In 1961, the Joneses made history by becoming the first white couple in Indiana to adopt a black child. As a self-taught bulldozer operator, he worked alongside other Peoples Temple members in the humid heat, his blade carving roads and sites for wooden buildings with metal roofs. He was a genius, and he was unique. (AP Photo/File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news, assassination of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan and four others. Wiki User. Let me tell you something. Devotion to its ideals bolstered her self-worth. Jones claimed that someone had tried to snipe at him through the window, but that a premonition led him to duck just in time. Stephan was extremely passionate about athletics, participating in track, football, and baseball (Reiterman 181), with his true passion being for basketball, to Jones chagrin (Reiterman 308). . Jim Jones radioed his son with orders to return to Jonestown, Stephan Jones refused to cut short the trip. Stephan responded: This is funny. Stephan Jones was a nearly full-grown teen-ager when his father sent him to the Peoples Temple agricultural mission in the small South American coastal country of Guyana. When asked what Stephan wished people would take away from the Jonestown tragedy, he stated: Be aware of this message that was prevalent in the temple: The end justifies the means. And I see that throughout society. Bio, Age, Net Worth, Relationship, Height, Ethnicity, Who Is Arsne Wenger? He does not know. Relation: Name: Birth: Father: Jim Jones: May 13 1931: Mother: Marceline Jones: Spotted an error? On June 1, 1959, Stephan Gandhi Jones, Jim and Marceline's only biological child, was born. Last modified on December 26th, 2020. The next day, Stephan and Jones had a public confrontation about Shandas treatment, which lead to Stephan calling him a fucking liar and then both wheeling away. 15 Children Of Famous Cult Leaders: Where Are They Now. Today, at 47, Stephan Jones says he doesn't "think a heck of a lot about the past. ", Stephan Jones' lips draw back when he talks about his father; he looks for an instant like a cornered dog. There are moments when he glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it might be used. However, it is known that his brother, Stephan Gandhi Jones, has a daughter named JimJones III. Who did Jim Jones have a son with? He has learned, he says, to understand his own resources and the depths of his emotions. Some of his siblings were adopted, so they arent well-known. Home > About Jonestown > Jonestown Research > Jonestown Censuses > The Families of Jonestown > 9.6K views 1 year ago Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as Stephan Gandhi Jones. Jones berated three other new arrivals for misbehavior on the trip; they were beaten and forced to work 24 hours straight. You don't tell God, "You're not going out of the house. It made it easy to find playmates, but there were also high expectations put on his shoulders as the son of the prophet. But after temple gunmen killed the congressman, three newsmen and a church defector on the Port Kaituma airstrip, Jones ordered a poisoned grape-flavored drink administered to children first. When the rains approached, he would stand and watch the water come, pushing solid and steady toward him like some enormous stage set being wheeled across the hills. placement: 'Right Rail Thumbnails', Stephan Gandhi Jones was the biological son of Jim and Marceline Jones. The Washington Post. (2003). It was all about survival in his domain. So much was attractive and unique that we turned a blind eye on what was wrong, he said, including his fathers sexual excesses, drug abuse and rants. A basketball game saved Stephan Gandhi Jones's life. FILE - This Jan. 1976 photo shows the Rev. His biggest regrets revolve around the teams refusal to return to Jonestown. Reporters were hearing disturbing allegations about Jim Jones' church--there were stories of beatings, armed guards, extensive sexual activity. He was in Georgetown, Guyana on November 18, 1978 with the Jonestown Basketball Team. , money, salary, income, and assets. the whole thing he drove into people's minds for so long--I certainly don't mean to say that what happened was a sane act or that it was a good act, but--", Jones hesitates. When a friend invited her family to Peoples Temples wine country church, they were impressed by the integrated community. Jones and his wife adopted several children of different ethnicities, referring to themselves as the "Rainbow Family." They had a child of their own in 1959, Stephan Gandhi. If anything, we felt pity for him, he said, and it grew into a dislike, maybe hate.. His son was born Lafayette Ronald HubbardJr., but later changed his name to RonaldDeWolf after rejecting Scientology. He did what was expected of him. Stephan Jones (Stephan Gandhi Jones) was born on 1 June, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, is an Actor. Who is dating Marcus Dobre? When he arrived back to the Lamaha Gardens house, he found that one of Jones dedicated followers, Sharon Amos, had killed her children and committed suicide (Reiterman 545). The only way you can take care of Jim Jones is to hope he dies naturally or gradually phase him out. To just be somewhere with a machete, in khakis, and just decide I wanted to go somewhere and cut myself a trail." Stephan Gandhi Jones is 6-foot-5, lean, broad at the shoulder, olive-eyed, black-haired, handsome as a billboard model. He was 19 years old at the time. This time in Stephans life was marked with pride, enthusiasm, and community. . Stephan Gandhi Jonesis the son of the notorious religious cult leaderJim Jones. In the days before Ryans fact-finding mission to the settlement, the players were in Georgetown for a tourney with the Guyana national teams. "By that time, I know, he was way off into drugs, and his perspective was so warped," Stephan Jones says. Reverend Jim Jones gave the order when California Congressman Leo Ryan came to investigate reports of abuse and false imprisonment, only to end up among more than 900 dead (a third of whom were children). The founder of Scientology,L. Ron Hubbard, passed in 1986. The reality was we were folks who could be counted on to stand up, he said. }); Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Until, that is, I have to do something like this.". Stephan always argued against these plans. "This is really crazy," he recalls thinking. Jim Jones (1931-1978) and Marceline Jones (1927-1978). The temple was the only life he knew but says he always had his doubts. "They just needed this messiah, this purpose. On the morning on November 18, 1978, Stephan awoke in good spirits, with an optimistic outlook on the future. ", Eventually, he "got so sick of himself and hurting others" that he joined Alcoholics Anonymous and developed a strong attachment to its famous 12-step program. But mention "Jim Jones" and "Jonestown" and many people would make the connection. Eventually he married and had three children (IMDb), and as of 2022 he continues to be active in education around Jonestown, writing articles and contributing to multiple documentaries. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Stephans dislike of the church services only grew stronger as he became privy to more of the Temple secrets, and was aware at a young age of the many things that were told to be truths, but were actually manipulations by Jones (Reiterman 106). He made a promise once we get to Jonestown there is no corporal punishment, Smith said. And youre gonna go up there and kill Jim Jones? This article was published more than 16 years ago. are james acaster and rose matafeo still friends; denver flight 9 crash 99 dead; san luis obispo murders 2020; catriona pendrigh found dead Basement Rejects is the source of this image. "He used to say we were the only two people of our kind in the universe," Jones says, clasping his hands behind his head and gazing out his apartment window. 17. Stephan Jones was born on 06/01/1959 and is 63 years old.Stephan Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA; in the past Stephan has also lived in San Rafael CA and Novato CA.In the past, Stephan has also been known as Stephan Gandhi Jones and Stephan G Jones. Jim Jones (top middle) with the early Jonestown settlers in 1974. 1959: The Joneses adopted Suzanne (b. 1931 Only natural son of Rev. He hasthree possible sons. On the other hand, Stephan was sometimes hurt by his father not making time for his family (Reiterman 120), and felt his mothers betrayal when he first learned of Jones extramarital affairs (Reiterman 121). 1958 (October 5): The Joneses adopted two Korean children, Stephanie (b. As a San Francisco high school student, he was dispatched to help build Jonestown. How do you live down the fact that your father orchestrated the biggest mass suicide in history? The Jones rainbow family acted as a symbol of racial integration within the temple community (Reiterman 63). ", Certainly the term could apply to the basketball tournament in which he and five or six other young men from Jonestown played in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, just days before the massacre. Everyone participated in it and because of that, it went as far as it did, she said. The reunion with Jones was not as joyous. But he said his discontent festered. Stephan Jones was 6 years old, the only biological child of James and Marceline Baldwin Jones, when his father moved from Indiana to northern California with his family and 140 of the parishioners who had come to believe there was something extraordinary about the Rev. algol in 12th house; michael kroger current partner; daniels funeral home rio rancho obituaries; There is little his father said or taught him then that stays with him now; his memory is of a man wandering around the house in his underwear or his pajamas, sleeping by day, watching the news or "Hogan's Heroes" on television and announcing that he could tell whether his son was lying simply by staring into his eyes. At 17 he was a defection risk, so his father Jim Jones sent him to work on the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project in Guyana, which Stephan loved in its early days (Reiterman 311). Though he waved and smiled at Peoples Temple services, seemingly enraptured like the rest, Stephan Gandhi Jones says he always had his doubts. And while he's "happy to attend church with friends," he's not a member of any particular denomination. Most people were away at the time. (The fear that the result of the investigation would spell the end of the jungle utopia prompted some of Jim Jones's acolytes to kill the congressman, among others, and unleash the "revolutionary suicide" that claimed 914 lives, including those of almost 300 children.). He was summoned to the temple radio room. ", Stephan Jones spent three months in a Guyana jail after the November deaths, imprisoned there while Guyanese authorities tried to determine who had killed the devoted Peoples Temple aide Sharon Amos and her three children, all of whom were found with their throats slashed in the Georgetown Temple headquarters on the day of the suicides. 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