Jones Family in Jefferson County, Tennessee

My Jefferson County, Tennessee Jones line will feature prominently on this blog. I'm starting off with a review of the family of my 4th-great grandfather on my Dad's side, Robert Thomas Jones. Robert was born in Jefferson County about 1806. It is unclear exactly where he died. He served in the Mexican-American War and was discharged from TN Company G, 5th Infantry on 20 July 1848 in Memphis, Tennessee. According to family lore passed down from Forrest Wayne Daniel, and from the Mexican War pension files, Robert Thomas Jones Sr fell off a boat and drowned in the Mississippi returning from the Mexican War on about 22 July 1848.

Robert married Elizabeth "Betsy" Thornhill in Jefferson County on 20 October 1824. They were married by their neighbor and pastor Duke Kimbrough, who was the pastor at Dumplin Baptist Church for 36 years.

[Source: Tennessee State Marriages: 1780-2002]

Robert and Elizabeth had at least the following children, all born in Jefferson County:

1.     Robert Thomas Jones Jr, born 1825, died on the way to the Mexican War, at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on 16 December 1847.

2.     Catherine Jones, born 1826. Catherine married Stephen Murry on 5 June 1845 in Jefferson County.

3.     Margaret Caroline Jones, born 1831, died 8 February 1894 in Virgin, Kansas. Caroline married Evan J. Newman on 15 February 1849 in Jefferson County. Caroline remarried (after either divorcing or annulling her marriage to Newman) on 25 July 1865 to Anderson Walker.

4.     Emeline Jones, born August 1832. Emeline married Joseph Lampkins on 13 March 1859 in Jefferson County.

5.     Adaline Jones, born 1835. Adaline married James W Cline on 27 March 1859. She married James H Miller on 12 October 1865.

6.     Joseph Thomas Jones, born 1837, died in Boone County, Indiana. Joseph married Mary K. Green on 25 February 1856 in Jefferson County. My Jones line is descended from Joseph Jones.

7.     Mary E. Jones, born 1839, died about 1900. Mary married Isaac N. Rankin in Jefferson County on 26 October 1859. She married Charles Jolly on 29 February 1876 in Hamblen County.

8.     Martin Jones, born June 1842, died January 1918 in Jefferson County. Martin married Mary F Cusey in 1862.

9.     Francis Marion Jones, born 1844, died in the Civil War.

10.  Sarah Melissa Jones, born 11 August 1846, died 2 July 1888 in Boone County, Indiana. Sarah Melissa married William Gilbert Daniel on 23 October 1862.

In the 1830 US Census in Jefferson County, Tennessee, Robert (written as “Robt”) Jones appears in the census (approximately 20 to 30 years old). He was living with a son under the age of five (Robert T Jones), a daughter under the age of five, a daughter between the ages of six and ten, and his wife, who was listed as being between the age of 20 and 30. Later census records of his children show Robert as being born in Tennessee.

The 1830 Census also shows Robert Jones living next to Sarah Thornhill, Elizabeth’s mother. Sarah Thornhill was listed as Head-of-Household, living with a son between the ages of six and ten, a son between the age of ten and fifteen, a daughter under the age of five, a daughter between the ages of six and ten, a daughter between the ages of fifteen and twenty. Sarah was between 40 and 50 years old in 1830, putting her date of birth somewhere between 1780-1790. 

In the 1840 US Census for Jefferson County, Tennessee, Robert Jones appears as living in the Northern Division of Jefferson County (later Hamblen County) with one son under the age of five, one son between the ages of six and ten, two daughters under the age of five, two daughters between the ages of six and ten, two daughters between the ages of ten and fifteen, and his wife Elizabeth, who is listed as being between the age of 30 and 40.

I will have a separate blog post about Robert's service in the Mexican War. By 1850, Elizabeth appears in the census as head of household. She is also in the 1860 and 1870 US Census in Jefferson County, Tennessee. Elizabeth died on 8 February 1879 in Jefferson County.

At least 5 of Robert and Elizabeth's surviving children and their families moved from Tennessee to Indiana in the late 1870s. I'll follow their journey to Indiana and points beyond in future posts. In addition, I'll take a look back at Elizabeth's journey from Culpeper, Virginia to Jefferson County, Tennessee.