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Joseph Talmage and Vera Jean Jones Collection
H.Mss.1118
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Title: Joseph Talmage and Vera Jean Jones Collection
Dates: 1913-2002
Collection number: H.Mss.1118
Extent:
1.4 Linear Feet
(3 document boxes)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: The J. Talmage and
Vera Jones Collection mostly covers the decades of the 1930s through the 1970s. The photos
and documents in this collection are personal, family, and church involvement records
ranging from the US Southwest to Singapore and Canada. The majority of the records are from
or about J. Talmage Jones with some records produced or about his family, having most to do
with their church activities and missionary work. The primary language of this collection is
English and is largely textual documents and photographs with some ephemera.
Physical Location: Please consult repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the
collection: English.
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
[Identification of item], Joseph Talmage and Vera Jean Jones Collection (H.Mss.1118).
Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services,
Claremont, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Robert S. Jones, November 2019
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
This collection was processed by Stephanie Griswold and Tatiana Woliung. The physical
processing was rehousing documents from folders and binders into acid-free archival
folders and boxes. There were a few items that were separated from the main collection to
be catalogued with other publications. Delicate items and photos have mostly been put in
protective mylar. Original order has mostly been maintained with the exception of a few
items that had been laid into the collection.
Biography / Administrative History
Joseph Talmage Jones, or J. Talmage Jones, was born on December 2, 1915, in Graham,
Arizona, to Edna Cynthia Layton and Doctor Byron Jones. Vera Jean Noyes was born in Salt
Lake City, Utah on June 8, 1919. They were both involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints their entire lives. J. Talmage was baptized a member of the Church on
April 5, 1924. He was ordained in the priesthood of the church as a deacon on December 4,
1927, a priest January 15, 1933, an elder May 5, 1935, and finally as a high priest on
February 27, 1949. J. Talmage Jones married Vera Jean Noyes on June 20, 1940, in Mesa,
Arizona. They had seven children during their marriage. J. Talmage was the bishop of the
Las Flores Ward from May 1950-March 1953, later serving as a counselor in the Pasadena
Stake Presidency to the Stake President Howard W. Hunter who would later become the 14th
president of the church. He was called as the mission president of the Western Canadian
Mission and served from 1964-1967 with Vera Jean. He later served a second time as a
mission president from 1980-1983 in the Singapore Mission. In 1967 he was called to serve
as the Regional Representative of the Quorum of the Twelve in the Los Angeles East and
Long Beach areas. He worked as a leader and advisor to stake presidents in Southern
California, while also supervising the planning of youth activities and musical festivals
in the Los Angeles area. He served in this calling from 1967-June 1974 and then again from
July 1977-October 1979. During the last years of J. Talmage's life he was diagnosed with
multiple myeloma. He died on January 31, 1990, in Redlands, California, at the age of 74,
and was buried in San Gabriel, California. Vera Jean died on June 9, 2004, in Provo, Utah,
at the age of 85, and was buried in San Gabriel, California.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Joseph Talmage and Vera Jean Jones Collection consists of records pertaining to J.
Talmage and Vera Jean Jones including photographs, personal papers, letters, newspaper
clippings, certificates, programs, blessings, and LDS church documents spanning over nine
decades. The components of this collection outline the life story of J. Talmage and Vera
Jean Jones about how they lived their lives, what activities they were involved in, their
relationship with church leaders including Howard W. Hunter and Spencer W. Kimball, and how
they committed their time to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are
documents related to organizations and businesses that J. Talmage was associated with,
including the Christopher Layton Family, Inc. and the Mountain Mushroom, Inc. in Fillmore,
Utah. This collection also includes correspondence with stake presidents and General
Authorities including Spencer W. Kimball, Howard W. Hunter, Gordon B. Hinckley, Delbert L.
Stapley, and Harold B. Lee. The main components of this collection are family, personal, and
business records, church participation in California and the US Southwest, and missionary
callings in Canada and Southeast Asia. Though this collection is less than 2 linear feet, it
contains both personal and institutional records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and many general authorities, particularly in reference to missionary work outside
the US.
Due to its small size it is unnecessary to organize the collection into series. Arrangement
is based on the order that The Claremont Colleges Library Special Collections and Archives
received the collection. Most folders are arranged chronologically by date.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Arizona -- Religion -- Sources
California -- Religion -- Sources
Canada -- Religion -- Sources
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Pasadena
Stake
Council of the Twelve Apostles (Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints)
Deacons
Missionaries
Missions
Mormon Church -- 20th century -- Sources
Mormons -- 20th century -- Sources
Priesthood
Religious institutions
Singapore
Southeast Asia
Southwestern States
Certificates
Correspondence
Ephemera
Letters
Photographs
Programs