Heritage and More

Friday, February 11, 2011

A Concise Donahue History- Copied From Floyd Billings Jr.

Floyd Billings, a descendant of Thomas Donahue, has compiled a combined history of what is known of the Donahue family to current times. Floyd has been researching the Donahue’s some fifty years and only through the recent collaboration with four descendants that have found one another on the Internet has he been able to bring together a summary of pooled knowledge, some facts being new even to him. It is the result of a collaborative effort of the known interested Donahue descendants and what he outlines is a collection of facts from all us. A transcription of his writing is included in this post and it is a valuable piece that describes what is known of the Donahue’s of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. This is being posted with Floyd’s permission and the purpose here is to ensure that his narrative survives long into the future through the “magic” of the internet.

Floyd can be found on our family tree as a descendant of the first child of Thomas Donahue, a daughter, Amelia Bridget, born in Ireland. This daughter eventually came to the United States, most likely through the auspices of her father, and married in Milwaukee to one John Shimunok the great grandfather of Floyd Billings. Floyd has uncovered an extensive lineage history of his Shimunok family in Wisconsin that he has also shared with us but it is not included here.

What I consider to be the “Holy Grail” of our history, the records of our ancestors in Ireland, has yet to be found. I remain positive that someone in the future will find the records, at the very least that is my hope. In the meantime our overall knowledge has expanded greatly and all that Floyd describes in his narrative is the baseline that those in the future will use to actually trace down our Irish beginnings.

The following is a transcription of a Donahue Family History written by Floyd Billings Jr.

Note: The history that follows is based on the information that is presently available to me and reflects my interpretation of it. I expect that the story will change somewhat as further information becomes available. I welcome and appreciate any questions, comments or suggestions.
Floyd Billings. 12 December 2009

My second great grandfather Thomas Donahue was born in Galway county, Ireland, on or about December 25, 1816. Sources presently available to us indicate his father’s name was Patrick and his mother’s maiden name was Mary Connelly. (See note at the end of this account).

It is known that Thomas had a sister Mary and a brother (or half brother) Patrick, both several years younger than himself. It seems likely that there were other children in the family as well, but if so, we presently know nothing of them.

The early years of the Donahue children were characterized by an abundance of work and a lack of schooling. As Thomas’s brother and sister later explained, “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”

About the year 1840, when Thomas was in his early 20’s, he married his first wife Anna White. A daughter was born to them on March 1, 1842, and named Amelia Bridget.

Two very significant events took place after that. One was the death of Thomas’s wife. The other was when Thomas went to the United States and joined the Army. It is not possible at this point to say which happened first.

In 1899 it became necessary for Thomas’s second wife Mary, then a widow, to establish the fact, the date and the place of death of the first wife. Since she was not personally involved, she could only repeat what she had been told earlier, namely, that the first wife died “a number of years” prior to her marriage to Thomas in May 1850.

Unable to locate non-relatives familiar with the facts, as requested, she turned to Thomas’s brother and sister, “who have a personal knowledge of the facts called for- and it is currently first hand information.”

Patrick and Mary then related in an affidavit that: “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland where Mrs. Donahue first wife of Thomas Donahue died, saw her, both of us, after she was dead and attended her funeral. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”

So we know that Thomas’s wife died in Galway county, Ireland , that she died in the fall of the year and that it was sometime after March 1842 but “a number of years” prior to May 1850.

We can establish the date of Thomas’s departure from Ireland fairly closely by working backward from his enlistment in the army on May 19^th, 1845 at Bangor, Maine.

When asked if Thomas had any U.S. military service prior to his May 1845 enlistment, Mary, again relying on what she had been told, said that she did not believe that he had served in the Army or Navy of the United States prior to that date “because he was then still in Ireland.” It was thus her understanding that Thomas left Ireland and arrived in the U.S. shortly before enlisting.

At this point, we must consider some of the circumstances in regard to immigration in the 1840’s. First of all, we need to realize that at that time the British government encouraged British subjects going to the United States to obtain passage on British ships and to go by way of Canada. Of course, many would have done so anyway because the crossing to Canada was shorter, somewhat quicker (typically 35 to 45 days at sea) and perhaps somewhat less expensive.

It is also important to understand that Canadian immigration was seasonal. The first immigrants in a given year typically arrived at the beginning of May and the last near the end of October. Because of unfavorable conditions, potential immigrants seldom ventured to cross the North Atlantic in winter.

So this leaves us with two likely scenarios. The first is that Thomas left Ireland in the latter part of March 1845, arrived at Quebec or at one of the ports in New Brunswick just after the first of May and then went directly to Bangor, Maine, where he enlisted on the 19^th of that month. The implication here would be that he left Ireland with intention of enlisting, and that once underway, executed that plan as quickly as possible.

The other possibility would be that he left Ireland a bit earlier, perhaps in the summer or fall of 1844, and then, after arriving, spent a few months looking at other possibilities before enlisting in May. Of course it is also possible that he could have left Ireland sooner than that or that he entered the U.S. directly rather than through Canada.

Concerning the name of the first wife, the name Anna White comes from the 1899 affidavit mentioned earlier. On Thomas’s daughter Bridget’s death certificate in 1921, however, her daughter gives Bridget’s mother’s name as “--- Shaunessy”. At this point I am inclined to accept Anna White as the correct name and to speculate that Shaunessy may have been the name of relatives or others who raised Bridget as a foster child after her mother died. Bridget’s daughter just might have heard her mother mention the name Shaunessy and made an incorrect assumption.

As previously indicated, Thomas enlisted at Bangor, Maine by May 19, 1845. At enlistment, Lt. Bowen, the enlisting officer recorded the following:

Name: Thomas Donohue – Note: spelled thus
Age: 27 – Note: if December 25, 1816 is really his birthdate, he was actually 28.
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Complexion: fair
Height: 5’ 7” – Note: fairly tall in those days
Born: Ireland, Galway
Occupation: Laborer
Enlisted: May 19, 1845
Where: Bangor
By whom: Lt. Bowen
Term: 5 yrs
Regiment or co: 1 Art. G – Note: Battery (or company) “G”, 1^st artillery regiment

A perusal of the Enlistment Registers shows that eleven men enlisted at Bangor in May of 1845, five of them born in Ireland, but Thomas was the only one on the 19^th. There does not seem to be any connection between Thomas and any of the other men who enlisted during that month.

Thomas remained in Battery G of the 1^st Artillery for his full five year term. During the war with Mexico he went to that country with his regiment and participated in a number of battles, including the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerre Gordo, and Chepultapec. At the conclusion of his enlistment, he was discharged from Fort Columbus (Governor’s Island), New York on May 19, 1850, having served five years as a private.

Before his discharge, Thomas met a young Irish woman named Mary McHugh or McKeough. On May 12, 1850, Thomas and Mary were married at the Church of the Transformation in New York City according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas was about 33 years of age. Mary was in her early 20’s. The witnesses were Thomas Green and Margaret Long. The names of the parents were not recorded.
Upon his discharge, Thomas applied for and received a Bounty Land Warrant redeemable for 160 acres of government land. The warrant was dated May 27, 1850. He qualified for this warrant based on his service in Mexico

Thomas and Mary then started west. At Buffalo they boarded a steamer bound for Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Aboard the boat they became acquainted with the Mulholland family who had just arrived from the old country and were planning to settle in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. So Thomas and Mary followed them there.

By early July Thomas and Mary had arrive in Manitowoc where on July 8^th Thomas sold his land warrant to a man named John Stevens “for value received.” On that same day, he purchased 80 acres of land, being the west half of the southeast quarter of section 35 in the township later known as the town of Liberty, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. This is the farm where Thomas and Mary lived for the next forty years or so and where they raised their family.

Thomas purchased this land from John Stephenson and his wife Elizabeth, paying a total of $100 or $1.25 per acre. The presumption would be that Thomas figured that it was better to purchase 80 acres of previously-owned land, likely at least partially cleared and developed, and possibly in a more favorable location, rather than to claim the 160 acres of totally unoccupied, uncleared and uncultivated government land which the land warrant entitled him to claim.

(A few months later, John Stevens used the land warrant to claim 160 acres of public land after first inspecting the land and certifying, as required, that it was entirely uninhabited and that no part of it was under cultivation.)

About three years after Thomas and Mary arrived in Manitowoc county Thomas’s brother and sister Mary also arrived. It is unclear whether they came together or separately. In his declaration of intent Patrick indicated that he entered the country at New York City in November of 1853.

It is not known at this point if Thomas sent passage money for Patrick and Mary or if they came on their own nickel. It is clear, however, that although neither he nor they could read or write, he devised some way to keep in touch with them and to paint a picture of Manitowoc county as a good place to live. Otherwise they simply would not have known where to come.

On March 12^th, 1855, Mary married Arnold Siehr at Manitowoc Rapids in Manitowoc county. A native of Prussia (Germany), Arnold had arrived in Manitowoc county a few years before and by the time of his marriage had established himself as a farmer in the town of Meeme, having purchased and patented 40 acres of government land there in 1852.

At the time of the marriage, Arnold gave his parents’ names as Jacob and Maria Siehr (spelled Sierh). Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.

In June of 1855, the state of Wisconsin took a census which identified each household and recorded the number of persons living there. The Siehr household (spelled Sears) included, as we would expect, one male and one female, both foreign born.

The enumeration of the “Th. Danehow” household in the town of Newton – this was before the town of Liberty was separated from the town of Newton – is more problematic. It lists four males and three females, five of them foreign born. This does not add up since by this time Thomas and Mary had three children -- John, Patrick and Sarah. So the members of the immediate family should have included three males and two females. If we add Thomas’s brother Patrick and another foreign born female that makes four males and three females as recorded, but only four are foreign born rather than five.

It appears that Thomas and Mary, after purchasing the 80 acres in 1850 enjoyed some degree of success as farmers because on July 28, 1855, they purchased another 120 acres. This land is described as the west half of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 31 in the township known as the town of Newton and is thus located two miles east of the home farm. In this case the purchase price was $480 or $4.00 per acre.

Also in 1855, Patrick was involved in a legal matter which came before the Manitowoc county court. The card index does not specify the nature of the case or the outcome – only that the other party was W. Richmond.

On February 16, 1857, Thomas and Mary sold half of the 120 acres to Patrick for $200 or $3.33 per acre.
In 1859, Patrick again appeared before the court, this time to face a charge of assault and battery brought by one Anna Burns and the State of Wisconsin. The card index does not indicate whether he was found guilty or not.

In October 1859, Thomas and Patrick were both admitted to United States citizenship, Thomas on the 24^th and Patrick on the 29^th.

About 1859, Patrick married Honorah Luby and they settled on the land in the Town of Newton where they raised a family of one son and three daughters. This was the land that Patrick purchased from Thomas and Mary in 1857.

Thomas and Mary continued to farm in the Town of Liberty where eight additional children were born to them – Thomas, Michael, Mary Ellen, Katherine, Martin, Margaret, James and Alice.

Meanwhile about 1857 or 1858 Thomas’s daughter Bridget arrived from Ireland. She remained with the family for a short time. Then she and another girl that she knew went off to Milwaukee to find work. There she met and married John Shimunok, but that is another story.
--
Note: I have reached my current conclusion as to the likely names of Thomas’s parents as follows:

At her 1855 marriage, Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.
When Patrick died in 1907, his daughter gave the parents’ names as John Donehue and Mary Cornelia.
When Mary died in 1915, her son gave the parents’ names as Patrick Donehue and Maria Cornelia.
Since it was almost unheard of in the 1790’s for a common person to receive more than one given name, I must assume that the name Cornelia was probably an attempt to supply a surname. However, since Cornelia did not exist as a surname in Ireland at that time, I must assume that it is likely a poorly recorded or poorly spelled version of a similar name – such as Connelly.

Therefore, my latest thoughts are that Mary Connelly married Patrick Donahue sometime before 1816 and that they were the parents of Thomas and Mary. Then, we can suppose, Patrick died and his widow married John Donahue, who, we can speculate, may have been a brother or cousin (or not related at all) to Patrick and they became the parents of young Patrick who was born about 1830.

The following is a descendant tabulation of the family of Thomas and Mary Donahue as detailed by Floyd Billings:

Thomas Donahue

Husband: Thomas Donahue
b: 23 December 1816 (tombstone)
b: 25 December 1816 (death record)
m: abt 1840 in Ireland to Anna White
m: 12 May 1850, Church of the Transfiguraton, New York City, to Mary McHue
occ: 19 May 1845 – 19 May 1850 – Private in Battery “G” First Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army; was in Mexico at least 60 days during the war with that country and participated in the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Chepultapek and others.
occ: 1850 to retirement, Farmer in Liberty twp, Manitowoc co, Wis.
d: 14 January 1898, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
First Wife: Anna White
b: abt 1820 in Ireland, probably county Galway
d: abt 1843-1847 in County Galway, Ireland

Note: this information comes from the affidavit by Patrick Donahue and Mary Siehr dated 19 July 1899 in which they declare under oath that “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland, and attended her funeral, her maiden name was Anna White. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”

Note: Patrick and Mary add this further comment: “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”

Known child:
1.Amelia Bridget Donahue
b: 1 March 1842 in Ireland, presumably in County Galway
immigration: 1858
m: 17 August 1862 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin to John Shimunok
d: 14 December 1921, Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis,
Second Wife: Mary McKeough
Also: McHugh, McHue, McCue
b: abt 1825 in Ireland
d: December 1900 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Children:
1.John Donahue
b: 6 April 1851
m: abt 1875 Margaret (Maggie) Fitzgerald
d: 1 October 1912, Centerville, Manitowoc co, Wis.
b: 3 October 1912, St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Newton and Centerville, Manitowoc county

2.Patrick W. Donahue
b: April 1853
m: abt 1901, Amelia Emma McLaughlin
d: Chicago- I have the date but cannot find it at the moment.
occ: Grocer in Chicago

3.Sarah Donahue
b: 3 February 1855
m: 28 January 1891, Seattle, James H. Hall
d: 26 September 1910
b: Florence, Snohomish, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence

4.Thomas Donahue
b: 9 June 1857
m: 18 November 1884 to Mary Ann McMahon
d: 14 March 1887
b: St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Manitowoc county

5.Michael J. Donahue
Note: His baptismal name was simply Michael. He often added the initial J (for Jeremiah) which was the name of his godfather
b: 1860
m: 24 September 1905 at Florence, Washington to Bridget McPadden
occ: Lumber camp cook
occ: Farmer, Iron River, Michigan abt 1882-1896
occ: Gold Miner in the Klondike 1897-1905
occ: Farmer, Quincy, Washington
Note: For numerous details about him and his brother Martin, refer to the transcript of the U.S. Supreme Court case :Donohue v Vosper” (1917). Also “Donahue v Lake Superior Ship Canal, Railway and Iron Co.” (1894).

6.Mary Ellen Donahue
b: 7 May 1861
m: 3 July 1883, Chicago, to James McGinnis, witnesses Hugh McGinnis and Kate Donahue
d: 15 May 1929, Florence, Snohomish co., Washington
bur: 18 May 1929 at Florence, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence

7.Catherine I. (Kate) Donahue
b: 6 May 1863
m: 29 December 1889, Seattle, Hugh Patrick McGinnis
d: 6 August 1929 at Everett, Washington
bur: 8 August 1929, Florence, Washington
occ: Dairy farm in Florence

8.Martin Edward Donahue
b: 15 December 1866
bap: 21 December 1866, St. Isadore
m: 1913 Jessie Florence Pidd
m: 1920 Della Richards
d: 12 May 1936, Escanaba, Michigan
bur: Iron River, Michigan
occ: Farmer in Iron River, Michigan
occ: Principal stakeholder in the Homer Mine
Note: See note under Michael above

9.Margaret Donahue
b: 22 May 1869
m: 27 December 1889 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to William Scherer
d: 13 December 1944

10.James Roger Donahue
b: 28 August 1872
bap: 1 September 1872 St. Isadore
m: Laura P,
d: 1951

11.Alice Donahue
b: 4 April 1878
m: 31 May 1902 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Robert Martin Puls
d: 15 July 1966

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Samuel Jones, Incorporation Commissioner

This is the last of a few references found for Samuel Jones in the Georgia online Archives. It really reveals little about the man other than maybe how he was held in some esteem in the Ellijay and Gilmer County area. I may have the interpretation of all this somewhat skewed but what follows is my brief take on what this is all about.

Ellijay at the center of the Map

It appears that this is an act of the Georgia Legislature during the 1853 and 1854 session enabling the incorporation of a Railroad Company and permitting it to sell stock in the State in order to finance construction. Ellijay apparently may have been a terminal point on the new railroad or at least it was an area of some sort of importance to the endeavor. As I understand the document Samuel Jones is among several men appointed as some sort of trustees or commissioners and assigned the task of overseeing the incorporation of the company and monitoring the proper handling of investors money. Admittedly it is rather a dry document to read through but this is how I summarize the legislation and the role our Great-Grandfather played.

The act is dated February of 1854 and helps to establish a more accurate date that Samuel Jones sold off his Gilmer County property and moved more to the west in North Georgia, to what was known then as the Snow Hill community in Catoosa County. Right smack-dab in the middle of some of the worst fighting of the Civil War in the Western Theatre of operations. Actually in the middle of what became General Sherman’s eventual Military playground so to speak. Samuel’s wife Narcissa Tate Jones had died in 1852 and this document establishes that he waited at least two years or more before making his move out of Ellijay.

I have tried to highlight the mention of Samuel’s name but online blog editing can sometimes be rather hit and miss. I hope I succeeded.

A GALILEO Digital Initiative Database

Georgia Legislative Documents

Content of Act/Resolution

ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN MILLEDGEVILLE, AT A BIENNIAL SESSION, IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND FEBRUARY. 1853-4. COMPILED, AND NOTES ADDED, By JOHN RUTHERFORD.

PART II.--PRIVATE AND LOCAL LAWS.
INTERNAL TRANSPORTATION. RAIL AND PLANK ROADS AND RIVERS*

* See No. 500, Broad River, Commissioners for; and Ohoopie River, Commissioners for.

†

† See No. 348, for Habersham and Union Telegraph Company incorporated.

UGUSTA AND [Illegible Text] RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
[Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] AND ZEBULON RAIL ROAD CHANGED TO [Illegible Text] FRANKLIN AND OXFORD RAIL ROAD.
CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH RAIL ROAD.
CHATTAHOOCHEE RIDGE RAIL ROAD.
COLUMBUS AND HAMILTON RAIL ROAD.
COLUMBUS AND WEST POINT RAIL ROAD.
COOSA AND CHATTOOGA RAIL ROAD.
DALTON AND COPPER MINE TURNPIKE, PLANK AND RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
DALTON AND ALABAMA LINE RAIL ROAD.
EATONTON AND COVINGTON RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
EATONTON AND MONTICELLO RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
ELIJAY RAIL ROAD COMPANY AND THOMASTON RAIL ROAD.

1853 Vol. 1 -- Page: 425

Sequential Number: 453
Law Number: (No. 363.)

Full Title: An Act to open and construct a Rail Road, commencing at some point between Marietta and Calhoun, to be determined by a majority of the Stockholders herein incorporated, and thence the most practicable route, by Elijay, in Gilmer County, to the, or near the, Mouth of Fightingtown Creek, at the Copper Mines, in the County of Gilmer; also, to incorporate the Thomaston and West Point, and Thomaston and Milledgeville Rail Road Company.

WHEREAS, There are large developments of Copper Ore now raised and raising at or near the mouth of Fighting town Creek, on both sides of the State line, between Georgia and Tennessee, which cannot be shipped to places of manufacture without the aid of a Rail Road through that section of the country:

SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That for the purpose of opening and constructing a Rail Road communication, from the Western and Atlantic Rail Road, beginning at some point on said Road, at or between Marietta and Calhoun, to be determined by a majority of the Stockholders herein after incorporated, and thence the most practicable route by the way of Elijay, in Gilmer County, to or near the mouth of Fighting town Creek, in Gilmer County, at or near the Copper Mines; the subscribers for the

Page: 426

capital stock, herein after mentioned, and their assigns, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the Elijay Rail Road Company, and by said corporate name shall be capable in law to purchase, accept, hold and convey real and personal estate; make contracts, sue and be sued, and to make by-laws, and to do all lawful acts properly incident to a corporation and necessary and proper for the construction of the works and transaction of the business for which said Company are incorporated; and to have and use a common seal, and the same to alter and destroy at pleasure.
[Sidenote: Elijay Rail Road Company.]
[Sidenote: Powers, rights, &c.]

SEC. II. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said Company shall be five hundred thousand dollars, but shall be liable to be increased from time to time, and by such sum or sums as may be deemed expedient, by the majority of the Board of Directors of said Company for the time being: Provided, That said capital stock shall not be so increased as to exceed in the whole the sum of one million and one half of dollars; And it is also enacted, That the Board of Directors for the time being, shall be authorized to prescribe the terms of subscription, for such additional capital stock as may from time to time be required.
[Sidenote: Capital.]
[Sidenote: [Illegible Text]]
[Sidenote: [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text]]

SEC. III. And be it enacted, That for the original capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars, books of subscription shall be opened at Elijay, in Gilmer County, by the following Commissioners, who are hereby authorized and made competent to do all acts incident to the said office, to wit: Benjamin Johnston, Peter Patterson, Joseph Patterson, Beverly A. Freeman, Lorenzo Gudger, Robert [Illegible Text] Jasper Johnson, Williamson Forrester and Samuel Jones; and if any of said Commissioners should refuse to act, others in their places shall be appointed by the remaining Commissioners; and there shall be no more than seven Commissioners at the above named place; at any time after giving twenty days notice of the day and place in two or more public places in said County, shall open said books of subscription. And Andrew J. Hansell, David Irvin and William P. Young, Commissioners at Marietta, Georgia; and John Burk, Hawkins F. Price and William T. Wofford, Commissioners at Cassville, Georgia; David Knot, William M. Peoples and William H. Dabney, Commissioners at Calhoun, Georgia; and Basil H. Overby, James M. Calhoun and L. C. Simpson, Commissioners at Atlanta, Georgia; and Robert J. Cowart, Andrew H. Shuford and William P. Hammond, Commissioners at Canton, Georgia, shall open books of subscription at said several places, under the same rules and regulations as are provided in this Act for the Commissioners at Elijay, in Gilmer County, Georgia; and receive, from individuals, companies or corporations, subscriptions for any number of shares, not exceeding two hundred shares to any one individual, company or corporation, Banking Companies excepted; and no subscription shall be received and allowed unless there shall be paid the Commissioners at the time of subscribing the sum of five dollars on each share subscribed; for which the Commissioners shall give the subscriber a certificate, setting forth the number of shares taken by such subscriber, and amount per share paid thereon; and if after ten days the shares are not taken they may be subscribed

Page: 427

for without limiting the number of shares; and said books of subscription shall remain open for sixty days, or longer if necessary, at the discretion of the Commissioners, and when closed on the last day said Commissioners shall certify and sign to its being a correct list of said subscription, and thereupon make out a general list, setting forth the name of the subscribers, the number of shares taken by each subscriber, and the sum paid thereon, and if on summing up all the subscriptions the same shall appear to amount to the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, the said Company may be organized and go into operation; thereon and after the organization of the Company all future subscriptions for stock shall be by the Board of Directors of the Company; and the said Company shall at once proceed to the measures as hereinafter subscribed [prescribed] for the organization of the Company.
[Sidenote: Subscriptions.]
[Sidenote: Commissioners, [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] &c.]
[Sidenote: Shares taken, &c.]
[Sidenote: Books to remain open.]
[Sidenote: Other regulations.]

For the entire document follow this link:

http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=law&byte=28478547

Samuel Jones- Slave Owner, Farmer, Planter

It cannot be denied that our Great-Grandfather was a slave owner prior to the Civil War. The following census Slave Schedules have been found online. Even after the war he is quoted in one obscure document as stating that he believed in the Southern Cause and since he had a considerable amount of his assets invested in slaves, it is understandable that he had such sentiments, for reasons of wealth if for nothing else.

I do not believe a separate Slave Schedule for 1840 was created, at least I have no access to such online. If it does exist surely it would be available. Thus it is not known if Samuel Jones possessed any such property in 1840 but a few short years after arriving from Lumpkin County to the east of Ellijay. Sadly, property was one of the terms of the time to describe slave ownership. However by 1850 he had acquired five slaves as revealed in the 1850 census.

Slaves were enumerated separately and listed under their owners name. The schedule under Samuel’s name lists a mulatto couple, middle aged, and three younger males ranging in ages from 12 to 18. The younger boys, being black, obviously were not children of the mulatto couple. This was in the Ellijay area in Gilmer County, Georgia. After his wife Narcissa died in 1852 the man for some reason had decided to leave Gilmer County and relocated to the northwest of Ellijay some 50 miles, closer to Chattanooga, in Catoosa County, Georgia, very close to the southern Tennessee border. This of course placed him in the direct path of the Civil War fighting as the Federal Armies chose his region of Georgia as the route to invade south towards Atlanta. That has been documented in my previous effort explaining what is known of the comings and goings of the Jones family during the time leading up to, during, and after the Civil War.

1850 Census, Samuel Jones, Slave Schedule

Gilmer County, Georgia

The total number of slaves for Samuel Jones in the 1860 census reveals he is listed as owning six slaves ranging in age from 48 to 12, and but one female. It appears that Samuel had been buying and selling in the preceding ten years for the ages alone do not match the ages of the five listed in 1850. Apparently he had replaced all his 1850 slaves. By no means was Samuel a major slave owner for maybe 25-100 slaves or more was considered a major holding at the time. Most common farmers or plantation owners probably did not have any slaves. To be an owner required capital and that was not really the norm in the day in my understanding. Many farmers, like Samuel, the ones that probably worked the fields day in and day out along side their slaves really looked at slaves as a necessity in order to bring any profit at all to the land. Sadly, they were looked on probably as a modern farmer would look at a piece of mechanical farm equipment today. It is only assumed however that Samuel also worked the fields but he assumedly had an amount of acreage that probably required him to work to some extent.

SAMUEL JONES SLAVE SCHEDULE CATOSSA CO GA 1860

1860 Census, Samuel Jones, Slave Schedule

Catoosa County, Georgia

The average value of a slave in 1860 was about $500 and that depended on health, age, sex, and abilities of the individual slave. Samuel does give some hint to their value in his actual family census entry in the listing of his assets. That census reveals also that all his family had left home for it appears the other two members of his household were probably a caretaker and his wife employed by him. This gives hint that the caretaker possibly was the one directing the slaves or perhaps he was just considered a field hand as well. Samuel very well may not have been working alongside his slaves at the time but it is a mute point that can never be determined. His daughter Elizabeth was married and living with her husband and his extended family in Alabama, assumedly someplace in North Central Alabama, up until the war but sometime during the war, between 1862 and 1865, she was forced to flee Alabama with her children and sought refuge with her father in Georgia. That is another story in itself for she once again found herself in danger as the war commenced fighting in the very vicinity of her father’s home near the famous battle field of Chickamauga.

1860 Census, Samuel Jones Household,

Catoosa County, Georgia,

Near Chickamauga

1860 CENSUS WILLIS & AH JONES, SMITH CO TEXAS

1860 Census, Willis Jones Family,

Smith County, Texas,

Near Tyler

A.H. Jones in the Household, Attending School

In 1860 his son Alfred Hines was living with a brother, Willis and his family, in Smith County, Texas, very near Tyler in the eastern part of the state, and is listed in the 1860 census as a '”Student”. After war broke out he obviously returned to his Father’s home in Catoosa County, Georgia, and enlisted in the Confederate Cavalry in the small town of Dalton in the nearby county of Whitfield. Dalton would be an important area of battle later in the war when Sherman began his march south towards Atlanta. Just when our Grandfather departed for Texas and why he chose to continue his education in Texas in the first place is not really known but I do find it rather curious to consider. Regardless he headed back home to Georgia when the Confederate draft was about to begin in earnest.

Based on somewhat subjective formulas found on the web today, the total value of the Samuel’s holdings in today’s currency, is hard to determine. I don’t consider him to have ever been extremely wealthy, but probably comfortably well off. Perhaps his pre- Civil War holdings would amount to about $300, 000 today. The eventual loss of most everything, if not all he held when war broke out, as revealed in his 1870 census entry must have been devastating to the man, and to all those around him.

When looking at his story and that of his daughter Elizabeth during the war, and without knowing all the day to day happenings, it is easy to say that the surviving Jones family suffered greatly during and after the war. He died in Gordon County, Georgia in 1870, in or near the small town of Calhoun. Calhoun was some 30 direct miles to the southeast of the family home near Chickamauga. It is easy to imagine the ordeal that Samuel must have endured during the period for with his slaves obviously gone and his daughter and what appears to be her four young children in tow, one of which must have been near infancy, he attempted to keep himself and his wards out of harms way. Not knowing how and where they traveled in order to avoid the battles one can only speculate it had to have been a stressful situation for the community of Calhoun, where the man and his remaining family around him ended up was also directly along the path of the fighting. From day to day, it is quite possible, based on typical family accounts of the time, that as they moved away from the scenes of battle, they simply placed themselves in the path of the next ensuing battle. It must have been a terrible thing to have endured.

Do keep in mind that much of this is but speculation on my part. However, based on a several years of reading of Civil War history, the theory of what happened is well within the realm of possibility.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Georgia Legislature 1836- Appointment of Samuel Jones- Gilmer County Road Commissioner

As mentioned in a previous posting, a biography of sorts was created by some family historian sometime in the mid to late 1900s. Probably written by the unidentified shirt-tail relative that did much of the research that has survived on the internet. A brief excerpt from that biography mentions the appointment of Samuel Jones to a Road Commission to build a connecting road to the Federal Highway to enable other North Georgia Counties to access the Federal North-South route from Atlanta to Tennessee.

The paragraph reads:
“The legislation authorized the construction of a road from Dahlonega, by way of Elijay, to the Federal Road in Murray County near the Summer house. The act provided for three commissioners to lay the road out and complete its construction. Samuel Jones, Isaiah Clayton, both of Gilmer County and Richard Bearden of Lumpkin served on the Commission to build it.”

Recent access to the Georgia Archives online database has provided a copy of the very act of the legislature making the authorization for the road building. This was in 1836 some two years before Samuel was elected to the State Legislature for the Gilmer County area in 1838 and 1839. A downloaded copy of the act from the Archives follows. His name is mentioned in section 2.

http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=law&byte=16342387&lawcnt=143&filt=doc

Georgia Legislative Documents
Content of Act/Resolution

Act/Resolution 143 of 175

ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN MILLEDGEVILLE AT AN ANNUAL SESSION IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1836.

ACTS of the General Assembly of the STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1836.

ROADS.

1836 Vol. 1 -- Page: 243
Sequential Number: 143

Type: AN ACT,

Full Title: To appropriate a sum of money, and to lay out and put in good order, a road from Dahlonega, in Lumpkin county, by way of Elijay, in Gilmer county, and on from thence to the Federal Road in Murray county, where the Commissioners may deem most expedient, and to appoint Commissioners to carry the same into effect.

Sec. 1st. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and immediately after the passing of this act, the sum of ten thousand dollars, be appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of laying out and putting in good order, a road from Dahlonega in Lumpkin county, by way of Elijay, in Gilmer county, and on from thence to the Federal Road in Murray county, where the commissioners may deem expedient: Provided, the same is between Sumach creek and Coosawattee river.

Sec. 2d. And be it further enacted, That Michael Smith, and Richard Bearden, of the county of Lumpkin, and Samuel Jones and Joseph Clayton, of the county of Gilmer, and James McGee, of the county of Murray, be, and they are appointed Commissioners for said road, and they are hereby vested with full power and authority to contract for, and superintend the laying out and putting in good order, said road; and before they enter on the discharge of said duty, they and each of them shall severally enter into a bond with good and sufficient security, payable to the Governor for the time being, and his successors in office, in the sum of four thousand dollars each, for their, and each of their faithful performance, and discharge of their duty in contracting for said work, and for their, and each of their superintendence as aforesaid, in the application of the sum appropriated, or of such parts of the same as may severally come into their, or each of their possession, which said several bonds shall be taken and approved by the Justices of the Inferior Court, or majority of them, in the county in which the said Commissioners severally reside, to be by them transmitted to the Governor as aforesaid, and field in the Executive office: Provided, that no one Commissioner shall draw more than a proportionable part of the appropriation aforesaid, to the number of Commissioners aforesaid.

Sec. 3d. And be it further enacted, That upon the receipt of such bonds in conformity to the above and foregoing sections it shall be the duty of the Governor, to issue his warrants in favor of the Commissioners aforesaid, for the aforesaid sum of ten thousand dollars.

Sec. 4th. And be it further enacted, That if any of the aforesaid Commissioners shall refuse to serve, or execute such bond as provided for in this act, that the Justices of the Inferior Court, or a majority of them, in the county where such refusing Commissioner may reside, shall fill such vacancy by appointment, who shall give their bond and security as aforesaid.

Sec. 5th. And be it further enacted, That each Commissioner appointed and superintending as aforesaid, shall be entitled to compensation, at the rate of two dollars per day, for each and every day he shall be engaged in laying out and superintending the work in completion of the same: Provided, that no Commissioner shall receive pay for more than fifty days.

Sec. 6th. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said Commissioners or a majority of them, to report from time to time, to his Excellency the Governor, the state, condition, and progress of said work, and that said Road shall be completed within eighteen months from the passage of this act.

JOSEPH DAY,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,

ROBERT M. ECHOLS,
President of the Senate,

WILLIAM SCHLEY, Governor.
Approval Date: Assented to, Dec. 24, 1836.

Timelines Can Help Sort Out The Past

Several Timelines have come into play for me to use as a tool while strolling through our families past. Creating a timeline helps to keep facts and related dates in a pictorial format. Just organizing and entering the data, combing over various pieces of information to make sure all is included really initiates a learning and memorizing process. This was a pleasant surprise to me personally. Gathering the facts and recording them helped immensely in attempting to commit much, but not all, of this to memory. To coin a phrase, it really is a process of “memory osmosis”.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Samuel Jones- Summary of Georgia Archives References

The State of Georgia along with several other States are committing many old archived documents to a digital format and uploading them to the Internet for public access. These efforts have opened many new avenues of research for some families attempting to document their past. The Jones family is no exception for a few references of the patriarch, Samuel Jones, 1796-1870, have been found rather easily online.

Due to some local prominence, especially in Gilmer County, Georgia, and Ellijay specifically, his name has found it’s way into some obscure references and recorded in the annals of the State. For what it’s worth, but primarily to partially fulfill some of my continuing interest in recording anything of interest regarding family, I have copied what has been found to date for my Great-Grandfather, Samuel Jones.

The first reference here is from what the Georgia Archives calls their Master Card Index file, with but brief mentions of names and topics. Just when and how this was compiled I have no idea but assumedly the indexes were extracted from some other data sources and of course do not elaborate very much at all. If time and energy allow perhaps another visit to the Archives in Atlanta might reveal more detailed information. But for now, this is what is available online. The following image is a copy of one of two card indexes found for the man.

There is little room for doubt that this is our ancestor. What I consider to be reliable family trees that have been found on the Internet refer to Samuel’s time spent as a judge of the inferior court of Gilmer County. Inferior Court assumedly meaning the lowest court, perhaps similar to a Justice of the Peace or even some municipal courts. An inferior court as I understand it requires no official recording of the proceedings and primarily only records the charges and the judgments, if that.

So in interpreting what is written here the significance of the roman numeral VII following the name escapes me for now. The data is obviously a compilation of of the periods that he was assigned the duty of judge. Without the aid of an official explanation perhaps the individual dates were dates of official duties or of a renewal of a swearing in process. Regardless, the entries cover a period of several years beginning in March of 1836 through perhaps December of 1855, a period of some nine years. Further research in the Archives will probably clarify these dates to be an uninterrupted span of duty or perhaps individual short periods of assignment. Someone accessing our Family History many years past obviously did a considerable amount of research for some of the accounting of his activities found in his short biography online are now easily confirmed. That is always a good thing in my estimation for at times I truly wonder how reliable some of the sources really are. What I have personally found in the online Archives really adds to my feeling of the accuracy of what I consider my baseline of the family tree found some ten years ago.

The next Master Index file card cannot be easily verified, but based on dates, location and rank, specifically Captain Samuel Jones, reflected in many online family trees, I am rather confident that this is also our ancestor. Lumpkin county is the county where Samuel was a sheriff and was the location where the family began it’s Georgia history, most likely in or near the town of Dahlonega, after leaving South Carolina some 50 to 75 miles to the east.

During this period of our Countries history, and not only in the State of Georgia, Militia Service was compulsory. Men of good health and of the proper ages were well organized and trained to some level of capacity strictly from the necessity of protection from either Indians or marauders of any sort. They were the “Minute Men” of their time and the forerunner of our current National Guard units.

Dahlonega was the center of commerce during the period of the Georgia Gold Rush beginning in 1828 on what was Cherokee Indian land, and was described as a wild west area. Lumpkin County was formed from a portion of Habersham County in 1832 and Samuel Jones was elected the first sheriff of the county and served for two years or less. That information also passed down in other family trees has also been verified in History of Lumpkin County, For the First Hundred Years by Andrew Cain and published in 1932. He is listed in the appendix as the first sheriff and sworn in on March 9, 1833. The author relates that “Sheriff Samuel Jones stepped to the door and sang out “Oh yez, Oh yez, the Superior Court of Lumpkin County is now open”. This was contained in the authors description of the opening of the first court session in Lumpkin County in August of 1833, some eight months after it was formed in December of 1832.

The first seven of eleven children that Samuel and his wife Narcissa Tate spawned were born in Habersham and later Lumpkin Counties. Lumpkin County was carved out of a portion of Habersham County. This card index reveals that his time served in the Militia ended in 1835 suggesting he was not directly assigned in a military capacity to the expulsion of the Indians during the period of the “Trail of Tears” of 1838-1839. There is some vague reference that Samuel was appointed to sell assets of some Cherokee families and to forward the funds to Oklahoma to be given to the owners of the personal assets, but I am not sure that this responsibility was of a military capacity. This apparently occurred after he had moved his family some 30 miles further west in Georgia to Gilmer County, where he and his family first appear in the U.S. Census of 1840. The seventh child, Willis, was the first born there in 1837. Our Grandfather A.H. Jones was the last child born, in Ellijay, Gilmer County, in 1843. All this establishes the time of the move to Gilmer County between 1835 and 1837. In all likelihood Samuel was also a member of the Gilmer County Militia but that requires further research.

These are but the first of a small handful of what can be found of Samuel in the Georgia Archives. More will be posted as I collect them and ponder any of the questions that arise from them.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Martha Elizabeth Moulder Jones & Her Older Sister, Amanda Melvina Moulder Roark

A Photo Has Suprisingly Emerged…..Sadly Not What Has Been Hoped For

By occasionally examining genealogy web-pages for current postings I find more and more individuals interested in the Jones side of the family adding their family lines. Many are tracking back to the Tates and even parallel branches in the 16 to 1700 time period. Not quite as many individual contributors are concentrating on our Jones line of that period, which by the way is becoming a bit more clouded over time. There seems to be a second wife and more children attached to one Willis M. Jones, my generations Great-Great Grandfather, that not all contributors are validating in their data, as well as the place of his death, be it North Carolina or Tennessee. But that’s a story for another time and it is something that helps to occupy my time in attempting to sort out the differences.

But this posting involves a later generation, that of our Grandfather Alfred Hines Jones and specifically his Mother’s line, Martha Elizabeth Moulder, and her parents, Samuel Tennessee Moulder (1801-1888) and his wife Nancy Luster (1811-1899).

Denver Cemetery

Carroll County, Arkansas

The Resting Place of Many of the Moulder Family

Twenty miles to the northwest of HarrisonWhere our great grandparents, Samuel Tennessee Moulder and his wife Nancy Luster Are buried along with many succeeding generations of the Moulder family. County and family records record the name of the burial cemetery, but the grave markers have since been lost.

Don and I as well as Juanita and of course Chuck and Bernie share a distant and almost unknown grandmother. Martha Elizabeth Moulder. She is at rest in a remote Boone County Cemetery, some three or four miles to the west of Harrison, Arkansas. Of course she is not totally unknown, but we know so little of her in actuality. But she definitely is from a past that we may have trouble relating to for our real family lines were never really shared in depth with us as we grew up. A picture of her grave marker is shown here. I hope to someday have an additional marker placed before the current one rusts away in place.

Grave of

Martha Elizabeth Moulder

1850 - 1894

Denning Cemetery

Boone County, Arkansas

As mentioned the purpose of this post is to share some related information regarding our Grandmother, Martha, wife of Alfred Hines Jones, and the mother of our father Charles F. Jones Sr.

While browsing thru internet resources I have recently come across a real surprise to me personally. A picture, sadly not of our Grandmother Martha Elizabeth Moulder, but that of her older sister of two years, born in 1848, Amanda Melvina Moulder. Both these sisters were born in Tennessee prior to the family moving to the Harrison, Arkansas area. All the family of fifteen children were born in Tennessee prior to moving to Arkansas sometime in the 1860’s, perhaps early 1870 simply based on census data. Some had left home prior to the family’s migration west to Arkansas but at least half of the family were still with their parents in the 1870 census in Harrison. Our Grandmother Martha Elizabeth Moulder was one that came to Boone County and then on to neighboring Carroll County with her parents where she and her remaining siblings were raised.

The Jones families migrated to Arkansas from Georgia, one branch to the Conway area, the other two branches to the north of Conway to Harrison assumedly after the death of their Father Samuel Jones, and at about the same time the Moulder family arrived. Our Great-Grandfather died in 1870 in Gordon County Georgia, near Ellijay, the birthplace of our Grandfather A.H. Jones.

Shown here is a photo of what is our Grand Aunt, an older sister of our Grandmother Martha Elizabeth Moulder, Amanda Melvina Moulder. She was married to one Samuel Thomas Roark, in Arkansas in December of 1870 according to internet sources and they finished their lives in New Mexico and were buried in Tucumcari. I judge the photo to be taken in the 1880-1895 time period when Amanda was about 32 to 47 years old. No it certainly is not a picture of our Grandmother, but it might suffice for the moment as a hint of what our Grandmother may have looked like.

Amanda Melvina Moulder Roark

1848 – 1924

Probably taken about 1880 -1895

32-47 years of age

Sister of Martha Elizabeth Moulder

A correspondence with a great-granddaughter of Amanda Moulder that resides somewhere in California that posted the photo to the Internet has been started. She suggests that there are many more family photos that were passed on to her that very well might contain a view of our Grandmother Martha. I have no great expectations here but I do have hope and perhaps someday she just might be able to come forth with such a photo. After all, we do have a photo of our Grandfather A.H. Jones and it certainly would be fitting if by some chance we might also some day acquire a photo of our Grandmother. Wishful thinking actually but it remains to be seen.

If you remain a bit confused about your family lines at the moment a family tree still exists at

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxPVuWItV_l5MzAzOWMyZWYtNGNlZS00ZWU3LTg1ZDQtZGZkNzQyYWMwMDJl&hl=en

It has to be accessed via a permission list of e-mail addresses of family members. If you are unable to access the Family Tree let me know and I will add you to the list. It probably needs updating but for any immediate purposes it should provide you with an idea of just where you are positioned regarding this current discovery.

A small discovery but yet important for it does fit the overall puzzle of who, where and when we came from.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A Letter From the Past- Dad’s Recall of Family History

As far as I Know, Only One Letter From Dad Has Survived and We Have Bernie To Thank For That-

Charles F. Jones Sr.

Taken About the Time of His Marriage to

Mary Agnes McGinnis, in 1923

Nancy has inherited many family pictures that her Mother so neatly organized during her final years. Among some of these photos were some Jones and McGinnis family pictures as well. During my last visit to Oklahoma I scanned all these older family photos and I am attempting to organize them with names and dates when the occasional motivation occurs.

Bernie also saved a letter written by Dad in 1961, probably because Bernie may have been asking him about family history. He sat down and did his best but he was also 79 years old at the time which might account for some of the discrepancies appearing in his account. His Father had passed on some 39 years earlier so he was far removed from reliable sources. That is but one possibility, but he very well may have never known some of the details he attempted to explain. Most likely he was just going on vague recall of many family conversations during his lifetime.

I would never have been able to discover any of the family history had not the internet provided such rich resources for one to find family data. Had the opportunity not opened up in this day and age I would have been even more confused or lacking in facts than Dad was in 1961 when he attempted to at least record some things he knew of.

But in order to record what he did write I am posting a transcription of the pages where he did write out his known facts. I will annotate his words with what has been found since.

From pages 4 through 7 of the letter. The italics are his words:

My Father was born in Georgia near Atlanta. My grand Father was born in Wales. I don’t know when he came to the states that or how old he was. He had a large Plantation near Macon, Geo and quite a few slaves.

First off, if common sources claiming many of our distant ancestors are correct, Dad’s Grandfather, Samuel Jones, was born in 1796, in Pendleton, South Carolina, in the Northwest corner of the state. This was very near the North Georgia area where he and one of his brothers and many of the Tate family eventually settled.
I think Dad had his Grandfathers confused in this first portion. It certainly is true that the name is of Welsh origin, at least common knowledge would assume so. But from what can be found in current sources the actual ancestors that originally left Wales cannot be identified.

The oldest known birth date in the Jones line is for Dad’s 3rd Great-Grandfather, Edward Jones, born about 1701 in Gloucester County Virginia. All of the Jones line with known dates were born in North America.

Before 1701 we only have names without birth dates or places. That does not really mean that Dad was incorrect. Other data may very well surface some day that might prove his recall to be correct. After all, just how valid is anything that is available. I only give a credence value to the data that I have personally accessed and that isn’t all that much. But when one compares what is found to other sources it begins to become rather obvious just what data can be trusted.

Regarding the large plantation and slaves his Grandfather owned near Macon, well his memory is somewhat distorted here. True, his Grandfather was a plantation owner, the exact size of is unknown, and he did have slaves, a total of six in the 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the war. The location of the property was in Catoosa County, Georgia, in the very northwest corner of the State, just 10 miles south of the center of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Macon is some 175 miles to the southeast, between Atlanta and Savannah, from the Snow Hill location of his holdings as indicated in the pre-war census.

Father had three Brothers and four sisters. He was the youngest of them all.

Family Tree sources available on the internet reveals that his father actually had nine siblings, four sisters and five brothers. Not all internet sources agree with this total at the moment.

His bros names was Sam, John and Bill. His sisters I only remember one of their names Rebecca. Her husbands name was Simmons. They lived in Dallas, Tex when the civil war broke out.

Samuel Jones, Harrison, Arkansas

A.H. Jones and Brother, Samuel Jones

Taken in Harrison, probably sometime in the late 1870’s

Samuel, John and Bill are verifiable now after really studying Dad’s letter. John was born in 1819, but some family trees also show a George being born in the family that same year. This is rather doubtful at the moment. At least Dad did verify John making it easier to eliminate one of the two 1819 births. Twins ? Perhaps, but that remains to be seen. Another brother, or uncle of Dad’s, Thomas Jefferson Jones, shows up as born in 1832. Nothing else is known of him but further research may yet find him in later years.

The available online records for Samuel Jones to date reveal that two sons were named Willis, obviously in honor of Willis M. Jones, Dad’s Great Grandfather. One son named Willis was born in 1822 and the other a William Willis Jones was born in 1837. Some data suggests that the latter died during the Civil War. No records of him past the time of the Civil War have been found.

Any record of the first born Willis reflects his name only as Willis in two U.S. census records, both in Texas, in 1860 and 1870. This Willis based on age as revealed in the census would have been the son born in 1822. No middle name for this individual has surfaced to now. Just who the Bill that Dad refers to is not clear but perhaps Dad’s memory had faded and he had confused the two sons named Willis. Some records of the descendants of the Willis in Texas are beginning to surface on the internet.

Dad’s four aunts were Martha, Margaret, Elizabeth and Rebecca. Rebecca is somewhat verified by other internet data including later census entries as Rebecca Simmons living with her husband Amos Simmons in Parker, Texas in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
Dad did not mention his Aunt Elizabeth by name only that one sister went to Arkansas with others. This aunt of Dad’s lost her husband to disease in a Confederate Army camp early in the war. She and her two young children came to live with her Father, Samuel Jones, at that time and lived with him through the war and up until he died. His son Alfred Hines, my grandfather, also came to live with his sister and Father in Gordon County, Georgia after the war ended. Elizabeth has descendants tracking her family on the internet today. Kristin Ingram Johnson, someplace in Oregon, is from this line. Her data was the first discovered some ten years ago and it has been invaluable and I use her as my most reliable source.

Nothing regarding his Aunts Martha and Margaret has surfaced so far. Perhaps Dad’s recall of how many Aunts and Uncles he had is actually correct.

This particular census page finds Dad’s Father living with his brother Willis in Smith County, in East Texas, in June of 1860, some eleven months prior to his enlisting in Confederate Army in Georgia. Smith County is in the vicinity of Tyler, Texas to the East of Dallas. Dad states his father was going to college when the war started which is somewhat verified by the notation of student in his entry.
However he implies in his letter that his Father was living with his sister at the war’s beginning which really cannot be verified. More likely he was still with his brother some 100 miles to the south east of his sister’s home in Parker, Texas.

Dad was out there with them going to collage when war came. He went back and joined the army. He was not quite 18 years old when he went in.

Not to be too detailed here, but actually his Father had just turned 18 years old some 23 days before he enlisted on May 15, 1861. That is if the dates of his birth and enlistment are correct. The enlistment date very well may be inaccurate or purposely changed to disguise his possible actual enlistment as sometime before his 18th birthday. We will never know for certain and it is a mute point after all.

He stayed in until the war ended. His Father lost every thing the had. He had lots of gold that was taken away from. Of course the slaves were freed. Dads Mother died some time before the war began. Dad was in many Battles through Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia. When Sherman came through and the siege of Atlanta his army destroyed every thing in sight. The Battle at Atlanta lasted four or five months. The north won the Battle and went through to Savannah. The war didn’t last long after that.

I don’t know how long Grand Father lived after the war ended. Dad and uncle Sam his bro and one sister left Georgia and came to Ark. There were several families came together and settled near each other. We have many relations in the south. Dad had one sister that married a man by the name of Tate. They had a large family. He was a state Senator. Very well to do. My Mothers folks were named Moulder. They moved to Ark from Tenn. They were of German descent. They settled not far from where Father did. Dad was married twice. His first wife died when your uncle Sam was a Baby. Two sisters older than Sam Mary & Ester were their names.

It would take to long to tell the history of both families. That is Father and mothers and our family. I started this letter last Sunday and today is Wed…………………………..

Love to all,

Dad’s Grandfather Samuel lived until 1870 when he died in Gordon, County Georgia. Living with him until his death was Dad’s father Alfred H. and his Aunt Elizabeth Jones Steele. It seems that when Samuel died it provided the motivation for the remaining family to move on to Arkansas. Samuel is found in the 1870 census with very little property. It isn’t clear to me at this point if he had landholdings or if he was renting in 1870.

Elizabeth had apparently inherited property in the area of Conway, Arkansas through her husband Jefferson Steele where she settled with her children and farmed successfully until her death. She never re-married.