JONES, Mrs. Irma Theoda, philanthropist, born in Victory, N. Y., 11th March, 1845. Her maiden name was Andrews. Her ancestors were among the pioneers of western New York, with a strong mixture of German blood on the father's side. In 1849 her father, a physician, removed his
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IRMA THEODA JONES.
family to Rockford. Ill. Miss Anna P. Sill had just then opened her female seminary, to which a primary department was attached, wherein the child of five years began her studies. The study of languages was her specialty. After teaching a year, in July, 1863, Mrs. Jones removed to Lansing, Mich., where her uncle, John A. Kerr, held the position of State printer. In May, 1865, she became the wife of Nelson B. Jones, a prominent and public-spirited citizen of Lansing, where they have since resided. Four sons and one daughter enliven the home. One daughter died in infancy. Though at intervals from her girlhood Mrs. Jones has been a contributor to various newspapers, her most influential work has been in connection with the Lansing Woman's Club, of which she was one of the originators and president from 1885 to 1887, and also with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the days following the crusade movement, with the rise of the Young Woman's Christian Association and with the Lansing Industrial Aid Society, of which she has been president for the past thirteen years. The last-named society has for its object the permanent uplifting of the poor, and maintains a weekly school for teaching sewing, cooking and practical lessons in domestic economy to the children of the needy. The mother of Mrs. Jones, Mrs. N. Andrews, a woman of remarkable executive ability, is matron of the industrial school. Mrs. Jones has given time and effort freely to that work for the unfortunate. In her Christian faith she is zealous, and the earnestness of her religious life characterizes her work in every field. In 1892 she became editor of the literary club department of the "Mid Continent," a monthly magazine published in Lansing.
