MARRIAGE WITH SYBIL JONES.
"I see in the world the intellect of man,
That sword, the energy his subtle spear,
The knowledge which defends him like a shield—
Everywhere; but they make not up, I think,
The marvel of a soul like thine."
Browning.
In 1833, Eli Jones was married to Sybil Jones, the daughter of Ephraim and Susannah Jones.
Susannah was the daughter of Micajah Dudley, son of Samuel Dudley, a great-grandson of Samuel Dudley of Exeter, N. H., the eldest son of Gov. Thomas Dudley, the pilgrim of Plymouth, said to have been descended from the lineage of the earls of Leicester. Both Sybil Jones's parents and grandparents were Friends, and her grandfather and great-grandfather Dudley were preachers of fine talents and high character.
Ephraim Jones was a "noble man" and a strong character. He was often deeply lost in thought, to such an extent that many anecdotes are related of his absent-mindedness which are very amusing. He did not want in vigor of mind, and he was one of the marked men of the town. Some are still alive who remember him as he stood up at quarterly meeting and took his text, "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" He was a man who left a remembrance behind him, and the strength of his life has not been lost. His wife Susannah lived to the good old age of ninety-four, and was loved by all who saw her. "Grandmother Jewel" was her name in her old age. Eli's mother, who was nearly as old, was also named Susannah, and it was a memorable day for the grandchildren when these two grandmothers talked together of the olden time. "Grandmother Jewel" was very deaf, but otherwise she was a vigorous woman as long as she lived, and, ripe with years and blessed with the fruit of those years, she passed from this world a few months before her daughter.