Horace M. Jones Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 193

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Horace M. Jones Family Papers are arranged in two series: Correspondence and Subject File. The papers were purchased by Dora Snyder of Fargo at a rummage sale in the early 1940s. She acquired the papers for the postage stamps, keeping the original papers until donating them to the Institute in 1997. The Correspondence Series is organized into eight files. The letters to family contains twenty seven letters written by H.M. Jones Jr. from June 21 to September 11, 1918. Seventeen of the letters are written to his mother, seven letters to his sister Irene, and two letters to his father. This file also contains two letters written to Horace by his mother and sister that were returned to them. The letters written by Horace are a testament to the homesickness felt by an average eighteen year old soldier while away from home. The letters from the U.S. War Department are from the Camp Crane Infirmary to Mr. and Mrs. Jones regarding Horace’s pneumonia and subsequent operation, dating from July 22 to August 28, 1918. The letters to Mrs. H.M. Jones (1922-1930) include from acquaintances and one bill. The letters to Luella Jones include one postcard, and three letters, one of which is a love letter from a George (last name unknown), dating from 1909-1911. The letters to Irene Jones Edgar (1935-1941) came from friends and relatives. The letters to the Edgar family (1907-1914) contain two letters to Wm. George Edgar, one of which involves his petition for naturalization, February 4, 1914. There is also a letter written by R. Edgar to his son and daughter, addressed to G. Edgar. The Christmas cards file includes assorted Christmas cards addressed to Alice Jones and Irene Edgar, circa 1920-1930. The miscellaneous correspondence contains a 1929 anniversary announcement for Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Miller, and two thank you cards from Mrs. Haggart and Harry, 1929. The Subject File Series, The First Baptist Church (1909-1923), contains evangelical pamphlets, programs for the Women’s Societies of the First Baptist Church of Fargo, N.D. (1909), and a program for the First Baptist Church of Fargo, ND, for the week of May 20-May 26, 1923.

Dates

1907-1931

Creator

Jones, Horace M., 1859-1930. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute owns the copyrights.

Biography

Horace M. Jones was born in Neenah, Wisconsin on February 11, 1859. His wife, Alice E. Johnson, was born in Greenville, Wisconsin in 1859. They were married in Princeton, Wisconsin, on September 21, 1876 and resided in New Mexico for eleven years before moving to Fargo in 1887. Mr. Jones was a postal carrier for more than thirty years; being one of Fargo’s earliest mail carriers. Mrs. Jones was active in the First Baptist Church of Fargo, and was president of the Ladies Aid Society in 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had three children: Horace M. Jones, Jr. (March 1, 1900-October 12, 1918), Mrs. Luella Spicer (b. February 1893), and Mrs. Irene Edgar (b. October 1886), who was a bookkeeper at Dakota Drug, and later moved to Florosa, Florida with her mother. After the death of Mr. Jones on October 14, 1930, Mrs. Jones moved to Florosa, Florida living there until her death on February 11, 1940. Horace M. Jones, Jr. enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 21, 1918. He was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and Camp Crane, Pennsylvania, where he served in the medical department. He died on October 12, 1918 from a relapse of pneumonia while home on furlough. The family is buried at Riverside Cemetery, Fargo, N.D.