Samuel Stephen Jones was born February 9, 1837, in Brentford, England to Samuel Jones and Sarah Ann Bradshaw Jones. At some point, their family converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in 1856, they emigrated to the United States, landing in Boston. They joined the Edward Martin handcart company and traveled to Utah. Upon arrival in Utah, he and his fiancée, Lydia Elizabeth Hooker, moved to Provo, Utah, where they were married on February 9, 1857. He worked as a farmer for a time before going into business. He established his own stores, including the S. S. Jones Department Store in downtown Provo, and was an employee and partner in a number of companies, including what would go on to become Z. C. M. I. Jones served as the mayor of Provo from 1898 to 1899. He had nine children with his first wife Lydia, two of whom survived infancy. He was a polygamist, marrying five more women: he married Julia Bulstine Ipson on April 27, 1867, with whom he had four children; Jessie Jones on September 26, 1871; Annie Marie Johnson on December 27, 1875, with whom he had eight children; Fannie Howard on September 26, 1876; and Emma Jane Allman on July 26, 1878, with whom he had one child. He died December 27, 1923, in Provo, Utah.