Lenoir County, NC - Bible of John W. Jones

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JOHN W. JONES, BIBLE

This family bible was posted in the Central Georgia Genealogical 
Society Quarterly Vol. 15, #4, pages 181-184, 1993     
There is no copyright on the quarterly.

The Family Bible of John W. JONES is in possession of Mr. & Mrs. Hansel 
Loyd RYLE of Montezuma, GA. Both Mr. & Mrs. RYLE were previously 
married to descendants of John W. JONES.

John W. JONES, was born 28 April 1828 in Duplin County, NC and came 
with his parents Edward & Mary JONES to Houston County, GA in 1834. His 
parents bought the Ezekiel H. BRYAN plantation on Big Indian Creek 
where it joins with Mossey Creek. A year later his father died. John W. 
and his brother Harrell Blackmore JONES, helped their mother work and 
clear the land until she sold the property in 1843. His mother then 
moved the family to the old Simon BATEMAN place, east of Perry, near 
Houston Lake. His mother, Mary, was frequently mentioned in minutes of 
the Sand Ridge Baptist Church before it was moved and merged with Smyma 
Baptist Church to become Houston Factory Baptist Church. The obituary 
of John W. JONES states he joined the Smyma Baptist Church in 1854 but 
there are no minutes for that church.

John W. and Susan Jane TULL, daughter of Arthur TULL and Nancy TUCKER, 
were married 6 January 1848 in Houston County and settled near the dam 
on Mosey Creek (now called Houston Lake). At the time of the 1850 
census, his next door neighbors on one side were Daniel W. PARR (who 
built the dam) and Ivey BROOKS (who married the widow Mary HADDOCK, 
whose late husband William, had a mill on the east side of the dam). 
Next door on the other side were Mathew HUDSON and John W. HARRINGTON.

John W. was a farmer but there are no records of any deeds. He was 
shown on the Tax Digest of Houston County for 1858 but with no taxable 
property. In fact son Jesse, 9 years old was shown eligible for Poor 
School Fund Relief at the John W. JOINER School. In late 1858 or 1859, 
John W. moved his wife and five children from Houston County to Madison 
County, Florida. He appears there in 1860 census, page 17, as a Planter 
with $1,000 in personal property.

In Houston County, Georgia Deed Book L pages 446-448, dated 2 Mar. 1862, 
we find that John W. JONES received $822.36 final settlement from 
his mother's estate. Following this is a statement where John W. JONES 
of Madison County, Florida appointed Bennett BARFIELD his Attorney to 
secure final settlement from E.W. GADDY, Executor.

An extensive three day search of Madison County Courthouse records 
shows that John W. JONES owned no property and made no mortgages. A 
listing in the Sheriff's Office indicated that he was Madison County 
Sheriff from 1865 through 1867 but there were many gaps before and 
after these dates. The Sheriff's Office stated the Florida Sheriff 
Association was trying to obtain a listing of all Sheriffs in each 
county and this was the most likely dates they could find. The Clerk of 
the Court revealed that following the Civil War their officials were 
appointed by the US Government until a free election could be held. 

Free elections begin in the fall of 1865 under close scrutiny of 
Federal authorities at the county level. Many of the leading 
confederate veterans were elected to congressional seats at State and 
Federal levels but in December 1865, Congress shut the door in their 
faces, and in some cases military officers were detailed to fill 
positions such as Acting Governor. We finally found where ten (10) 
Sheriff deeds were issued for unpaid taxes by John V JONES between 14 
Jan. 1867 and 3 July, 1868. The Clerk of the Court then stated that he 
was probably the first elected Sheriff after the appointment period.

The old County Jail when he was Sheriff, was serving as the County 
Library when we were doing the research in 1983. Following the Battle 
of Olustee, some 50 miles east of Madison, both blue and gray wounded 
were brought to Madison by train and the DAVIS Mansion was used as 
Hospital. A number from both sides who died during hospitalization are 
buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery. We later found that Marion Frances TULL, 
a brother to Susan Jane TULL (John W's wife) was buried there in 1880. 
He served in the Confederate Service from Houston County, GA.

We do not find John W. in the 1870 census for Florida or Georgia. But 
about this time he moved his family back to Houston County and settled 
temporarily on the old HUDSON place. Two of his daughters are mentioned 
in the minutes of the Houston Factory Baptist Church as having joined 
(1871) with letters from Madison County, Florida. By 1880, John W. and 
Susan were living near Spaulding in Macon County and were members of 
the Beulah Baptist Church. About 1882 the family, with exception of 
daughter Martha A. wife of Reubin Dan AVERY, moved to Navarro Count 
Texas. Susan did not adjust to Texas and became quite homesick, so 
about 1888, she and John W. moved back to Spaulding in Macon County. 
Susan died 11 May 1893 and her obituary was recorded in a Montezuma 
newspaper and in a resolution of the Beluah Baptist Church.

Harrell Blackmore JONES, the brother of John W. died 24 May 1897 in 
Dooly County, Georgia just below Henderson. His obituary in the Houston 
Home Journal states John W. was at his bed side when he died. In 1900, 
John W. JONES traveled back to Navarro County, Texas to visit some his 
children and suddenly died there. We believe he is buried in an 
unmarked grave in Grange Hall Cemetery, Navarro County next to his 
daughter Liza J. JONES, wife of Robert R. DILWORTH.

I descend from Jesse Arthur JONES, the oldest son of John W. and Susan 
Jane. He married and remained in Madison County, Florida and eventually 
moved to Marion County, Florida where he died in 1910. We had no 
difficulty with my descent from him but John W. was another problem. 
GG-Aunt Ruth FARNBACH, at age 91, living in McIntosh, Florida in 1983, 
told us she had seen her grandfather once as a little girl and he was 
from Texas. This information kept leading us to look for a John W. 
JONES in Texas after 1870. Aunt Ruth, at her age, didn't like to talk 
about deceased relatives, but could talk your head off about her 
grandchildren and great-grandchildren. So she had to be approached in a 
non-direct manner. One question, Did you and Uncle Errett have 
honeymoon? She replied, Yes, when we married in 1911, we got on the 
train and went to Montezuma, Georgia to visit Aunt Martha and Uncle Dan 
AVERY. Uncle Errett FARNBACH was the Railroad Station Master in 
McIntosh at the time. Then she mentioned another Uncle Durham Wimberly 
JONES. This thread of information took us through the census and 
courthouse records of Macon, Houston, Dooly, Crisp and Irwin Counties. 
Finally we found that R. D. AVERY and wife Martha E. JONES were charter 
members in 1910 of the Cedar Valley Baptist Church, located about 7 
miles southeast of Montezuma. While walking through the church 
cemetery, a week before Christmas in 1983, my husband found tombstones 
of Martha E. Jones AVERY, Durham Wimberly JONES, their spouses and 
other descendants. While writing down names and dates, a man in a 
pickup truck waved from the road and turned into the cemetery. He got 
out, came over, and asked if we needed to know more about those people. 

That conversation led to the fact that he and his wife, were both 
relatives by marriage to descendants of Durham Wimberly JONES. My 
husband was shocked and dumbfounded when the man stated he had the 
family bible of John W. JONES. My husband, within 30 minutes, was 
setting in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Hansel Loyd RYLE, of Montezuma 
looking at the Bible. They were kind enough to loan my husband (a 
complete stranger at this point) the crumbled and tattered bible 
(printed in 1885) to copy the birth, marriages, and death pages, along 
with obituaries and church resolutions. This was an act of providence, 
a great find and our thanks go to Mr. & Mm. Hansel Lloyd RYLE. We have 
since visited several counties and cemeteries in Texas tracing many of 
the fourteen children and descendants of John W. and Susan Jane. 

Their Bible and other records show the following:

Births:

John W. JONES, 28 Apr. 1828 (Duplin County, NC)
Susan Jane TULL, 6 Feb. 1833 (Lenoir County, NC)
Jessie Arthur JONES, 9 Sep. 1849 (Houston County, GA)
Laura A. JONES, 4 Mar. 1851 (Houston County, GA)
Martha E. (Mattie) JONES, 15 Jul. 1852 (Houston County, GA)
Daniel Edward JONES, 12 Sep. 1854 (Houston County, GA)
Frances M. JONES, 30 Jun. 1856 (Houston County, GA)
John W. JONES, Jr., 8 Nov. 1857 (Houston County, GA)
Liza J. JONES, 14 Jul. 1859 (Madison County, FL)
Nancy S. JONES, 27 Apr. 1862 (Madison County, FL)
Thomas Godlin JONES, 27 Feb. 1866 (Madison County, GA)
Mary V. JONES, 8 Jul. 1868 (Madison County, FL)
Bennett E. JONES, 14 July 1870 (FL/GA?)
Julia P. JONES, I Nov. 1872 (Houston County, GA)
Durham Wimberly JONES, 24 Feb. 1875 (Macon County, GA)
JosephA.JONES, l7 Nov. 1879 (Macon County, GA)

Marriages:

John W. JONES & Susan Jane TULL, 8 Jan. 1847 (Houston County, GA), by 
J.A. PRINGLE.
Jessie A. JONES & Lucy E. PHILLIPS, 12 Dec. 1867 (Madison County, GA)
Laura A. JONES & Amos TALLEY, Jun. 1883 (Navarro County, TX)
Martha E. JONES & Reuben Daniel AVERY, 14 Jan. 1875 (Macon County, GA)
John W. JONES, Jr. & Missouri Hattie GLOSIER, 9 Nov. 1876 (Macon 
County, GA)
Liza J. JONES & Robert R. DILWORTH, 10 Jul. 1883 (Navarro County, TX)
Nancy S. JONES & Joseph J. JONES, 30 Jan. 1879 (Macon County, GA) 
(Joseph J. JONES was her first cousin, son of Harrell Blackmore JONES)
Thomas G. JONES & CaIIey ASHBURN, 10 Jul. 1889 (Navarro County, TX)
Durham Wimberly JONES & Georgia Emma SIMPSON, 20 Dec. 1905 (Macon 
County, GA)

Deaths:

John W. JONES, 2 Jun. 1900 (Navarro County, TX)
Sarah Jane Tull JONES, 11 May 1893 (Macon County, GA)
Jesse Arthur JONES, Oct. 1910 (Marion County, FL)
Lucy Emily Phillips JONES, 4 May 1912 (Marion County, FL)
Laura A. Jones TaIIey KESTER, 28 Apr. 1892 (Navarro County, TX)
Martha E. Jones AVERY, 27  Feb. 1935 (Macon County, GA)
Reuben Daniel AVERY, 9  Feb. 1920 (Irwin County, GA)
Daniel Edward JONES, 31 Sep. 1867 (Madison County, FL)
Frances M. JONES, 25 Sep. 1856 (Houston County, GA)
John W. JONES, Jr., (after 1920, Coleman County, TX)
Missouri Hattie Glosier JONES, (after 1920, Coleman County, TX)
Liza J. Jones DILWORTH, 8 Nov. 1885 (Navarro County, TX)
Nancy S. JONES, 10 May 1880 (Macon County, GA)
Thomas Godlin JONES, 29 Jul. 1910 (True Cem., Young County, TX)
Sarah Calley Ashbum JONES, 15 Nov. 1950 (True Cem., Young County, TX)
Mary V. JONES, 5 Sep. 1870 (FL/GA?)
Bennett E. JONES, 21 Sep. 1873 (Macon County, GA)
Julia P. JONES, 26 Aug. 1873 (Macon County, GA)
Durham Wimberly JONES, 21 Aug. 1922 (Irwin County, GA)
Georgia Emma Simpson JONES, 2 Mar. 1944 (Macon County, GA)
Joseph A. JONES, 11 Aug. 1880 (Macon County, GA)
Miss Eliza S. ELLIS, 14 Nov. 1893 (Macon County, GA)

(Miss ELLIS listed in the Bible was not a relative. She gave a deed to 
R.D. AVERY in consideration that she be cared for during her natural 
life as a member of his family. We found her, her sister Heniretta and 
brother Stephen, all born 1851-3 in Alabama in the 1870 & 1880 Macon 
County censuses enumerated with Sarah KNIGHT and Alexander KNIGHT 
respectively.)

___________________________________________________________________

Copyright. All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm

This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by
Marion Jones Henry
___________________________________________________________________