James F. Jones, First Cousin Twice Removed,
Raised on Southern Soil, Died 10 May 1864, as a Yankee in Andersonville, Georgia,
A Wretched Rebel Prison
Andersonville Cemetery, from Wikipedia
Andersonville Prisoners of War
Surname: James F. Jones
Rank: PRIVATE
Company: K
Regiment: 1
State: AL
Arm of Service: CAVALRY
Death Date: 10 May 1864
Cause Of Death: ANASARCA
Remarks: JNO. F. JONES [3]
Reference: p 1 [3]
Page: 31
Code: 10996
GRAVE: 996
John C. Jones, the Reverend John C. Jones in fact, a Methodist Minister, is a younger brother of our ancestor, Samuel Jones, Captain Samuel Jones. Captain? Well that’s another subject for another time. Following the family line of John on the Internet has given a fair amount of validity to his family tree for the ancestral line for the man’s genealogy matches our own. In accessing the most popular and most consistent resources currently available at Ancestry.com it appears is that he is a brother of Samuel Jones. The tracing of his offspring is difficult and very little evidence of his descendants has been found.
The Civil War had a major impact on this family of Jones’s and the activities of but two brothers during the war have surfaced. Our great-grandfather Samuel Jones, and how the war affected him, can be traced reasonably well just by reading of the war activity that occurred around and on his very property as well as following vague census entries for him and his family before and after the war. That story has been extracted already primarily from the Military report assembled in the 1870’s.
What further emerges from our family history is that our ancestors were like many families, especially in the Border States, when hostilities finally opened in 1861. North Alabama, Tennessee, and to some extent, North Georgia, had a mix of loyalties. The war split families, some quite bitterly, when personal loyalties forced cousins, siblings and even parents to take sides. The two Jones brothers were one of the many families that eventually emerged on opposing sides. Samuel pronounced his loyalty to the Confederacy by remaining on his property in North Georgia, very near the Chickamauga Battlefield, and continued his farming activity. His brother John took the opposite path and remained loyal to the Union and found his way north into Tennessee from North Alabama to offer his services to the Union. His story is best told through his own words, as well as the words of his son and friends after the war when they all swore to a legal document.
That document was a post-war affidavit sworn to by the Reverend Jones required being included in a claim for property seized by the U.S. Army during the Civil War. The property involved was a mule, something of considerable value during the war especially, that was seized by the U.S. Army as his son was attempting to bring it north to keep it from the hands of the Confederates. It was quite common for both sides to seize horses and mules from civilians of the opposition especially for the Armies depended heavily on the animals for transporting goods and military equipment. Regulations required compensation for such property seized from any U.S. civilian. Usually the owner of the property was issued a voucher by the commanding officer in charge with the intent that the voucher would be paid by a U.S. agent authorized for such payment after the close of the war. The practice of acquiring the voucher was rather haphazard and commonly the civilian was at the mercy of the honesty of the military officer in charge of the seizure.
Please note that the original source of the following transcription is not entirely clear but I do believe it came through a distant Oregon cousin, Kristin Ingram Johnson. This cousin transmitted it to Mike and Louanne sometime in 2001 to the best of my knowledge. How it came to the Oregon branch of Jones’s is not known at this time. One can assume that as the document has passed into the hands of several individuals it has suffered in translation and the wording as presented here reveals several questions regarding wording, facts and dates.
Some things simply do not make sense. I present it here as it has survived my computer storage for over ten years now. Who knows how many crashes in Windows of ten years or more that the file has survived meaning full well that I am not certain that what I possess is the most perfect form of the translation. But it is interesting and fascinating reading to me at least and it needs to be included in a more formal version of our family history. That is my intent here, only to preserve what does exist today. If my accreditation of the origin of this document is improper I do apologize but all such documents that came out of the Government Committees set up after the Civil War to investigate and settle all war claims are a matter of public record. Someone put forth a considerable effort to retrieve the testimony from the archives. Of course a copy kept by some family branch over the years may also be the source.
The following map contains the areas mentioned in the deposition.
Testimony of John C. Jones Sr. June 26, 1873
(Brother of Samuel Jones, our Great Grandfather, Uncle to Alfred Hines Jones)
1. During the year 1861 and until the first day of July, 1862 I resided in Winston County, Alabama. until 1864 (sic) . I then started to the Federal lines with between two and three hundred other men to Davis Spring, I think in Morgan County, Alabama, at the foot of said mountain. The Federals was camped at Davis Spring at the time.
Winston County Alabama where John was living at the time of the war is 50 miles to the Northwest of Birmingham. As his deposition continues below he apparently was established in or near Houston in Winston County indicated by the yellow marker on the following map. Houston is 50 miles to the southwest of Huntsville, Alabama which lies to the north of the Tennessee River near the Tennessee border. Apparently the Federal lines were just to the south of the River near Davis Spring which does not appear on current maps and about halfway between Huntsville and the family home in Houston.
2. Three of my sons were with me and we went from Davis Spring to Huntsville Alabama with the 51st Indiana Regiment commanded by Col. Straight. After I left Huntsville, Alabama I was not residing in any particular place but for nineteen months was acting as a hospital steward with the Union Army without pay and in the Police of the Army at Nashville, Tennessee to prevent contraband of war. For this last service I received pay For the Police service. I refer to papers attached to this claim. (He has attached the orders he was given. I also have attached a copy for you to see.) After I left the police service I was in Nashville, Tennessee until about the 29th day of April 1864. From Nashville, Tennessee I went to Indiana and remarried there. 13 months while there I traveled as a preacher going where I pleased and followed whatever avocation that would make a support. From Indiana I went back to Tennessee to Gallatin, when I was on the first day of June 1865. I boarded near Gallatin, Tennessee in 1861 and up to the 14th day of July 1862. I was in Anniston County, Alabama. I was a farmer and had about 8 acres rented land in corn and potato patches.
What is revealed here is that John Sr. re-married in Indiana. The fate of his first wife is unknown but regarding the health care of the times it is reasonable to assume she may have died before the war.
Some genealogy information of John and his family found on the internet, the reliability of which is not verified as yet, reveals he had four sons and four daughters. Current sources only list his wife as Mary R., last name unknown. This apparently is the second wife meaning little or almost nothing is known of either of his wives at this time. Two of the sons that accompanied their father to the Union lines may have been, James, birth date unknown, and Thomas, born about 1839 and would have been about 23 at this time of the story. Since the testimony states that James F. was his youngest son he was probably 18 to 22 years old at the time based on the age of his brother Thomas. John Sr. was 56 years old, 12 years younger than his older brother Samuel, our Great-Grandfather. Testimony of son John Jr. is included at the end of this testimony where he describes his joining the Federal Army at a different time and place than his father and brothers.
The answers recorded in this deposition seem to be replies to what may have been a standard list of questions presented to all claimants requesting war damages, especially anyone from a southern family claiming to have never sworn loyalty to the Confederacy. If one had been connected in any way with the Government or Military of the Confederacy then the implication based on these questions is that any request for payment would have been denied.
3. I never passed by the military or naval lines of the United States and entered the rebel's lines.
4. I never took any oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and had to loose my home in the State of Alabama and all my property because I would not take the oath. I said in a public speech at Houston, Winston County, Alabama that I would hang before I would take the oath and when I had to leave, I left everything behind except what clothes I had an I could not even get my watch.
John and Samuel are the only siblings of this family that any trace or records of war experiences have been found at least for now. What is ironical is that both of these men, one loyal to the South, the other loyal to the North, lost their homes and all their fortunes as a result of the war. John of course lost his property in 1862 as he testifies to here. His brother Samuel maintained his property a bit longer until the end of the war in 1865 when for all intents and purposes he lost it to carpetbaggers and their cronies as so many did after the war. We really don’t know for sure but Samuel may have evacuated his property earlier and moved further south into Georgia from Catoosa County as military activity picked up in the vicinity of his holdings. His property eventually came into the path of march of the Confederate Army as it moved from its concentration area to engage the Federals at Chickamauga, Georgia on the Tennessee border. Samuel Jones’s farm was perhaps two to five miles from the actual battlefield but as stated, one of if not the main road that the Confederates followed to Chickamauga ran directly in front of his farm.
5. I took the amnesty oath after the war. I took it because it was required of me by the United States. I took the oath at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. A Captain Hess of the United States Army administered the oath to me. It was in 1865 but I do not remember the exact time. The President never has pardoned me. I think I can safely say I never did anything to be pardoned for.
The Tate ancestors of our family line established themselves in business in and around Jasper very early on. Other Jones relatives may very well also have settled in the area which may have been the reason John was located in Jasper after the war. Brother Samuel was probably in Gordon County in the area of Calhoun some thirty miles to the west of Jasper around this time. I definitely feel that Samuel had established himself near Calhoun prior to the end of the war.
Jasper, Georgia, as mentioned above, is but 15 miles south of where our Grandfather Alfred Hines was born in Ellijay. The family had left the Ellijay area some time in the mid-1850’s several years before the outbreak of the Civil War. The relocation was likely prompted by the fact that our Great-Grandmother Narcissa Tate Jones died in 1852 in Ellijay. Sometime soon after her death her husband, with all the children now grown, left Ellijay and settled on a farm in Catoosa County Georgia to the west of Ellijay. Samuel is found in the 1860 census in Snow Hill, Georgia, just south of Chickamauga in Catoosa County. He has living with him a married couple, probably hired to help farm and look after Samuels six slaves.
John certainly was rather mobile in his later years moving from place to place. It appears that both brothers may have died in Gordon County Georgia in the early 1870’s. Samuel’s death is well established as Gordon County but only vague references to where brother John died have been found but very likely they both lived near one another near the end of their lives.
6. I never was in any way connected with the Civil Service of the Confederate States.
7. I never held any office or place of trust, profit or honor under the Confederate States or under any State in the rebellion. I was offered the office of County Superintendent of Education in Alabama before I left there. I was told that to accept that I would have to abandon my Union principles. I said I would not accept and I never did.
8. I never did anything whatsoever for the Confederacy but to get away from it and I was determined if it was successful, never to return to it again.
9. I never was in the Military or Naval services of the Confederacy.
10 I never was an officer or soldier in the Confederate Army.
11. I never was in the State Militia of any State while subordinate to the Confederacy.
12. I never was in the home guard or upon any vigilance committee or committee of safety while subject to the Confederacy.
13. I never was connected to the rebel Army.
14. I never furnished a substitute for the rebel Army.
15. I never was connected with or employed by any department or branch of the Confederacy in any way.
16. I never was employed in any way by or for the Confederacy and I never did anything for it in any way.
17. I never had changes or traded of anything what ever for the use or benefit of the Confederate Army, Navy or government.
18. I cannot recollect anything I even did for the Confederacy. I never was employed by it, for it or by or for any State in the rebellion. I abhorred the name of Confederacy and Rebellion. I never had any connection with it in any manner whatsoever.
19. I never was employed in the manufacturing of any thing for the Confederacy or for its use for army or navy and never had any interest or shine in such manufacturing.
20. I never was employed in any way or for any purpose directly or indirectly by or for the Confederacy in any thing connected with it, or any State in the rebellion. I never had any store or interest in anything connected with or in the interest of rebellion. I abhorred it.
21. I never was engaged in blockade running or illicit trade between the lines. I never had any shine or interest in goods, wares or contraband brought into or exported from the Confederacy during the war.
22. I did leave the Confederacy between the 19th day of April 1861 and the 19th day of April, 1865. I left my home in Winston County, Alabama on the fourteenth day of July 1862 and went into the Federal lines. I never was in the rebel lines again during the war. The answers to the oral interrogatory will be found in my answer to the second oral interrogatory on the 2nd page of this examination.
23. To the oral interrogatory claimant says he never was arrested but he would have been if he had remained in the Confederacy.
24. The United States during the war never arrested him.
25. I was gone from home when a Lieutenant Bibb of the rebel cause took a fine Gray horse that belonged to me. Another, a citizen came and took a Gray mare that belonged to me. Another mare and colt and other property was gone, taken, but I did not know what became of any of it but the horse and mare. This was all done after I left my house in Winston County, Alabama. I never got any pay or any part of it back.
26. In consequences of my position as a Union man at a public speech I made in Winston County, Alabama, an arrangement was made and a day set to arrest me. I went and armed myself for this and left the county. I went armed to fight my way through.
27. I was informed I was going to be arrested and I left the County on account of it. I lost my property and I was to that extent informed I had to leave the County on account of my loyalty.
28. I never contributed anything but my services to the United States or Union army. I did contribute to sick soldiers and did all I could for them and I never charged anything though offered pay by them. This was Federal soldiers. I contributed all the influence I had against the rebellion.
29. I gave all I had, my services, my sons and all to the Union. I used all my influences I had to raise men for the Union army and I, in connections with others, raised a company of between two and three hundred who went through the lines at the same time I did. Two hundred and fourteen of these men were mustered into the Federal army at times. I saw them mustered in, my son commanded all of the companies. He commanded Co. A, 1st Alabama Infantry and was transferred to Col. Stokes Calvary of 5th Tennessee and about a year after was transferred back to 1st Alabama. When the company was transferred back my son was not in command. He had been in prison but had been exchanged. He had been captured at Rome, Georgia with Col. Straight by Forest. He at the time while serving under an assumed name, Johnson. My youngest son was captured by the rebels and died in Andersonville prison on the 10th day of May, 1864. As shown by the records.
The son that died in Andersonville was James F. Jones, as he stated, his youngest son. His year of birth has not been found as yet. The son in command of Company A would have been Thomas, the next to the youngest son. There is another son that appears in this family’s genealogy, one Willis Jones, a common family name, year of birth unknown. Strangely enough his genealogy information lists him as Captain Willis Jones. Apparently he did not serve in the Army as the testimony here reflects that only three sons served in any Army.
30. I never had any sons or brother, in the Confederate army. I had three nephews in the rebel service, wrote to them while I was in Nashville, Tennessee, to come to me where they could keep out of the Confederate army. They came and all joined the Federal army. The names of the nephews was, Anson Jones, Samuel Jones and Barnubas Jones. Anson and Samuel were living at last account. Anson in California and Samuel in Lumpkin County, Georgia. I never contributed to any of them anything or given them any encouragement or support while in the rebel army. I never could see them, I have tried to keep them out of the rebel army. After they joined the Federal army I aided them all they wanted or all I could. I refer to my nephews in the last sentence.
Current searching of 1860 census data of Lumpkin County Georgia, in the Northeast corner of the state, reveals what might be the family of the three nephews mentioned above living with their Father, William. If this proves to be factual then it brings into the record one more sibling of the generation of our Great-Grandfather Samuel Jones. To today’s generation, William Jones would be a Great-Granduncle.
Here we have three young Jones cousins that apparently began the war in the Confederate Army but if the deposition is correct, due to the influence of their Uncle John C. Jones, they deserted and moved north to join the Federal Army. How this played out back home in Lumpkin County, Georgia, is not known but it could have brought some ridicule if not deep resentment from the friends and neighbors of William Jones, another Brother of our Great-Grandfather, Samuel Jones. This would have depended on the stage of the war at the time of this change of sides of the three brothers for sympathies for the Southern Cause were deteriorating rapidly near the end of the war.
31. I never armed any Confederate bands or had any interest or shown them any interest in loans to the Confederate government or did anything to support their credit of the Confederate states. I do not think I ever had more than two dollars in Confederate money even and I did say it should not stay in my house.
32. I never gave any aide or comfort to the rebellion, only to leave it.
33. I never was in Canada or its adjacent waters.
34. I never was engaged in holding in custody any body or held by any rebel authority as misgivings of war or political prisoners.
35. I did belong to the secret society called the Union club while in Nashville, Tennessee in the interest of Union views.
36. I served in a campaign as Lieutenant in the Florida war in 1837 and 38. That was all the office I ever had in the army of the United States. I never was educated by the United States.
37. I never had a pass from any rebel authority during the war.
38. I never was under any of the disabilities imposed by the 14th amendment. I never have held any office under the United States since the war. At the beginning of the rebellion all my sympathies was with the Union cause. I exerted my influence for and cast my vote for the Union. I voted against secession.
39. I never had a pass from any rebel authority.
40. At the beginning of the rebellion my sympathies was with the Union cause. I never exerted my influence for, and cast my vote for the Union. I voted against secession, my feelings was horrible. I could not even tell you what all I did say against the war. I voted against the war and for the Union. The question of ratifying the ordinances of secession was never submitted to the people of Alabama. When the ordinance of secession was passed and after, I still adhered to the Union. I never went with my State.
41. In conclusion I solemnly swear from the beginning to the end of the war my sympathies were constantly with the United States.
I was not present when the mule was taken. I did not see it taken. It was taken about the 20th or 25th of January 1864. It was in Tennessee near Charleston. It was taken I know by Col. Long of Ohio. I do not remember the command. It was a donk boy mule. I do not know its age, it was a little over average mule. Sound good eyes and when I last saw it, it was in good order. I was in Nashville, Tennessee at the time the mule was taken. If I had the value of the mule I would value it at more than the amount charged in the claim. I think the mule was well worth one hundred and forty dollars, the amount charged. I understand the mule was branded "US" but I did not see it. Others only told me about it. I never got any voucher for the mule. I could not get one because I was not present. I did not get any pay for the mule. There never was any mortgage lien judgment or debt against the property since I lost it. I am a native born citizen of the United States. I never have gone into bankruptcy or passed through any bankruptcy proceedings.
Signed
John C. Jones Sr.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this May 26, 1873
A. Daniel
Special Commissioner
Next is the deposition of John C. Jones Jr.:
This would be a first cousin of our Grandfather, A.H. Jones and a nephew of our Great-Grandfather Samuel.
John C. Jones Jr. Sworn in answers to questions by claimant's council. He says his age is 46 years and he resides in Gordon County, Georgia.
His occupation is farmer.
I am the son of the claimant but have no interest in his claim. I saw the mule taken at Columbus, Tennessee near Charleston.
It was in the last of January or the first of February of 1864 when the mule was taken. I do not know the command that took the mule. Col. Long of an Ohio command I think took it. It was taken on the road to where I was going. They took the mule and left me the saddle. They ordered me to ride the mule down to Charleston, Tennessee. When we got to Charleston the mule was branded "US".
When the mule was taken I was on my way to Athens, Tennessee.
I think it was a man by the name of Shepherd that branded the mule. When the mule was taken we went to the headquarters of Col. Long at Columbus, Tennessee. I had just came up from Georgia through the lines and was on my way to Athens, Tennessee. I was going into the Federal lines for protection. After the mule was taken and branded, I went down to Chattanooga, Tennessee and took the oath of allegiance. It was in camps inside of the Federal lines at the time it was branded. I saw the mule last after it was branded and knew it was the same mule. It was taken in the daytime about the middle of the day in the morning heat of the day. It was a fine mule donkey boy over medium size, sound in good order and good eyes. It was worth over a hundred dollars, it was well worth that sum. I made known to Col. Long my objection being there. He never said anything to me about paying for the mule. The mule was fit for service, any sort of service. It was my father's mule. When taken I had known it for four years. I never thought about asking for a voucher for the mule and I got no pay for it. An officer, a lieutenant I think with 25 or 30 men was present at the time the mule was taken. It was United states soldiers that took the mule and I saw it in their possession after it was branded. I do not know what brand name it was but Col. Long was at the place when I left.
I went to Columbus, Tennessee and took possession of the mule and ordered us all, mule and all, down to Charleston, Tennessee. I made no complaint about the taking of the mule. I went right in the camps after the mule was taken. The first I heard of my father after the war commenced was that it was believed he would be hung. I had no personal knowledge of him early in the war but from what I heard he was said to be in danger of being hung as a Union man. He lived in Alabama and I lived in Georgia when the war commenced. When the report reached me I thought I should leave to go over there and settle with some of them for killing my father as I expected or informed they would. The first time I saw my father after the war commenced was in Nashville, Tennessee in January 1864. I went through the lines. On my way the mule was taken. I was taking the mule out of confederacy to keep it out of the hands of the rebels. I intended to kill it before they should have it. I went to Nashville, Tennessee and there and then for the first time after the war commenced, I saw my father. I was as strong an Union man and as much in favor of the Union as I knew him to be. At Nashville I went into the services of the United States as a teamster. I served a month and was honorably discharged by Capt. Ishom. After I was discharged from that service, I went as a pilot with Sawl Wilson who had a pass from Eric Grant and who was going to destroy the bridge on the Etowah River at Cartersville, Georgia if possible. The bridge was then in the rear of the Confederate army. Soon after this I volunteered as a guide to Col. Murray of the 3rd Kentucky Calvary. I was with him until I went into the Federal army at Cleveland, Tennessee. I joined the Federal army about the 25th of December 1864. I went into Co. K, 5th Tennessee Mounted Infantry and remained with that command until July 1865 When I was honorably discharged at Nashville, Tennessee. I knew the claimant to be disloyal to the Confederacy through the war. So far as my knowledge extended he was strictly loyal to the Government and causes of the United States through out the war. I had two brothers in the Federal army. James F. and Thomas H. Jones. Thomas H. Was Capt. Of the 1st Alabama Infantry Co. K. They both went into the war early in July in the year 1862 I think. They both died in the Federal services out at Andersonville, Georgia in prison. As far as I know my father was held to be an uncompromising Union man. I never heard it doubted. I have heard him say that he never wanted a disloyal child. I do not know that there is any language that I could use that would be stronger than his loyalty to the United States. It cannot be expressed stronger than it was. He never could have proved his loyalty to the Confederacy. There were no earthly clues to do that. Every body would testify that he was disloyal to the Confederacy so far as I know.
Signed: John C. Jones Jr.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this May 26, 1873
S. A. Daniel
Special Commissioner
It should be noted here that our Grandfather A.H. Jones was also riding about some of these same areas of Tennessee at the very time described in some of the testimony. A.H. Jones enlisted in the 4th Confederate Georgia Cavalry in May of 1862 and his unit was immediately assigned to conscription duty in Tennessee through the fall of that year when they rejoined the main Confederate Army in North Georgia. Conscription duty was an active effort of the Cavalry to enlist volunteers behind the Union lines as well as to draft or conscript eligible men still within the lines of the Confederacy. The Cavalry would roam the countryside on both sides of the lines evading the Federals when necessary. Tennessee was a state of very mixed loyalties so the Confederates rode far and wide in order to comb pockets of loyal Confederates for enlisting in the Rebel Army. I wonder if any of these cousins knew of the possible presence of other relations in the field.
Another older brother of our Grandfather, Willis Jones, was also in the Confederate Army but only vague records of his involvement have been found to date. He was living in East Texas at the time of the war and hints of his active service have been found but not tracked down as yet.
Next witness:
William B. Evans, 49 years old and living in Gordon County, Georgia. He testified that he heard the citizens of Alabama that he should be hung for bringing Yankees into his own county where he had lived. His understanding is John was in Alabama and the next thing I understood was that he was leading the Yankees in Rome. I heard his sons were in the Federal army. Son John was compelled to go and save his fathers life. He was shot at and hunted with guns and dogs on account of his loyalty.
I heard the rebels took his property in Alabama. I saw the mule taken. It was taken the time we went across the lines. I think it was near Nashville, Tennessee. Sometime in January 1864. It was in the possession of John C. Jones Jr. At the time it was taken. John C. Jones is the son of the claimant. I believe I heard him say he was going through to his father. It was Col. Long of an Ohio Regiment I think. There was a Lieut. And 25 or 30 men who met us in the road and took the mule. They took
possession of all of us. This was near Columbus, Tennessee. Between taken before the Col. Long at Columbus, who sent us all together, mule and all down to Charleston, Tennessee. This was a military post for the Federal army. We went to the Provost Marshall's office and delivered of the mule.
The mule was turned over to the officers by claimant's son. The mule was branded "US" and the last time I saw it. It was well worth the money of one hundred and fifty dollars.
Next witness:
L. Brooks is sworn in and answers to questions by claimants council. He says, my age is 40 years, I live in Gordon County, Georgia. I am a farmer. I have known claimant for seventeen years. I was not intimately acquainted with him during the whole war but visited him in the first year of the war and was with him 2 weeks in his own house. I never seen him after that until the war was over. He was North and I was South during the beginning of the agitation of the war except after 1864. In 1864 I was captured. I volunteered into the United States Navy at Rock Island Ill. During that time after 1864. I was in the services of the United States with the 5th of August 1865 when I was honorably discharged at Cairo Ill. When I visited claimant in Alabama in 1861, I talked with and he talked with me about the war. I heard him denouncing it as being wrong unnecessary and uncalled for. He denounced the whole Confederate Movement from the beginning to the end of my visit at that time. He advocated the cause of the Union. He said Lincoln ought to take his seat and when he violated his oath it would then be time enough to cause. His whole talk was of the war. He seemed to be abhorred and angry at what was taking place. He told us we would all be killed in a wrong cause and he was sorry for it. He said the Government of the United States was a good one and if torn down and a Confederacy established, the poor man would be reduced to want and begging. He would have no chance for education or anything or other advantages and in worse condition than slaves.
When I was in Alabama on the visit, I became acquainted with facts that convinced me of the Union cause. After the war or just after the surrender in 1865 I was present at my own house when claimants and his brother was there. His brother said he did not think it was right to set the Negro's free. Claimant said if the south had behaved themselves and accepted the terms of Lincoln's Emancipation proclamation it would not have been done. On all occasions from the commencement of the agitation of the question of succession, claimant was a fierce abhorrent of the Union cause, so far as I have knowledge. I know Mr. Jones the claimant as a Minister of E.L. of E. Church North. (?) His character for loyalty among his neighbor's both loyal and rebel and among a large circle of acquaintances was and is now extensive. He has been a Methodist Preacher. I knew him for 20 years. I have known him as a preacher that long. I had a large circle of acquaintances in the same area in which claimant was known. Some men are spoken of in the community in which they live are known as Union men and others known as uncompromising Union men. The claimant is known among his acquaintances as an uncompromising Union man. A strong friend and adherent and advocate of the Union cause during the war, he was notoriously so. He had three sons in the United States Army. Two of them died in the services and one was honorably discharged at the end of the war. I do not know any thing of my own knowledge about the property of claimant being taken by the rebel, but I heard that all he had was taken. I heard it soon after it was done. He could not have proved his loyalty to the Confederacy at all if it had been established as an independent Government. He was to strong a Union man to do that. When I came home and when he came home, he said he was glad the United States had established its rights and glad the Confederacy had been put down. I knew the claimant personally for 17 years and as a Minister by character and his son for 20 years. Sworn to and subscribed before me this May 26, 1873.
Included with the testimony John C. Jones Sr. included his original papers from Head Quarters Fourteenth Army Corps. The Department of the Cumberland. It was from the Office of Chief of Police. Dated January 31st. 1863. It gives orders to John C. Jones Sr.. He was appointed Special Police and his station is the Harded Pike. He was to stop all persons to verify they had a pass and to check for contraband goods, arms, ammunition letters and papers against the Federal army and United States. It was ordered by Major General Rosecrans and signed by the Chief of army Police. I have attached the copy. As you can see it was folded and carried in his purse.
John C. Jones Sr. Claimed he fought in the Florida Campaign. This would have been the Seminole Indians. This was a unit of volunteer soldiers from the State of Louisiana who served in the second Florida Campaign, called the war of 1837-38. The troops were under the command of General Thomas Jesup who fought against the Seminole Indians in the fall and winter of 1837 and 1838. The roll does not show any information other than the muster roll and John C. Jones is listed as serving in this campaign.
John C. Jones Sr. Said his son, Thomas H. went into Andersonville Prison under an assumed name. This could be due to the ill treatment he could receive because of his rank as Captain. Captains were not eligible for the prisoner's exchange and it was under the assumed name he was able to get out. There was three men of the name of Johnson who were part of the prisoner exchange group from Andersonville Prison during the Civil War. There is a Captain Thomas H. Jones who died in the Civil War.
His son James F. Jones died in Andersonville Prison. His code is prisoner code #10996. His grave is marked as grave #996. He is listed as a Private in Co. K, Regt. 1st Calvary of Alabama. He died May 10, 1864 of Anasarca (Severe Edema)
Andersonville Prison
Andersonville prison was designed to hold 10,000 prisoners but by August 1864, the prison had swelled in population to 32,000. This atrocious overcrowding quickly led to health and nutritional conditions that resulted in 12,912 deaths by wars end in May 1865. The prison guards, composed mostly of older men and boys, watched from sentry boxes (called pigeon roosts by the prisoners) perched atop the stockade and shot any prisoner who crossed a wooden railing, called the "deadline." The prison pen initially covered 16 ½ acres, but was enlarged in June of 1864 to 26 ½ acres. A small, slow moving stream running through the middle of the stockade enclosure supplied water to most of the prison. Eight small earthen forts located around the exterior of the prison were equipped with artillery to put down disturbances.
All the text in italics was included in the original copy of the deposition including the last description of Andersonville prison. This was probably not a part of the actual testimony and has since been inserted by some later relative.
But they were a divided although scattered family. The fact that the known family members were living in different corners of the early Confederacy must have greatly reduced the possibility of any family tensions to arise.
