I guess maybe somebody who hadnt been in the temple their entire lives and was just stepping into it couldve seen it coming. Don't take my baby!'. Because people were disenchanted with him by that time? Stephan helped erect a basketball court and form a team. You don't tell God, "You're not going out of the house. Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. The guy you see in all the images. 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. He loved it. But some lived. In Biographical Summaries of Notable People . After the incident, Stephan was put into jail for three months and that led him to drug addiction. They divorced when Jordan was six. Jones, who asked his followers to call him 'Dad,' did not like to lose any of his 'children.' He climbed aboard the truck and we took off. He was taking pain pills, and he said he was dying. mode: 'thumbnails-rr', present) (3 children). With those people surrounding him, constantly doing the right thing, and doing what he says, and you're surrounded by a combination of them and those people who don't neccessarily agree, but are acting like they agree . This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. It won't work.' When he was ordered to Georgetown to help with supply shipments, Smith said he concocted an escape plan: Ollie and other temple singers and dancers, he believed, would soon be sent to Georgetown to perform, and the family would flee to the U.S. Embassy. Jones berated three other new arrivals for misbehaviour on the trip; they were beaten and forced to work 24 hours straight. America was a genuinely unfriendly place for a boy from an interracial family and community, and Jim Jones knew how to fan that into a fear of everything that lay beyond the temple walls. When that was pointed out to Ryan, Layton contended he already had been frisked. The silence could mean only one thing: An ambush was awaiting them. Jim Jr., followed that July and was 16 years old at the time. 'Liquidator,' " Stephan Jones remembers being called, as he lay on his prison cot and listened to the mosquitoes swarm. " Jim Jones charismatic, volatile and ultimately evil. Stephan is among one of the Late Jim Jones sons survivors and he is still disturbed by those past events. He contacted the people at the San Francisco branch of the Peoples Temple and instructed them not to take action. In the past, Stephan has also been known as Stephan Gandhi Jones and Stephan G Jones. Write by: . 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. Five others were wounded seriously. Another to experience the trauma of Jonestown was Stephan Gandhi Jones, the biological son of Jim and his mistress Marceline. "I'd go back in a minute. When he wakes, at dawn or in the middle of the night, it takes him some time to come back. Stephan Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA; in the past Stephan has also lived in San Rafael CA and Novato CA. He's never remarried, and Martin Luther Smith was his only child. The bodies of followers that drank the poison are strewn around the commune, The Peoples Temple compound, led by Jim Jones, is shown above in November 1978 after the dead bodies were removed. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. 'There is no way we would be shooting at the airstrip. . It's unclear if he is currently married or if he retains a relationship with his surviving siblings. After the temple exodus to Guyana, he was given a public relations post in Georgetown - and was part of the basketball team. The bodies surrounded a podium from which Jim Jones, aided by armed men to hold down the unwilling, had cried out in encouragement while men, women, and children drank red Flavor-Aid mixed with potassium cyanide. It makes him a little crazy sometimes. 2023 Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple is a, Reflections and Articles by Stephan Jones, Son of Anarchist: My Father, Jim Jones, and What the World Can Still Learn From Him,. "I don't think his own ego would let him run out on that toward the very end," he says. The only surviving child of Jim Jones, Stephan was born on June 1, 1959, in Indiana, USA. (Actually, the deadly beverage that day might have been based on a cheaper imitation, Flavor Aid. Now, Stephan Jones is father of three daughters, ages 16, 25 and 29, and works in the office furniture installation business. When Jim Sr., a local Democratic Party darling, met with future first lady Rosalyn Carter, Jim Jr. proudly went along. 'Little Jimmy' became part of their 'Rainbow Family' of white, black, Korean-American and Native American children. The slaughter at Jonestown was the worst civilian tragedy in U.S. history before September 11, 2001. Cobb lost 11 relatives that day, including his mother, youngest brother and four sisters. . File photo: Bodies of Peoples Temple mass suicide victims led by Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana, November 1978. And Smiths wife, son and mother died. Wiki User. Finally, attorneys for both Ryan and the temple decreed that the courtroom was the proper place to decide the custody issue. Relatives & Associates. They moved forward slowly until one soldier bumped into an object on the ground. And I say, 'My name is Jones.' Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, poses for a portrait near San Rafael, Calif. . They have altogether three daughters. Did You Know Soccer Player Crystal Dunns Husband Pierre Soubrier Is A Football Specialist? 1959. So it was not this grand march to death, far from it. People were completely fatigued, exhausted. Meanwhile, the tractor, with several men in the trailer, rolled toward the terminal shack and halted a short distance away. And as the years go on, Stephan is still willing to talk about his connection to one of the biggest tragedies in American history even as he tries to live a peaceful life far removed from Jonestown. Ryan had planned to remain behind at the mission with several members who wished to return to the United States but couldn't get seating on the planes. "I mellowed out. They have altogether three daughters. I think that Ill pick two. There are no many details about his siblings and some had been adopted. I would either have had to fight, or I would have taken it. You describe yourself in your writings as a rebellious kid. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4. STEPHAN Gandhi Jones is - in the eyes of the world - the son of a mass murderer. He keeps his voice very soft, as though practice has taught him to hold certain subjects to a whisper in public, but his gaze is direct. Photographer Greg Robinson (right)was one of the five people killed. He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991. The rest was jungle, damp and hot and so thick with growth that Stephan Jones would stand among the massive trees and feel the 20th century fall away. Is Kristie Mewis Dating the Aussie Star Sam Kerr? placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails 2nd', The temple really became my family, she said. container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails-3rd', All the people who lay there around him had followed him. tap here to see other videos from our team. His son was not among the boosters. View their profile including current address, phone number 415-785-XXXX, background check reports, and property record on Whitepages, the most trusted online directory. In minutes, the back of the truck was piled high with crates, suitcases, backpacks and people. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. , MoKal . Stephanie was born in 1954 and died at a very early age of five in a car accident in May 1959. This return to the cult of Jim Jones is part of a re-examination of dangerous cults and movements in Americas past, like the Osho cult, which had a similar murderous potential. I said there must be another way.. Toward Nov. 18 they crowd up faster and closer, but even in the spring and summer, when the anniversary is tucked safely off on the other side of the year, even then he cannot keep the dreams away. He fired at me, but it misfired. I guess I wanted to believe that, as a child.". The pilot had radioed for help after the shooting, but during the night the only thing we heard were more rumors about the imminent arrival of Guyanese troops and medical evacuation planes. I would have been doing more than just leaving a family. Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. When I left at 21, I left a part of myself there, she said. Listen, not long before, we went to play basketball. Like everyone else, he died there, his son said. Jim Jr. would go on to lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow, In the aftermath, Jim Jr. built a new life. .' You'd have to deal with this elite that just revolved their lives around him' . There, as part of Jones' personal security detail, Cobb saw the once captivating minister strung out on drugs, afraid to venture anywhere for fear of his legal problems. He would rise before dawn, pick his way into the bush, and sit without moving as the quiet around him split slowly into bird cries and insect buzzing and the scuffling and calling of creatures he could not see. Within minutes, the aide and her three children lay dead in a bloody bathroom, their throats slit. Vilchez was dispatched to the Guyanese capital of Georgetown to raise money. I dropped to my belly. I wouldn't have run.". Everyone participated in it and because of that, it went as far as it did, she said. In California, he was steeped in temple life. "I was still naive enough--well, not necessarily naive enough; I still believe the CIA is capable of all kinds of things--but I felt that we could geniunely be a threat to the image of the United States and that people might be trying to do things to undermine or eliminate what was happening down there," he says. You're not taking any more drugs." Eugene Smith recalls how his mother, a churchgoing African-American, bought into Jim Jones dream after they attended a service in Fresno. They have three children. 'Baby killer. All had been captivated by his promises of a model socialist society based on equality and love under his leadership. Then, with heart-stopping suddenness, the first shot was fired. And then he went to my mother. There were many photographs of the bodies, taken from various angles, in color and black and white, and in each photograph, as though defying the viewer even to believe the report of the camera, row upon row of clothed human backs lay swelling in the jungle damp. Stephan Jones is a Jonestown survivor. According to former members, Jones would not tolerate defections from the mission project and many of the church members considered those who leave to be traitors. He converted to Catholicism and registered Republican. In a 2007 interview with Religion News Service published by Dallas News, Stephan said that he struggled with drug addiction after Jonestown, but that he's sober now. They have a total of three daughters. She returned to Jonestown for the first time in 40 years in March, Jordan Vilchez poses for a portrait in Richmond, California last week. Jonestown: It was the bodies that photographers favored most. Those who broke rules were disciplined. Jones, 44, is the only biological son of Jim Jones and his wife Marceline Baldwin who founded the cult behind Jonestown. On Nov. 18 she was at the temple house when a fanatical Jones aide received a dire radio message from Jonestown. He was a genius, and he was unique. Jordan Vilchezs parents were Berkeley progressives in the 1960s her father African-American, her mother Scotch-Irish. 'Hit the deck!' He has nine siblings, most of whom are now dead. 'Let's go!' Jones berated three other new arrivals for misbehavior on the trip; they were beaten and forced to work 24 hours straight. I want out of this.' 'I believe that it was always a personal agenda for my father, and yes, there was a gradual shift in the balance. Did you notice a point or phase where your fathers behavior shifted and he lost touch with the just causes that he once championed? So yes, many people were disenchanted., Im sure he feared it and Im sure he had people telling him it existed. We demanded to see the locked buildings where some members lived in crowd, uncomfortable conditions. He is married to his wifeKristi Jones since 1991. Among those speaking out ahead of the 40-year anniversary of the mass deaths isMike Touchette, who was a 21-year-old Indiana native at the time. Its nose wheel had been broken the week before and four soldiers were guarding it with M-I6 rifles. Yet he submitted to a new search, then returned to his seat. 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. Sadly we were finally at a point where I felt I had enough support and we decided that we were going to take action'. But she wasn't in the truck and the men left. "I would have been a traitor to the greatest cause there ever was . Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. 'He hit Monica and Vern. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Jon was born on January 31, 1975, in Oakland, California. He did what was expected of him. 'If anything, we felt pity for him,' he said, 'and it grew into a dislike, maybe hate.'. Though he waved and smiled at Peoples Temple services, seemingly enraptured like the rest, Stephan Gandhi Jones says he always had his doubts. 'They're in deep trouble now,' observed one of the relatives who had accompanied us. I dont think he went from being an altruistic, selfless, humble man to what he became. Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as Stephan Gandhi Jones. "When it really came down to it, I thought there wasn't any need, because I thought he'd be dead in a couple months anyway," he says. Joining him was an older black man who fingered something in his right pocket. Within minutes, the aide and her three children lay dead in a bloody bathroom, their throats slit. He dreams he is in a crowd, and his father is talking about suicide. And his sense of self resided in his perception of other peoples perception of him. ", Stephan Jones used to say he could have stopped the slaughter if he had been there. They were forced. "I got sick of the same speeches, the insisting people stay awake, the constantly testing people." Of course, even if he wanted to forget Jonestown, his name was an ever-present reminder. And thats why its so critical that people be wary of any leader who is held as superior to the people theyre leading. For years, Vilchez was ashamed of the part she played in the Peoples Temple, an idealistic group that imploded so terribly. " Pause for effect. " I think there are people who are interested in it because of whats going on in the world. And the temple was his life - first in Indiana, later in California. He loves basketball; he is agile and strong and was tall even before he reached high school. He was so wasted most of the time. 'Like everyone else, he died there,' his son said. If anything, we felt pity for him, he said, and it grew into a dislike, maybe hate.. In Indianapolis, he served as a student pastor in the Methodist Church in 1952 but. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", Jones and the members of his inner circle orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; And the temple was his life first in Indiana, later in California. Quietly the men with the tractor motioned aside a group of curious Guyanese children and other bystanders. Jim Jones set off one of these panics every few weeks, sometimes keeping people awake all night as he shouted his warnings. "I was building me a place, too," he says. I heard a few more shots and saw the tractor pull away. Jim Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow. They felt there was an outside threat, and that was hammered into them. Stephan Gandhi Jones, age 60s, lives in Petaluma, CA. 'People ask, 'How can you ever be proud of your father?'' What Does Lindsey Horans Boyfriend Tyler Heaps Do For a Living? What would you say is the biggest misconception people have about the Peoples Temple or your father? He converted to Catholicism and registered Republican. By nightfall, the seriously wounded, some of them on litters provided by the community, were sheltered in army soldiers' tents. He called his church "Peoples Temple"--"Wings of Deliverance" had been tried earlier and discarded. So yes there were often thoughts of taking him out but I know I wasnt capable of that kind of thing. But in 1973, Johns oldest brother and a sister, along with six other California college students, quit the church and became its enemies. Then, after a 1977 New West magazine expose of temple disciplinary beatings and other abuses, she was sent to Jonestown. "He was a gentle man in a lot of ways," Jones says, stretched now over the sofa in his small apartment. He says the congregation was full of elderly people, many of them hard-working black men and women who had given this minister everything they possessed. Were you aware that you had a very different childhood than most? Instead of finishing high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco, where she lived in the church. And when her 23-year-old sister joined, Jordan went to live with her at age 12. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Jim was the Rev. Toward the end, as he watched the array of barbiturates, amphetamines and tranquilizers that now slurred his father's speech and sometimes left him physically unable to leave the Jonestown house, Stephan Jones says murder seemed almost redundant.