This home’s builder had a long career in retail

With the cooperation of the Southeast Iowa Union/Mt. Pleasant News, The Mt. Pleasant Historic Preservation Commission will be publishing, every week or two peeks at some of the featured homes in the 1909 book, Mt. Pleasant Beautiful.

In the series, the 1909 picture will be contrasted with one of recent vintage. The Commission has been collecting information for the eventual issuance of a new book updating the information on the still standing homes from the 1909 publication.

You can test your knowledge of historic Mt. Pleasant with this column. The identity of the featured home will be published with the next featured home. The last featured home was the Palmer House. No, not the famous one in Chicago; this one is located at 606 East Washington in Mt. Pleasant.

Our featured home was built in 1906 and is more modest in size than many homes we have featured. In 1905 William and Emma Jones purchased a large 80 foot lot with an older dwelling from William Hemmings. The next year they sold the house and part of the lot and commenced with plans to build on the reserved property.

William and Emma had been married in the Swedish settlement in the Four Corners area of Lockridge in 1886. The area is distinguished as the first permanent Swedish settlement in the country and the 1860 church is extant. William had changed his Swedish birth name of Jonasson to Jones when he came to this country.

William originally worked for a couple of years for the state hospital but migrated into retail after that, first with Twinting Grocery and then into clothing with J. Wallbank and Sons. Following 16 years there he partnered with John Lauger as Jones and Lauger Clothing and Furnishings store which was located in the building now housing the Becker Jewelry store.

William Jones died in 1912 and John Lauger continued the business until his retirement in 1961.

After William Jones’ death in 1912, his wife Emma continued to live in their home, sharing it with a widowed daughter for a number of years. Emma Jones sold the house in 1945 and moved to a house on North Jefferson where she died in 1952. Her buyer was J. Fred Scheuermann. The present owners purchased the house in 1978.