Mary Ann Jones
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Mary Ann Jones (Polly) was born on May 9, 1836 in Cleobury, England to parents, Thomas G. and Hannah Paine Jones. They were of the Baptist faith. When Mary Ann was sixteen years of age she left home and went to live with the Napper family. As they were of the Mormon faith, she soon learned about the Church. When she was eighteen she was baptized on March 7, 1854.
In 1856 she joined the Saints leaving for America on the "Enoch Train" ship bound for Boston. They arrived in Boston on May 1, 1856. From there they went to Iowa City, Iowa and then by handcart all the way to Salt Lake Valley. She and Mary Ann Bates were together on this journey pushing their handcarts all the way. The Lord blessed them along the way and guided them by His Holy Spirit for although tired and footsore they could always sing the songs of Zion as they went along. Soon after arrival in Salt Lake, on October 4, 1856, Mary Ann and Mary Ann Bates were sealed to Edmund Lovell Ellsworth. They lived in the Salt Lake area until 1866 when they made a move to West Weber. In 1880, Edmund along with Mary Ann and Mary Ann Bates and the two families moved to Show Low, Arizona. Mary Ann gave birth to twelve children. The first five in Salt Lake City and the remaining seven in West Weber. One son, Wilford, was taken from her with diphtheria in 1879. At the death of Edmund in 1893, Mary Ann went to Mesa to live by her daughter, Sadie. But at the time of her death, she was living in Fort Apache, Arizona with some of her family. She passed away on the 26th of April, 1925. She is buried in the Adair Cemetery in Show Low next to Edmund. Her grandchildren certainly enjoyed her company. She very seldom said anything but when she did they loved her English accent. She would call her little ones around her knee and tell them stories. One child said she would make us laugh, especially when she would use words like, "ome" and "orse" and "ouse". One time she was asked the question, "Grandma, did you really walk all the way from the east to Salt Lake City?" Her reply was, "My deah, all but one time, the watah was too deep." She was always a faithful Latter-Day Saint and believed the gospel completely. She was a devoted wife and a loving mother. compiled from "The Life and Times of a True American Frontiersman: Edmund Lovell Ellsworth"
Diary of Mary Ann Jones (at age 19)
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