- explored NE land - invested in hundreds of sheep & herded them on gov land - Jonas was Grandma Elizabeth's brother who had come to Nebraska in 1880 when three boys came as explorers. Mother always said he was a very strict person, very conscientious and a devout Christian. He also was a large sheep herder. At one time he wanted to burn off his land so it would be better for his sheep, which started a large prairie fire and was a great loss to some people. Uncle Jonas, who brought the girls to North Dakota, was a very conscientious man. He never married. When they got to North Dakota he went to Minnewaukan which was the county seat. All records were kept there. He took a claim in about 1903. After he had taken his claim about two miles northeast of Maddock, he lived in a dugout for about two years, where he died.

  One Sunday morning he was found laying over his bicycle on his way to church. When he became conscious he wanted his Uncle Mose Yoder, who lived in Reedville, Pennsylvania.  They sent a note to Reedville bank and $100 for his Uncle to come.  He came by the time Jonas was better, so Mose went to Wolford with intentions to go home but Grandpa Solomon felt they should go back to see him again, when they got there, Jonas had died.  He is buried at Maddock, North Dakota. The grave stone is still there.  (taken from story of Peter A & Nancy Yoder story)* Reference: [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kishvalle... RootsWeb's WorldConnect] - [https://www.geni.com/projects/SmartCopy/18783 SmartCopy]: ''Aug 22 2017, 0:17:07 UTC''