Erasmus J. Jones, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Erasmus J. Jones
Dr. ERASMUS J. JONES, physician at New Porter, was born, in 1814, in Ohio; he is one of twelve children born to Erasmus and Mary (Sellers) Jones, both natives of Virginia. The elder Jones was one of the first settlers of Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1778. Dr. Jones' mother was well educated, and, as there were few or no educational facilities in those days, she educated her son to nearly all he received, but, as the Doctor is a self-made man, he early became interested in the study of medicine before he had the least idea of making it a profession, and did so only because he was urged to. The Doctor lived, married, studied and practiced medicine in the house in which he was born until 1846; he had studied and reported progress to the physician near, but as M. D.'s were "few and far between," and it was a sickly season, he was pressed into practice when sixteen years old. In 1840, he went to Philadelphia and attended the Jefferson Medical College. In 1846, he went in partnership with his brother-in-law, Dr. J. G. Kyle, an excellent physician in Southwestern Ohio, but on account of his wife's health, he concluded to go West in 1851, and procured a "four-horse" team and driver and started, intending to go to Iowa. Upon arriving in Porter County, his family took sick, which caused him to stop, and on account of inducements offered by the people of Gosset settlement, he located there, intending to stay but a short, but remained until 1859, when he was elected County Clerk, and lived in Valparaiso for two terms. He then removed to Chesterton, where he resumed practice, and was in the drug business until 1881; then came to New Porter, where he still resides and practices. His robust constitution enables him to do more than the share of one physician. He has been a member of both F. & A. M., and Odd Fellows fraternities. He was elected Justice of the Peace before he was twenty-one, and had to wait till of age for his commission. He was married, in 1836, to Susan McCafferty, a native of Ohio. She died in 1839. In 1846, he married Elizabeth Bullard, a native of Xenia, Ohio. The Doctor has six children living - Laura Terry, Theo. C., Mary J. Sovereign, Joseph A., Schuyler C. and Willie.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 301-302
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook