The sturdy yeomanry of Wales have for centuries been among the productive toilers in any line of work that engages the attention of men, and have shown capacity to adapt themselves to all conditions and circumstances and turn even adverse fate to their advantage. They are limited in their native land to small areas and few occupations, but wherever they locate amid the more expansive realms and larger opportunities of the United States they are ready for every call to duty and can use their chances well and wisely both for their own substantial good and that of the section in which they live. To this adaptable and capable people Roy E. Jones, of Mesa county, a prosperous and progressive farmer living in Parker basin, in Plateau valley, belongs; and in his career and his present condition of comfort and prosperity, which he has won by his own efforts and ability, he illustrates forcibly their salient characteristics. He was born in Iowa in 1875, and is the son of Jethro and Hannah L. (Robinson) Jones, the father a Welchman by nativity and the mother born and reared in Ohio. His father came to the United States when he was young and settled in Illinois. There he lived for a number of years and was married. Some time after this event he moved with his family to Iowa, where he was living at the beginning of the Civil war. Strong in his devotion to the Union, he was one of the early volunteers in its defense, enlisting in 1861 in Company C, Thirty-eighth Iowa Infantry, and in that command serving to the close of the contest. After its end he returned to his Iowa home and resumed his farming operations, which he continued in that state for a number of years, then moved to Wisconsin and remained there eleven years. From there he came to Colorado and now resides in Plateau valley, Mesa county. His wife is still living and abides with him at their pleasant home, where they are visited by large numbers of admiring friends. Their son Roy passed the most of his early life in Wisconsin, and received his education there. He accompanied his parent to this state, and soon afterward bought a ranch in partnership with his brother. This they conducted together until recently, when he sold his interest and purchased another ranch of his own, the one on which he now lives in Parker basin and which he manages with success and profit. He has improved it with good buildings and brought it to a high state of development, making it a very attractive country home of appreciating value. In 1889 Mr. Jones united in marriage with Miss Alice Mott, and they have one child, their son Clyde R. Jones.
Source: Bowen, A. W. Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1905.