which
have outcropped in our subject to a marked degree. He was a Southerner of
the finest type. His residence was used in an early day for the purpose of
holding church services, he being an active and ardent Methodist. He is
living at this writing, 1908, in Foster township on a fine farm where he has
become influential and widely known. He was Circuit Clerk from 1872 to 1876.
He makes his home at present in Vernon. He was a soldier in Company H,
Twenty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and he served through
the war, having marched with Sherman to the sea and lost a leg in the final
battle at Bentonville, North Carolina, the last battle fought by Sherman. He
was in many hard fought battles of the Army of the Tennessee, being in the
Fifteenth Army Corps, and in all he took part in about thirty engagements.
After the war he returned to his farm. The maiden name of the mother of the
subject was Mary Ryman, a native of Pennsylvania. Her father was Dr. J. R.
Ryman, who was an early Methodist minister, later becoming a physician. He
came to Marion county when a young man, and was at one time Circuit Clerk of
the county and also School Commissioner, being one of the founders of the
Western Christian Advocate at St. Louis, Missouri. He died about 1877. The
mother of the subject is living at this writing. Three children were born to
these parents, our subject being the only one now living. The subject's
maternal grandmother was Martha Dickens, a daughter of Samuel Dickens, a
pioneer Baptist minister.
Doctor Jones spent his boyhood on his
father's farm, attending the country schools at Fosterburg, and when the
family came to Salem in 1872 he attended school in in Salem in 1872 he
attended school in Salem from 1872 to 1878, graduating from the high school
here in 1878 with high honor. After leaving school he clerked one year in a
store at Vernon, but believing that his true calling lay along medical lines
rather than the mercantile, he began the study of medicine, making rapid
progress from the first. He entered the St. Louis Medical College in 1880
from which he graduated in March, 1884, having made a brilliant record for
scholarship. He located first at Warsaw, Missouri, practicing there with
eminent success until 1889, when, much to the regret of his many friends and
patients, he left that town and came to Vernon, Illinois, where he remained,
building up a lucrative practice, until 1907, in which year he came to
Salem, having moved his family here a year previous. Doctor Jones took a
post-graduate course in the medical department of the University of St.
Louis in 1906. He has been very successful in his practice in Marion county,
having a large business at present and he is often called to other
localities on serious and important cases where his superior medical advice
is sought by local practitioners whose skill has been baffled, and his
counsels are always followed by gratifying results.
The domestic life
of our subject dates from April 25, 1891, when he was united in marriage
with Carrie E. Bennett, who was born and reared in Salem, the accomplished
and refined daughter of J. J. Bennett, an early pioneer of Marion county and
was the first president of the Salem National Bank, which position he held
until within a few years of his death. Mary Oglesby was the maiden name of
the subject's mother, who was the first girl baby born in Salem. Her
great-grandfather, Mark Tully, entered land on which the city of Salem is
built. He gave the site where the court house stands. This family was one of
the best known in the early history of the county.
Our subject and
wife have two children, a bright boy and a winsome girl, the former, Don
Paul, having been born January 28, 1892, and the latter, Nellie, was born
May 22, 1895.
Doctor Jones has been thrifty and has accumulated a
fair competence as a result of his well directed energies. He owns a
valuable and highly improved farm in Foster township, and has numerous real
estate holdings in Marion county. He is a member of the county, state and
national medical associations, and he belongs to the Masonic Fraternity, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen, the Sons of Veterans and the
Yeomen.
The home of Dr. and Mrs. Jones is modern, cozy, nicely
furnished and is presided over with rare grace and dignity by the latter who
is often hostess to warm friends who hold her in high esteem. This worthy
couple is regarded by all classes as meriting the confidence and regard
which are unqualifiedly proffered to them.
Extracted 09 Jul 2017 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 69-71.