6/26/2006-Update: Received a copy of the death certificate for James Montgomery Jones and it shows
James Father's name listed as Calvin per Lucian Walter the son of James M Jones. This record was
recorded on 3/15/1935 which I give a high credence to the name in this document due to the fact of
closeness of family relationship. The 1850 Census could either be Calvin or Caltin, the 1880 Census has his name spelled Colton. I have to believe that the death certificate from 1935 to be more accurate
especially after reviewing the 1850 Census which I believe shows Calvin.Calvin Jones was born probably in Alabama around 1820, but possibly in South Carolina. One family source has his birth date listed as 2/12/1820 at Birmingham, AL. This is probably right. In the 1850 census, Calvin is listed as being born in Alabama and he said he was 29 years old. In 1860, Calvin said he was 39 and was born in Alabama. However, in 1880, he said he 63 and was born in South Carolina. I believe his early answers to when and where he was born are nearer correct than his 1880 answer. The census showed he could neither read nor write, so it was probably a simple matter to get confused.
Calvin married Mary Roberts. Mary was the daughter of Benjamin Roberts and Frances Searcy and the 1850 Census shows them on the same Census page. Mary's birth date is down in a family Bible as 6/8/1826. In 1850, she told the census taker in Neshoba County, Miss., she was twenty-two years old. In 1860, she said she was Thirty-four, and in 1880, Mary said she was only fifty. Calvin and Mary are said to have married in Meridian, Mississippi on 12/26/1846. The 1850 Marriage records for this county from 1845-1851 were destroyed by fire some years ago, so this date cannot be confirmed. There are no existing pictures of Calvin and Mary that I can find. Calvin is said to have been a big man, red faced and clean-shaven. Mary is said to have been short and have dark complexion. Calvin and his family are listed in the 1850 Census of Neshoba County, Mississippi, which is halfway in the middle of the state and near the Alabama border. In 1860, he and his family are listed in Newton County, Mississippi Census, with the post office being in Union MS. Upon checking a map, I found that Union is almost directly on the present day county line of these two counties making me believe that Calvin did not move, but rather the county line had varied.
The older children of Calvin all related to their various families that they lived near Jackson, Mississippi and did their shopping there. Calvin served as an overseer on the George's Plantation during the Civil War. Jim, one of the sons, has his place listed as Jacksborough, Mississippi. The state department of Archives in Jackson, Mississippi does not have a record of George's Plantation, and they say there is no existing community of Jacksborough. This does not mean they did not exist during the 1860's; however, I do think after the 1860 census was taken, Calvin moved his family near Jackson, Mississippi where he worked on the Plantation. Most of the plantations were in the delta country near the Mississippi River. Walter Jones, son of Jim Jones, remembers Calvin telling him stories about having to use bloodhounds to track down the runaway slaves and Susan Hallmark told her family stories about the cruelty done to slaves. Evidently Calvin was against slavery, because Susan told how he hated to return slaves to their masters. None of the children ever mentioned Calvin fighting in the Civil War, and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. does not have a service record for him.
When did Calvin move to Texas? I found William in the 1870 census in Freestone County. The birthdate of Sam the youngest child is said to be born 12/23/1869 in Navarro County, Texas. I believe that between the year of 1868, when Susan Jones Phelps was born and 1871, when Calvin purchased land in Freestone County, the family came to Texas. The 1880 census shows that Sam was only eight at that time, but of course the census is not always correct. Calvin ferried his family across the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi and in the crossing the river, one of the ferries sank and many possessions including the Family Bible were lost to the Old Man River.
In the deed books at Fairfield, Freestone County, TX there are three deeds for land bought by Calvin. The first is dated 9/23/1871; the second dated 3/19/1873 and was bought from S. White. The third was 4/25/1875, when Calvin bought land from G.W. Holder. The second and third deeds of land are near Burleson Hill, which is between Dew, TX and Lonely, TX near Teague, TX. I cannot find a record of the will of Calvin Jones. Since birth and death records were not recorded in Texas until 1903, there is not a record of death of either Calvin or Mary. At the time of Calvin's death, he has being cared for by his son Sam Jones, and Sam sent word of his death to the rest of the family. Walter and Arthur Jones, sons of Jim Jones, remember going to the funeral. They traveled by wagon and they said that Calton lived nine miles southeast of Mexia and was buried not far from Tehuacana. Both of these places are near Dew. The year must have been around 1890, as Walter remembers being about 12 and Arthur was eight. Calvin died of Pneumonia and Mary died about two months later.
When Calvin moved to Texas, the two oldest girls were already married and remained in Mississippi. I do not know the names of their husbands, so it would be impossible to trace them. Mrs. Mattie McAdams, daughter of Ben Jones, told me that Calvin had a child named Mann who died when small. The 1850 census lists a child named Dick, who is not mentioned again. Perhaps these two children were the same or Calvin may have lost two children instead of one. The 1880 census also lists a child W.C. age 18, born in Mississippi. Could this have been a child named William Calvin who died and is not remembered by any of the older members of the family?
