Kumen Jones Family

Kumen Jones Family. . Kumen in 1879, at age 22, was a member of the five-month scouting expedition to locate suitable sites for the San Juan missionaries to settle. After returning, he and his wife Mary Nielson made the arduous journey to Bluff via the Hole-in-the-Rock. Kumen mastered the Navajo language, was a successful merchant, farmer, and stockman, and filled many civic and ecclesiastical positions in Bluff., Mary Jones helped run a dairy and worked at the Bluff Co-op over 30 years. She served as a leader of children and women in the church. She also served as a nurse, assisting Aunt Jody Wood, visiting many cabins and hogans to care for the sick. Photo: Mary and Kumen with son Leonard about 1901., Kumen married Lydia May Lyman in 1882. Lydia was an excellent seamstress. She sewed for her family and many others. Kumen described Lydia as calm, patient and charitable. "She spoke well of everyone or remained silent." When her neighbor Harriet Barton died in childbirth, Lydia May was like a second mother to the Barton's six children., Lydia May's untimely death: With a baby in one arm, Lydia was retrieving nightclothes for the children when a coal oil lantern turned over, saturating her clothes and setting her on fire. Lydia's only thought was the safety of her children and the home. Once all were safe, Lydia threw herself in the water trough. She died after nine days of suffering. The family and entire community were devastated over her tragic death. Photo: Photo: Lydia with first 4 of 10 children, about 1889, Kumen and Mary served their mission in Bluff for 41 years. Nine of the eleven Jones children lived to adulthood. In 1934, Kumen, a widower, married Mamie Burnham Franklin and spent his time doing temple work in the Mesa Arizona Temple.