Michael Donahue, a Hard and Even a Tragic Life-

But He Was Probably Tough as a Nails-


This particular posting concerns another phase in the life of Michael Donahue, an older brother of our Grandmother Mary Ellen Donahue McGinnis. He is singled out here for it was very obvious early in my upbringing that Uncle Mike was a favorite family member of Mother’s. She and her brothers mentioned him often and there is a certain story to be told about the man. I am sure there would be many explicit adventurous events to be chronicled had the details of his life in the Klondike during the Gold Rush of the 1890’s had somehow been recorded but that unfortunately is not the case. This is my attempt to draw from a sketchy memory of what was mentioned about Mother’s favorite, Uncle Mike. A search of family photos has not produced one identifiable photo of the man, but perhaps one may yet surface.
He must have been an independent and self confident individual to accomplish all that he did during his lifetime of 64 years beginning with his birth in 1860 until his death in 1924. What really stands out however is his travel to the Gold Fields of the Yukon, to the area of the Klondike. Simply getting to the Klondike during the time of the Gold Rush was an amazing accomplishment in itself.

In reading of the tremendous challenges facing any aspiring prospector to reach the Klondike one has to be respectful and maybe even in awe of anyone that actually completed the journey, regardless of the route traveled. There were several routes available, even from the inland prairies of Western Canada. But the most popular, expedient and difficult routes were those from the coastal regions of Alaska and Canada. Our great Uncle Michael Donahue was one of those individuals that succeeded. It is said that 100,000 actually attempted the journey but less than one in three were able to complete the trek.

The Gold fields covered an expansive area and they lay roughly between Skagway, Alaska and Dawson in the Yukon Territory, a straight line distance of about 350 miles over very mountainous terrain. Dawson the largest town, or during the Gold Rush, a small city, was the focus of the business activity located at the northern edge of the Gold Fields.

What is difficult to establish in retrospect is just how important was the town of Dawson to the activities of Michael Donahue. Court testimony given later in his life regarding Brother Martin’s land litigation Michael definitely stated that he arrived in Dawson city after leaving Washington State in March of 1897 four months before the first shipments of Gold from the Yukon arrived in West Coast ports. His 1901 Canadian census entry establishes his arrival as sometime in May of 1897, at the very most a travel time of about 90 days. This was some five or six months after selling his land to his brother in Michigan. The elapsed time may have been less but it was a difficult journey and maybe he accomplished the task in less than an average travel time. He had the advantage of timing his journey at the optimum time of the year. If he actually planned it that way we don’t know but his timing was very good. Later in the year, during the difficult winter months, the journey surely required more time since men that arrived at Lake Bennett in the middle of winter had to wait until spring in order to begin to float themselves downstream to the Yukon River and then on to Dawson.

Regardless of the route he traveled from the coast, once over the mountains and in Canada, he too had to provide himself, and probably with the help of a mining partner or partners, with a method to float his way to the Gold Fields, be it by building or buying a raft or small boat large enough to float a ton of goods for each individual. The Mounties at the border made sure all entering Canada had enough provisions to last a year. Near famine in the territory in the years leading up to the stampede of men necessitated such a requirement.

So there is no doubt Michael was not only transporting himself to the Gold Fields he was also hobbled with the task of transporting his goods as well. Therein lies the real challenge of the journey into the Yukon during those times, and somehow Michael endured. Again, in retrospect, an almost un-imaginable task when we look at the world we live in today. Today some might even use Fed-Ex which shows just how far we have come since then.
When examining his 1901 census data and realizing he stated he arrived in Dawson City, one would think that his mining claim, that he operated in partnership with one Arthur M. Hazeltine as the census also reveals was much closer to Dawson. We only know about Mr. Hazeltine from that one 1901 Canadian census recording that has helped to validate so much about Michael’s adventures. First impressions in accumulating what little information is available always suggested that the mining claim was probably very near Dawson, well to the north of the Skagway beginning point. In 1901 according to the enumeration he was living in Sulphur Creek, Yukon Territory. Apparently an area with many miners scrambling up and down the creeks looking for more ore deposits or busily working away at their already established claims. Michael and his partner surely were well established by 1901.

But the location of Sulphur Creek has been elusive and even now I wonder if I have it properly located. It appears in writings and documentation of the era but it has been very difficult to find on readily available mps on the Internet. Finally using Microsoft Maps I was surprised to find that it was located closer to Skagway than to Dawson. In fact, from all appearances it is less than half way from Skagway to Dawson. The straight line distance to Dawson from Sulphur Creek is maybe 210-230 miles, and back to Skagway from the claim is maybe 120 to 140 miles. Of course this is only an attempt to give proximities and the actual miles by trail and river could be much more in either case.

So my habit of becoming bogged down in details leads me on to question, why the need to travel all the way to Dawson when the claim was closer to Skagway? Many factors are probably involved here. Perhaps the Sulphur Creek area was newly discovered after his arrival and he scrambled back upriver aboard a river steamer to eventually find his claim. Timing was very important in the Klondike when one looks back at the actual events. Being in the right place at the right time, or just plain luck, was also a factor.

Once over the mountains and into Canada proper, the trip downriver to Dawson was less challenging than the trip back to Skagway so that was probably a major factor as well. But just what were the criteria that brought about the eventual claim being located far back upstream from Dawson is intriguing. There was thriving steamship service available along the Yukon and several of its tributaries so travel, once into the river basin, was much easier. In fact, once Michael reached the upper reaches of the Yukon on his original trek into the territory he very well may have abandoned his boat or raft immediately upon reaching a point of steamship service. Many men did complete the journey to Dawson from far upstream this way.

So with some of this as background the following is only an attempt to add a bit more detail to the story as we can only conjecture it.

Leaving Michigan and Wisconsin Behind-

Michael’s later testimony in court proceedings in Michigan in 1914, some nine years following his return from the Klondike, reveals information that partially paints a picture of his travels. After selling his land to his brother in December 1896 he immediately went home to Manitowoc and stayed through New Years of 1897. Soon after he left for Washington State where he undoubtedly visited with his sisters in Florence.

NOTE:
HIS TESTIMONY, PG 35 STATES HE LIVED IN MANITOWOC ABOUT 14 YEARS AND THEN MOVED TO MINOMINEE, MICHIGAN……….WITH?  
14 YEARS OLD? YEAR WOULD HAVE BEEN 1874…………
HE DOES NOT APPEAR AT HOME IN THE NEXT CENSUS OF 1880. CANNOT FIND HIM IN MICHIGAN OR WISCONSIN EITHER.

The real defining moment of the impact of the gold discoveries in the Yukon was the arrival of two ships, one in Seattle and one in San Francisco in July of 1897. The news of the stacks of bullion and miners carrying thousands in dollars of gold on their person started a stampede of men from all over the country if not the world all with the intention of getting to the Klondike country before anyone else. What motivated Michael to be among the earlier individuals to decide to strike out for the Yukon and try his luck at prospecting? Something provided him with insight that made him decide to leave. Obviously the news of possible riches to be found had been circulating in the States and that early news tempted Michael at the age of 37 when he decided to give up farming and go north to try his luck.

The story of the Klondike is concisely described in the literature of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park and a portion of that is copied here in order to emphasize just what Michael Donahue had to endure in order to even arrive in Dawson that spring day in 1897. He had overcome immense obstacles to make it happen.


The Klondike Story as Told in the Literature of the Klondike National Historic Park-

The following description of the Gold Rush is copied here for it paints a very accurate picture of just what the event was all about.

From the Web-page of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park-
http://www.nps.gov/klgo/historyculture/tonofgoods.htm

Another good Internet source for the Canadian portion of the Historical Park can be found at:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/yt/chilkoot/activ/activ1a1_e.asp

Another interesting source of material regarding the fleet of steamships that traveled the Yukon River over the years can be found at:
http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/sternwheelers/en/river.html



The Last Grand Adventure

With cries of "Gold! Gold! in the Klondike!" there unfolded in the Yukon and Alaska a brief but fascinating adventure, which has captured the imagination of people around the world ever since. In August 1896 when Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie and George Washington Carmack found gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory, they had no idea they they would set off one of the greatest gold rushes in history. Beginning in 1897, an army of hopeful goldseekers, unaware that most of the good Klondike claims were already staked, boarded ships and Seattle and other Pacific port cities and headed north toward the vision of riches to be had for the taking.

All through the summer and on into the winter of 1897-98, stampeders poured into the newly created Alaskan tent and shack towns of Skagway and Dyea - the jumping off points for the 600-mile trek to the goldfields.

Skagway, at the head of the White Pass Trail, was founded by a former steamboat captain named William Moore. His small homestead was inundated with some 10,000 transient residents struggling to get their required year's worth of gear and supplies over the Coast Range and down the Yukon River headwaters at lakes Lindeman and Bennett. Dyea, three miles away at the head of Taiya Inlet, experienced the same frantic boomtown activity as goldseekers poured ashore and picked their way up the Chilkoot Trail into Canada.

Stampeders faced their greatest hardships on the Chilkoot Trail out of Dyea and the White Pass Trail out of Skagway. There were murders and suicides, disease and malnutrition, and death from hypothermia, avalanche, and, some said heartbreak. The Chilkoot was the toughest on men because pack animals could not be used easily on the steep slopes leading to the pass. Until tramways were built late in 1897 and early 1898, the stampeders had to carry everything on their backs. The White Pass Trail was the animal-killer, as anxious prospectors overloaded and beat their pack animals and forced them over the rocky terrain until they dropped. More than 3,000 animals died on this trail; many of their bones still lie at the bottom on Dead Horse Gulch.

During the first year of the rush an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 goldseekers spent an average of three months packing their outfits up the trails and over the passes to the lakes. The distance from tidewater to the lakes was only about 35 miles, but each individual trudged hundreds of miles back and forth along the trails, moving gear from cache to cache. Once the prospectors had hauled their full array of gear to the lakes, they built or bought boats to float the remaining 560 or so miles downriver to Dawson City and the Klondike mining district where an almost limitless supply of gold nuggets was said to lie.

By midsummer of 1898 there were 18,000 people at Dawson, with more than 5,000 working the diggings. By August many of the stampeders had started for home, most of them broke. The next year saw a still larger exodus of miners when gold was discovered at Nome, Alaska. The great Klondike Gold Rush ended as suddenly as it had begun. Towns such as Dawson City and Skagway began to declines. Others, including Dyea, disappeared altogether, leaving only memories of what many consider to be the last grand adventure of the 19th century.

The Canadian government required a year's supply of goods to every stampeder crossing the border. Moving the pile of goods forward was a problem. Stampeders who carried their own goods had the choice of carrying more weight or walking more miles. A light pack of 50 pounds meant more trips. A heavy pack of 80 pounds meant fewer trips, but a heavy burden and slow pace. Every mile walked with a load meant another mile back empty. Some stampeders walked nearly 1000 miles to carry their supplies the 33 miles from Dyea to Lake Bennett.

Supplies for one man for one year -
Recommended by the Northern Pacific railroad company in the Chicago Record's Book for Gold Seekers, 1897-

150 lbs. bacon, 400 lbs. flour, 25 lbs. rolled oats, 125 lbs. beans, 10 lbs. tea, 10 lbs. coffee, 25 lbs. sugar, 25 lbs. dried potatoes, 2 lbs. dried onions, 15 lbs. salt 1 lb. pepper, 75 lbs. dried fruits, 8 lbs. baking powder, 2 lbs. soda, 1/2 lb. evaporated vinegar, 12 oz. compressed soup, 1 can mustard, 1 tin matches (for four men), Stove for four men, Gold pan for each, Set granite buckets, Large bucket, Knife, fork, spoon, cup, and plate, Frying pan, Coffee and teapot, Scythe stone.

Two picks and one shovel, One whipsaw, Pack strap, Two axes for four men and one extra handle,
Six 8 inch files and two taper files for the party, Draw knife, brace and bits, jack plane, and hammer for party.

200 feet three-eights-inch rope, 8 lbs. of pitch and 5 lbs. of oakum for four men, Nails, five lbs. each of 6,8,10 and 12 penny, for four men

Tent, 10 x 12 feet for four men, Canvas for wrapping, Two oil blankets to each boat, 5 yards of mosquito netting for each man, 3 suits of heavy underwear, 1 heavy mackinaw coat, 2 pairs heavy machinaw, trousers, 1 heavy rubber-lined coat, 1 dozen heavy wool socks, 1/2 dozen heavy wool mittens, 2 heavy overshirts, 2 pairs heavy snagproof rubber boots, 2 pairs shoes, 4 pairs blankets (for two men), 4 towels,
2 pairs overalls, 1 suit oil clothing, Several changes of summer clothing, Small assortment of medicines

Over 100,000 people started off for the Klondike gold fields, but less than 30,000 actually made it to the gold fields in Dawson City, Yukon Territory. The difficulties of the Chilkoot and White Pass trails forced many to turn back.


That one last statement serves to really define the challenge of travel to Dawson. Less than one in three actually completed the journey.

As mentioned in the Historical Park description there were two overland routes to the gold fields from the Coastal Region, both beginning in the area of Skagway in the southeastern pan handle of Alaska. Both were by foot path or trail. Railroads came later. The longer but perhaps less physically demanding route was the White Pass trail and the other the dangerous, but shorter route over Chilkoot Pass. Another choice was by river steamer from the mouth of the Yukon River in western Alaska on the Bering Sea. The latter method was more expensive and it was long and circuitous but certainly physically much easier to endure. Travel by the steamers equipped with paddlewheels for use in shallow portions of the river was seasonal however with the first boats from the Bering Sea not reaching Dawson until June at the earliest.

Since Michael arrived in Dawson in March he then used an overland route to Dawson some 350 straight line miles northwest of Skagway over very difficult mountain terrain and through spring storms with snow undoubtedly still on the ground. Being raised in Wisconsin and after ten years or more enduring the cold weather in the woods of northern Michigan the snow and cold were certainly nothing new to the man but he had supplies he had to pack by himself or pay to have others help in the task. He did have some money from the sale of his farm but if he had enough to hire packing help through the most difficult areas we don’t really know. But he made it for sure.


Travel to Alaska Was Probably Relatively Easy- Once There, Getting to the Klondike Presented Enormous Challenges-

Presumably Michael landed in Alaska at Skagway and one of the first things he probably was able to witness first hand was that travel to the Klondike by land was not an easy task regardless of the route of travel. The area probably isn’t extremely convenient to reach even today from the Alaskan Coast but considerably easier than during the Gold Rush. Michael faced a terribly grueling journey and the fact that he even made it to Dawson before the rush really mushroomed in size is a sign of strength, endurance and determination. In all fairness the man probably had it much easier than those of the hoard that followed later in the year for he traveled the route in the spring of the year.

Most of the deaths and suffering came in the winter when the rush began to peak and the men attempting the Chilkoot route formed an endless chain trudging their supplies on their backs to deposit at the top of the pass to be checked by the Mounties. At the summit they stockpiled their backbreaking loads in a safe place to await another trip in the process of accumulating a year’s supply of food and material before being allowed to continue on to Dawson. Partnerships were certainly formed on the U.S. side prior to the ascent of the steep mountain to the Canadian border at the top. The partnerships allowed for someone to be present with their stockpile of goods stashed at the foot of the pass and once again to guard the stockpile at the summit. The partnerships between small groups of men, all strangers for the most part, must have been a risky endeavor to say the least.

Prospectors had been in the Yukon for many years when the first real rich strikes were found. To support the early prospectors that went North there were probably many well established outfitters available in Seattle when Michael arrived. It was probably fairly easy to find a ready supply of provisions and equipment as well as advice. After the news of the strike was well known even more outfitting businesses sprang up in Seattle. It was a young town bustling with newcomers and rapid growth. The purveyors of equipment had experience handed to them from those that had been to the northern climes before and returned with a wealth of experience so one was not totally uninformed once he left Seattle for his own personal effort to find his Pot of Gold.

By Foot, all on Your Back, or Hire Packers-

The fledging prospectors hopefully knew what to expect but the challenge soon became to accomplish what must have seemed impossible, especially after one arrived at the scales near the foot of the half mile climb up the face of the mountain pass that would take them into Canada over Chilkoot Pass.. Looking up at what seemed to be nearly a vertical wall must have been a shock to anyone from the low rolling hills of the farmland of Wisconsin adjoining Lake Michigan. It has been said that many men, upon seeing the path to the summit then turned back and began to liquidate their supplies in order to return home. Others would backtrack hopefully to find their way to a route less challenging.. The other land route over White Pass from Skagway was much longer but Chilkoot Pass became the route of choice probably out of desperation. As men began arriving in Skagway it soon became a serious competition to reach the Klondike first in order to stake a claim. Chilkoot provided the fastest, but certainly it was not the easiest. Once into Canada, the route to Dawson became a land and a water route requiring the construction of small boats or rafts for portions of the trail along lakes and rivers which served to complicate the journey even more. Rapids had to be conquered and many did not rise to the challenge and they watched their precious supplies float away when their craft was upset in the several rapids encountered along the way.

The Park description of the need to traverse the dangerous river rapids as the water flowed through narrow canyons in the mountainous territory in a long serpentine route towards the preferred destination of Dawson paints a hazardous situation. How Uncle Mike accomplished all this is beyond my level of comprehension but he did make it and although he was not among the earliest to arrive, he did arrive before the real rush that began later in 1897.

Local coastal Indian tribes had carved out the route to the interior through what is now Southeast Alaska over Chilkoot Pass, east of present day Skagway, Alaska, many years if not centuries before any prospecting ever began in Western Canada. The coastal Indian tribes conducted their own trading business with bands of Indians to the inland east using their long established route to carry new modern goods that European and Russian traders were introducing to the coastal tribes. Early on in the development of the continent the large trading companies, most notably the Hudson’s Bay Company, encroached on their exclusive trading areas moving west from Eastern Canada through the interior of the continent bringing competition to the Indian traders coming from the west. This eventually curtailed the trading efforts of the Coastal Indians of Alaska and British Columbia and those natives that remained tied to trade were reduced to the role of packers or bearers of equipment for early exploration by Europeans moving east from the Pacific Coast.

So help for moving one’s goods was available. One could hire Indians as bearers but that was only available for those with funds. By the time Michael arrived even the Indians probably had competition from white packers that came north with horses and equipment with the idea of making money the easy way rather than making the effort to prospect on their own.

Most of the supplies of the miners would have been purchased in Seattle or Vancouver and shipped to Skagway by coastal packet boats to eventually be packed by horse or on the backs of men. Some men carried every article on their backs the entire distance from Skagway to the Klondike a feat that seems unimaginable today. Steam driven and even electric Tramways to carry supplies attached to suspended cables along the route from Skagway to the summit of Chilkoot were eventually installed along the most difficult portions of the trail but these were constructed after Michael arrived.

To Make Things Worse, You Might Have to Deal With the Bad Guys-

A part of human nature will always find the dregs of society attracted to any endeavor where riches are being found. Their motives are the same as for the honest they mingled with, except they find that by using their dishonest skills, they too can make money, but without all the back breaking effort.

These were dangerous times in Alaska and the Yukon for the weak were preyed on by gangs of thugs and criminals interested only in robbing, cheating or even killing. These were the days of the demise of the famous criminal Soapy Smith in Skagway, and “The Shooting of Dangerous Dan McGrew” in Dawson as immortalized in the famous poem by Robert Service. The poet was living in the Yukon at the time of the 1896 gold strike and experienced first hand or heard the stories directly from those that had experienced the dearth of law and order during the stampede to find gold.

Soapy Smith, 1898

Michael Becomes Part Owner of a Gold Claim-

The 1901 Canadian does provide evidence that he actually did make the journey to the Klondike. A portion of that census page is shown below.




Michael’s entry reads:

Donahue, Michael J., Male, White, Relationship to Head of Facility, Partner, Single, Age 43, Born Wisconsin, U.S.A., Arrived in Yukon, May 1897, In Yukon 4 years, 4 months, Nationality, U.S., Occupation, Gold Mining P (probably meaning partner, Position, P (again partner), Salary, own account.

Dawson, 1898

Dawson Waterfront, 1898




Dawson At the Top Of the Map

Sulphur Creek and Skagway Far Below

Just what degree of success Michael had is really unknown. It is known from the later court documents that he was in the Yukon from March of 1897 until sometime in 1905. While there, a total of eight winters, he mentioned in his court testimony that he had come out three times. Presumably he traveled sometime in the late fall in order to avoid the harsh winters rather than live confined in a small cabin with his mining partner at Sulphur Creek. With few amenities, living through a terrible winter, unable to work the frozen ground, sitting out a long winter had to be an ordeal to remember forever. A short quote from Robert Service’s poem about Dan McGrew helps to explain what the isolation of lonely winters meant-

“Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful clear,
And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most could hear;
With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there in the cold,
A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad for the muck called gold;
While high overhead, green, yellow, and red, the North Lights swept in bars? —
Then you've a hunch what the music meant . . . hunger and might and the stars.

And hunger not of the belly kind, that’s banished with bacon and beans,
But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and all that it means;
For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a roof above;
But oh! so cramful of cosy joy, and crowded with a woman’s love —
A woman dearer than all the world, and true as Heaven is true —
(God! how ghastly she looks through her rouge, — the lady that’s known as Lou.)


Lou is the not so virtuous girlfriend of Dan McGrew that caused the shooting of Dan and a prospector loaded with gold dust, the result being that she deftly slips away with the prospectors fortune after the shooting subsides.


Winter Breaks-

Since Michael had funds to travel south for the winter months for three seasons it is reasonable to assume that he had found some success in finding gold. The fact that he was able to marry and begin farming on 160 acres of homestead land immediately after his last trip south indicates he must have been successful enough to do more than just make ends meet.

His trips south most likely brought him to Seattle and then to Florence to visit and stay with his sisters and their families. During one of these trips is when he probably met his future wife, Bridget McPadden, a good Irish immigrant lass. Bridget was living with a family in the area around Florence but her 1900 census entry is yet to be located. The Donahue sisters very well may have once again assumed their alleged matchmaking roles and were somehow instrumental in creating this meeting that led to marriage. In 1905 his final trip south probably began very early in the spring, probably as soon as travel became practical, and he must have come overland, some of it by rail which had begun service by 1905. It’s very unlikely he came out by steamboat down the Yukon river for he could not even began the journey before mid-June and eventually arriving back in Florence to be married in September as well as establish land holdings in Grant County probably would not have given him time to accomplish all this.


Michael’s Legacy-

Mother was presented a souvenir gold nugget by her Uncle Mike that remains in the family today and has been passed on the Don. In recent years in gaining contact with the descendants of Uncle Tom in Oregon we now know that Uncle Mike also presented another souvenir to the family in the form of a small vial of gold dust. Molly McGinnis has shared a photo of that memento, another definite proof that Mike definitely was somehow somewhat successful in the Klondike.

Gold Dust from the Klondike-

Found in the effects of Thomas A. McGinnis

Mary Lou Ramsey- If I am Correct, She Must Have Been Like a Mother to the Younger Children in the Family-

Mary Lou Jones, an older half-sister of our father, Charles F. Jones, an aunt to my current generation.
The only photo discovered of her so far is her sitting for a Jones family photograph in Harrison, Arkansas around 1905 – 1906 if I have the photo dated reasonably close. The following is a close up of her cropped from that family photo.

Mary Lou Jones, Later Ramsey

1873 -1913

Probably about the age of 32 in the Photo

As is the case with so many of the facts regarding our family history be it the history of the Jones family or the McGinnis clan, only so much can be reconstructed based on public records or vaguely recalled anecdotal information.  So what follows is a description of what can be defined regarding Mary Lou’s life only from easily obtained public records and documents.

Her birth is recorded in the Jones Family Bible-
Mary Lou Jones, eldest daughter of A.H. Jones and E.A. Jones his first wife was born June 26, 1873





Two Mothers for Mary Lou, Only to Become a Mother to Her Siblings, Making Her Essentially the Third Mother of the Overall Family-
Her father had re-married in late December of 1879 after the death of her mother in March of the same year. Her stepmother Martha Moulder, now Jones, is the grandmother of our current generation, my generation. Mary Lou was but six years old at the time of her mother’s death. Essentially she was raised by her stepmother Martha. Martha gave birth to nine children when she died the same year of the birth of our Aunt Ruth in 1894. Mary Lou was 21 years of age when her stepmother died meaning in all likelihood she now became the surrogate mother to many of her step brothers and sisters.
This list of children in the household other than herself now included two siblings born of her own Mother, Esther, two years younger, born in 1875, and Brother Samuel, five years younger, born in 1875, then 16 years old. Also included are the eight living children of her stepmother, with the oldest being my Father, Charles, 13 years old, and Ruth, the youngest born that same year.
The next census year of 1900 reveals eleven individuals in the household of A.H. Jones including himself. A large family by any estimate, and certainly a huge responsibility for the eldest daughter to have to shoulder at such a young age. We will never know just what her role was in entirety, we can only speculate. It was not uncommon at the time for older daughters to be cast into such a role however and one can assume she certainly had a large influence on the younger children especially.
The following family photo taken in Harrison sometime around the 1905 to 1907 time period truly hints at her position in the family being seated in the front row near her father:

The Jones Family of Harrison, Arkansas

Circa 1905-1907

Back Row, left to right: Pearl (most likely), Bill, Martha or Mattie (most likely) Grady, Eula, Charles.
Front row, Ruth, A.H. Jones, Granddaughter Mae Ruth Rutledge, Mary Lou, Albert.
Note the identity of Grady and Albert is subject to change. They look so much alike at this age making it very difficult to be really certain but after several years of looking at this photograph, Albert in the front row right is most likely.
The photo had become rather damaged over the years particularly on the face of Charles Jones. A novice attempt to digitally repair the damage to the photo is shown above. It is far from perfect.
Two children, Esther and Samuel had already left home by this time as evidenced by their not being included in the picture. Esther, another subject for more research had died some four years earlier in 1901 in Renton, Washington leaving behind two daughters. Esther’s youngest child, Mae Ruth Rutledge, was sometime later sent to live with her Grandfather Alfred in Harrison meaning that now young Mary Lou, at the age of 33, also had the responsibility of raising a niece. The whereabouts of her other niece as well as the father remains undiscovered at the present time. That niece remained a close member of the family throughout her life. She also settled in Bremerton when her Grandfather gave up the family farm in Harrison and moved to Washington State in 1912 to live out his life among his children. The timeline of the arrivals in Bremerton suggests that Samuel, the eldest son, was the influence behind the decision to leave Arkansas.
It should be noted that the granddaughter, Mae Ruth Rutledge, attended Dad’s funeral in 1972 and signed the funeral register as “Ernie and Mae Orchard”, her married name. I have no recall of seeing the woman at the time or at any time in my life, but she obviously was there or viewed the remains prior to the funeral.




Mary Lou’s Marriage and a Rather Soon Divorce-

Nothing regarding her life survives until the notation of her marriage in the Bible in 1909:
Mary L. Jones- Eldest daughter of A.H. Jones and E.A. Jones his 1^st wife was married to- S.P. Ramsey at Harrison, Arkansas, October 17, 1909. By O.B. Murphy, J.P.

Mary would have been 36 year of age at the time of the marriage. Samuel Ramsey, apparently a widower with many children at home, was nine years older than Mary.  Mary was an attractive woman but perhaps her years at home helping to raise her siblings found her to be an aging spinster when she finally did marry. Were all the eligible bachelors of the area long gone and she felt that to marry into a pre-made family was her only choice? Perhaps a reasonable assumption.
This was approximately two to four years following the family photograph shown here. Mary did not live long after her marriage and now that a copy of her death certificate has been obtained it states that sometime between her marriage in 1909 in Arkansas and her death in Bremerton in 1913 she had divorced her husband Samuel P. Ramsey. A look at a rather large census entry for the 1910 census for the Ramsey household might suggest a reason for the divorce, but that is only speculation. It obviously was a second marriage for Samuel Ramsey and perhaps Mary Lou found it an environment she no longer wanted to be a part of. The census page enumerated on April 16, 1910 follows here:




The Ramsey family Mary Lou married into was also a large pre-made family and Mary Lou just may have felt she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Online census searches bring no record of any of the Ramsey family in the 1920 census, certainly not of the father. He may have died during that period. Possible entries for some of the children have been traced down but that really is a subject for other families to pursue.




The Birth of Her Son-
To piece this together even more one has to return to the family Bible and note that Mary Lou had given birth to one child during her short marriage. The Bible states the following:
Garland Alfred Ramsey, son of Sam P. Ramsey and Mary L. his wife was born September 19, 1910 at Western Grove, Arkansas





The Death of Garland Alfred Ramsey-

Mary Lou was pregnant at the time of the Arkansas census in April of 1910. Sometime between the birth of her son in September of 1910, a year after her marriage, and the child’s death in Bremerton in 1912, Mary Lou divorced her husband and had come west to settle in Bremerton with her child and to be among all her family members, all now having left Arkansas by this time. The notation for the child’s death from the family Bible is as follows:
Garland Ramsey, Infant son of Sam Ramsey and Mary, his second wife died at the age of 2 years and 11 days, September 30, 1912, at 7 O’clock and was buried in Ivy Green Cemetery, Bremerton, Washington, October 1, 1912

The death certificate for the child reveals a primary and a contributing cause of his death.  The primary cause in medical terminology and difficult to read states “Gastritis and (unreadable) Colitis”.  Part of the colitis term is unreadable.  The contributing cause explains it all however as it states: “Food Intoxication, Probable”.   The term probable certainly adds confusion but for the most part it appears to have been caused by food poisoning.




Timing of the Family’s Migration to Washington State-

The Bremerton or Charleston city directories of 1910 do no list the presence of the patriarch, A.H. Jones or any of his family other than Samuel. This coincides with the obituary notation for our grandfather stating he arrived in Bremerton in 1912, obviously after the publication of the directory. The child’s death in Bremerton suggests that the family may have arrived around the middle of the year. I am making the assumption that Mary Lou may very well have accompanied her father to Bremerton making the location for her divorce in Arkansas.
Mary Lou was now 49 years old, and now on her own but living with her father and siblings, those un-married siblings that were still living with their father. The city directory for 1913-1914 shows living in the household of our Grandfather A.H. Jones, Albert, Grady, Eula and Ruth, ranging in ages from 30 to 19. Ruth married and left home in 1914, Eula in 1915 and Grady married sometime between 1914 and the death of his father in 1922. Assumedly the 1913 city directory entry was taken after the death of Mary Lou in March of that year.



Mary Lou’s Illness and Death-
The next date of record for Mary Lou of course is that of her death in Bremerton in 1913 about six months following the death of her only child. It had to have been a terrible shock to the entire family, for as suggested she was not only a sister but to some, even a mother figure. She had been living in Bremerton probably for less than a year. If she had arrived earlier than 1912, the year the majority of the family arrived, she surely would have been found in some record as living with a sibling. No directories reveal her presence earlier than 1912. Being that her son died in Bremerton it tends to establish 1912 as the year she came west.
Her death certificate has recently been acquired and it does explain the circumstances of her death and it appears to have happened rather suddenly. Apparently she had been under treatment for about two months that eventually required surgery. The reason of death, “Surgical shock- following abdominal surgery”. Apparently she was suffering from appendicitis and I suspect that in 1913 any surgery was a serious matter and perhaps that explains the two months of treatment. A search of the internet reveals that the first successful appendectomy surgeries began in the late 1890’s, but some 20 years before Mary Lou’s procedure. That is a relatively short time for a new surgical procedure to become well developed and it just might be that in 1913 an appendectomy was very serious and was used as a last resort. All speculation of course but it is a distinct possibility that Mary Lou was very ill and it became necessary to perform surgery in order to save her life.
As can be seen on the copy of her death certificate she died of surgical shock. A very faint entry below reveals the word appendicitis. To me that is the root cause of her illness. The rest of that entry as well as the entry regarding secondary causes are beyond my skills of reading medical terminology. I will leave that that task to others.





Mary died at the relatively young age of 39 years, 8 months, 3 days old. As noted on the certificate she is also buried in Bremerton, in Ivy Green Cemetery. It has been many years since I visited the Jones family plot in that cemetery and at the time I was not into the details of family history and I have no pictures or even much recall as to all that are buried in the plot or near by. I think it is reasonable to assume that Mary Lou lies somewhere near her father Alfred H. Jones, her son Garland Alfred Ramsey, a brother, Bill, a subject for a later posting still being researched, and her future sister-in-law, Pearl Baker Jones.
This is all that can be gathered regarding our Aunt Mary Lou Jones using what records that have survived. Her story was completely unknown to me as I grew up and I am pleased that at least something of her life can now be told.
If ever anyone might have the opportunity to once again visit Ivy Green Cemetery in Bremerton, new pictures of all the family grave markers would be greatly appreciated in order to imbed them within an overall family history constantly in the process of research and documentation.

Jones Family, From the Earliest to the Latest-

About 1905-1906

Harrison, Arkansas

 

The family left Arkansas in 1912. Charles F. Jones arrived in Bremerton circa 1908-1909.

At the time of this picture Samuel had already left home and had married in Seattle in

1904 and was living in either Seattle or Bremerton. Samuels older sister Esther Almira, a half-sister to Charles F. Jones, had died in Renton, Washington in 1901.

 

(As mentioned in an earlier posting, the photo had a large damaged spot on the cheek of Charles Jones.  What you see is the result of an unskilled attempt to repair the image.)

 

About 1911-1912, Bremerton

 

All the individuals are identified on the back. Since Dad's first wife, Pearl Baker is not in the photo, the date may have been prior to their marriage in October of 1912. It is assumed the location is somewhere in Bremerton.

 

 

About 1911-1912,Bremerton-

Presumably taken the same day as the previous group photograph

About 1913-1917 in Bremerton

 

From Left, Back Row: Sam, Bill (Bill died in 1917), Charles

Front: Albert, A.H. Jones and Grady.

 

About 1915-1917, Bremerton

 

For some unknown reason, Eula nor Bertha, Sam’s wife, are not present for this family photograph.

In some ways the individuals appear older than what their actual ages are.  Since all five of the Jones sons are present, and knowing Bill, standing second from the left, died in 1917 the photo date really has to be around the time of his death.

 

 

1	A.H. Jones, about 72 years of age
2	Albert Sidney, 33 yrs.
3	William Tate, 32 yrs
4	Henry Grady, 26 yrs
5	Lillian Ruth, 22 yrs
6	Allen T. Mogford, 28 yrs (Husband of Ruth)
7	Mae Ruth Rutledge, 17 yrs (Granddaughter to A.H. Jones, Daughter of Esther Almira Jones)
8	Samuel Alfred, 38 yrs
9	Pearl (Baker) Jones, 23 yrs  (Wife of Charles)
10	Charles Franklin, 35 yrs
11	Unknown
12	Unknown
13	Unknown

 

About 1921, Bremerton

 

This photo was probably taken very near the time of death of A.H. Jones in March of 1922 judging by the age of the child, Allen Mogford Jr. being held by his father.  Allen Jr. was born in 1920 and around a year old perhaps in this family group.  Our Grandfather was 78 years old at this time.  He was 78 years and 10 months old when he died.

Again, Eula is not present nor Bill who had died about four years prior.

 

 

 

1	Pearl Baker Jones, Wife of Charles
2	Charles F.
3	Grady
4	Bertha, Wife of Samuel
5	Sam
6	Allen Mogford
7	Allen Mogford Jr.
8	A.H. Jones
9	Albert
10	Mae Ruth Rutledge, Granddaughter
11	Unknown
12	Probably Loreta Mogford, Ruth’s oldest child
13	Probably Norma, daughter of Bertha & Sam
14	Ruth Jones Mogford

 

 

 

Maybe between 1935-1940

From Left: Eula, Pearl, Martha, Grady, niece Mae Ruth Rutledge (later Orchard) and Ruth

The date of this photo has me baffled making the credibility of the date questionable.

The following four photos were all taken on the same day.  It appears to have been taken in the front of Ruth’s house on fourth street in Bremerton.

 

About mid 1940’s to maybe 1949.

From Left: Eula, Martha, Ruth, Pearl.

Pearl had traveled from her home in the Joplin, Missouri area and Martha, or Mat or Mattie as she was also known, lived in the Los Angeles, California area.

 

 

 

From Left: Aunt Bert, wife of Samuel Jones, Pearl, Eula, Ruth, unknown and Martha

 

 

From Left: Charles F., Grady and Samuel

 

From Left: Charles, Martha, Eula, Samuel, Ruth, Pearl and Grady. 

Missing is Albert.  Three others had already passed away, Esther Almira Rutledge in 1901, Mary Lou Ramsey in 1913 and brother William (Bill) Tate Jones in 1917

The Jones Family Was Divided, Some Were Rebels, Some Were Not-

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

(From Ancestry.com)

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.