Hello Jones readers or listers !!!! I found the newsclipping from today newspaper, and thought you all might like to read interesting story about William Jones... I like to share this with you all readers.... LOCAL HISTORY-----FRONTIER DIARY GLENWOOD SPRINGS NEWSPAPER...POST INDEPENCE NEWS The decade of the 1840s brought America to the treashold of change. White civilization was expanding across the continent. Conflicts with NativeAmericans were on the rise. Questions about the morality and expansion of slavery werebeing debated. This was William Jones's world. Born in Virginia to parents of African decent, William Jones was a slave. With the coming of the Civil War, Jones enlisted, becoming one of 200,000 African-American soliders to serve in the conflict. After the lCivil War, William Jones continued his miltary service, serving as a Buffalo Soldier during the Indian wars. During a mid-1800s campaign near Meer, Jones was caught in a fierce snowstorm. He lost portions of both feet to frostbite. shortly thereafter, Jones came to Glenwood Springs, becoming one of the first Africian-Americans to settle in the town. He was employed as bank janitor, boot black, porter, gold miner, town scavenger, and newspaper press maintenance man. As an interdeominational minister, he became known as Deacon Jones. Deacon Jones; deep religious convictions drove him to rally members of the Glenswood Spring African-American community toward the formation of a Bapotist Church. in 1910, he helped purchase in the trust for the First Baptist Church of Glenwood Springs the propoerty at 805 Pitkins Avenue. By 1912, a church was erected on the site which served the religious needs of the community, black, and white. William ('Deacon) Jones died on January 18,1918, at age of 77, and was buried in Linwood Cememtery. His simple headstone marks the resting place of a man born into conflict but died unity a community. this is written by Willa Soncarty There is a picture of headstone. It said simply. DEACON JONES 1918. (Glenwood Springs is in Colorado and Meeker is in Colorado) regards, Joe Jones