Marycarol Jones, 1903-1992

Marycarol Jones

When I sat down today to do a bio of Marycarol Jones, I discovered that my database does not match my memories.  In other words, I know more about her than I have entered in my family history records.  I have a big, thick file folder of her letters and many other items that I just have not had time to process.  I will write this bio now, but with the caveat that I will undoubtedly have more to add eventually.

Marycarol is the only one of the children of John R. Jones and Mary Elva Stilwell that I ever met.  She shared a great deal of information about her parents and siblings with me as I was starting my research.

Marycarol Jones as a young girl (circa 1913 or so?)  She appears to be holding a ring.  Perhaps she was the ringbearer in a wedding?  

Marycarol Jones was born 23 January 1903 in Hankinson, Richland Co., North Dakota.  She was the youngest child of John R. Jones and his wife, Mary Elva (Stilwell) Jones.

She is found on the 1910 and 1920 censuses with her parents in Hankinson, North Dakota.

Between 1921 and 1925, she attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Marycarol Jones as the "May Queen" at Carleton College, 1925

Marycarol seems to have spent some time in Missoula, Montana, as I have several letters addressed to her there in 1925.

On June 30, 1927, Marycarol served as the maid of honor in the wedding of her brother, Dan, to his first wife, Ila Coffin.  The wedding took place in the Jones home in Hankinson.

About 1927, Marycarol went to India to work as a missionary.  She was there about 6 years, returning to the United States in 1932-33.  My notes indicate that she gave me a number of pictures from her time in India, but if I still have them, I don't know where they are.  I suspect I passed them on to other family members.  If I find them, I will certainly share them.  HERE they are.

After she returned from India, she worked as a child welfare advocate in Klamath Falls, Oregon, from about 1938 to about 1945 or so.  Then she took a similar position in Roseburg, Oregon.  By 1953, she was in Livermore, California.  By 1957, she had moved to Santa Ana, California.  And by 1979 or so, she was living in Carmel, California, where she remained until her death.  She never married, though she mentioned a number of men who had proposed to her over the years.

1981 - Marycarol Jones

1978 - Dan Jones, Jr. with Marycarol Jones in Hankinson, ND

1979 - Marycarol Jones

Marycarol Jones.  I believe this man is her cousin, Don Stilwell (1918-2015).

Marycarol Jones

I got to know her when I began doing family history research and contacted her about the family of John R. Jones.  She identified many of the photos that I have posted in my series of Hankinson Attic pictures.

Marycarol Jones died 25 August 1992 in Carmel, Monterey Co., California.  I have not yet found an obituary for her, nor do I know where she was buried.  She was the last of her siblings to pass away, and her remaining relatives were only nieces and nephews, so it is possible that there was no obituary.

I'm sure I will have information to add to this biography as I work through my 'unprocessed' items.