The Jones Reunion in Virden New Mexico

The weekend of June 6th we headed to Virden NM for a Jones family reunion. It was mostly a family history reunion, as we spent a lot of time learning about where my Great-Great-Grandfather Timothy Jones settled and where my Dad spent many of his summers working on the family farm.

Here is a little information about this tiny village (Dallin was so excited to be going to an actual village) 4 hours east of Mesa:

Virden is in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, in the southwest US, on NM 92 and also on the Gila River, about 30 miles northwest of Lordsburg, New Mexico. It was established in the 1870's as Richmond to draw water the silver mines of the Virginia Mining District.

But by 1900, the mines were mostly played out and Virden became a a trading center for ranchers. Then, in 1916, Mormons who had been living in Mexico arrived seeking homes, and Ernest W. Virden, president of the Gila Ranching Company, sold them the whole valley for $50,000--$5,000 down and the balance at $5,000 a year. In 1916, the community's name was changed to Virden to honor him. Today, 2002, about 200 persons live here, many of them descendents of the Mormons from Mexico.

Adam, Dallin, Maura and I headed to the reunion on Friday the 5th, stopping to see a really cool bridge outside of Superior Az.

When we got to Virden, we all stayed in the old Virden church house they now rent for family reunions. They haven't done much to the church after they stopped using it for Sunday meetings besides put beds in classrooms. They did build a small shower house out back with two showers-thank goodness!


Uncle LeRoss (My grandfather Edwin Jones's brother) still owns the family farm in Virden and he arranged for us to take a tour of the town and the farm on the back of a hay trailer.


It wasn't a long ride to see the town-a couple of blocks at the most, but we saw the old school house, and other homes where various relatives lived. I think the final count for all of us was 32 couples and their children....hmmm not sure how many that makes! It was a rowdy crowd that's for sure!


We ate most of our meals under the big cottonwood trees in front of the church. It was nice in the shade but it got really warm during the middle of the day. There was a lot of kissing going on during the reunion-the tree was covered in mistletoe!