The Family of Mr. & Mrs. Allen J. Jones
Allen J. Jones |
Malinda |
Allen J. Jones
Great Grandfather Allen J. Jones, was the twelfth child of William K. and Elizabeth Jones. He was born on the 18th of May 1851 in Madison County (now Lafayette County), Florida. At the age of twenty, Allen married his close neighbor and my soon to be great grandmother, Malinda Dees.
Great-Grandfather Allen it seems did not have the same passion for politics as did his father and grandfather. Instead, Great Grandfather Allen and his family worked their 160-
acre homesteaded farm until he was able to buy (or build) a small country store in Hatch Bend. Johnnie Jones (one of Allen's many grandsons) describes the store as typical of the times; cypress or yellow pine plank building. The store was situated about two feet off the ground, setting on log stumps placed upright. A porch ran along the front of the store, upon which sat several rocking chairs. Elsewhere, piled high, were feedbags. A long wooden stairway ran from the rivers edge, up the bank of the river to the store. This stairway was the means by which supplies were delivered to the store from the many riverboats that traveled the river. Although the store is no longer there, many of the landmarks remain to identify its original location.
One of Ora’s (daughter of Avner Jones) favorite stories passed on to her by her father Avner (Allen’s son), is that in the 1890’s, people from all parts of the county would travel many miles to Allen’s store riding in their wagons being pulled by mules or oxen. Since Allen’s home was on the road leading to the store, many of the travelers would stop there to water and feed their animals. For this reason, Ora’s father knew almost everyone in the county. According to Johnnie, Allen owned two stores and a gristmill in the community of Hatch bend before his death in 1901.
Records at the Lafayette County Court house reveal that Grandfather Allen died suddenly, seized and intestate (without a will). It is unknown how Great Grandmother Malinda died, but an illness apparently took her life also since she died at age fifty-one. They were both laid to rest only a mile or so up that dirt road in Hatch Bend Church Cemetery.
Malinda Dees
Great Grandmother Malinda Dees was born to Fleming and Sarah Ellis Dees on the 17th day of November 1853, in Suwannee County Florida. Malinda, as with many other children of that period, lost her father at an early age. The life expectancy of a white male born in the year 1850 was 38.3 years and as you may remember, several of our ancestors had lived out their lives by that age or they were very close to it.
On one of my many visits to the Suwannee Valley Genealogical Society in Live Oak, I located probate records that were dated 1861 telling of Malinda’s father having recently passed away and leaving seven heirs. Malinda at the time was a very young seven years old. This document was witnessed in the presence of Philip W. Cato (who later became Malinda’s court appointed guardian) and Joseph A. Ellis. Joseph, I believe, is the brother of Sarah.
Another court record I found revealed that in 1866, Malinda’s mother Sarah, began selling off all of the property belonging to the estate of her deceased husband Fleming to pay debts. On September 11 of 1866, Philip W. Cato (a close friend and neighbor of the family), was given guardianship of George W., Anna, Malinda, William, Julia, and Nathaniel. Right about now, you are probably wondering why Sarah, Malinda’s mother, was not given custody of the children. As backwards as it may seem to us this day and age, women’s rights were limited, if non-existent, throughout the 19th century. Reforms were finally obtained after the perseverance of a number of female/feminist activists. The Custody Act of 1839 gave mothers custody rights of children under 7 in cases of divorce or separation; the Married Women’s Property Acts (1870, 1882) gave married women the right to keep their own property or earnings; the Guardianship of Infants Act (1886) gave guardianship of children to mothers on the death of their husbands.
Malinda’s mother Sarah, later married Green Forson who remained the children’s stepfather until his death between 1867 and 1870.
At the age of 18, Malinda married Alan Jones of Lafayette County, Florida. Together they raised 10 children, Grandmother Ethel being the youngest.
Ora Peterson Jones, on one of my visits to her home in Mayo, told me an interesting story that was passed on to her by her father Avner Oscar Jones. She told of a small grave that was on the property where the old store operated by her grandfather Alan stood. It seems that a baby boy born to Malinda and Alan died soon after birth. Alan placed the baby in a box and buried him in the yard behind the store. I visited the site, but was unable to find the grave. The property was at the time owned by someone else and I did not want to trespass.
Malinda died in August of 1904 and now rest’s next to Alan in the Hatch Bend Cemetery, located only a mile or so from their home in the Southeastern portion of Lafayette County, Florida.
The Children of Allen and Malinda
Name: Allen J. Jones
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Birth: 18 May 1851 Madison County, Florida
Death: 23 Nov 1901 Lafayette Co. FL
Burial: Hatch Bend Cemetery, Lafayette County, Florida
Father: William Kenyon Jones (~1809-~1873)
Mother: Elizabeth Davis (1814-~1854)
Marriage: 7 Jan 1871 Lafayette Co. FL
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Spouse: Malinda Dees
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Birth: 17 Nov 1853 Suwannee County, Florida
Death: 28 Aug 1904 Lafayette Co. FL
Burial: Hatch Bend Cemetery, Lafayette County, Florida
Father: Flemming B. Dees (~1824-1861)
Mother: Sarah Ellis (1829->1900)
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Children
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1 M: James Theron Jones
Birth: 27 Dec 1871 Lafayette County, Florida
Death: 20 Jun 1918 Lafayette Co. FL
Spouse: Molley Langston
Marriage: 24 Jun 1894 Lafayette Co. FL
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2 M: S. Quincy Jones
Birth: 19 Mar 1873 Lafayette Co. FL
Death: 20 Mar 1906 Lafayette Co. FL
Spouse: Middie Cannon
Marriage: Location Unknown
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3 F: Clancy Ella Jones
Birth: abt 1874 Hatch Bend FL
Death: abt 1880 Hatch Bend FL
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4 M: Wary B. Jones
Birth: 4 Feb 1876 Lafayette Co. FL
Death: 27 Feb 1881 Lafayette Co. FL
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5 M: Avner Oscar Jones
Birth: 4 Feb 1878 New Troy FL
Death: 5 Sep 1929 Hatch Bend FL
Spouse: Viola G.Grinstead
Marriage: 11 Dec 1904 Alachua County, Florida
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6 M: Robert J. Jones
Birth: 27 Feb 1879 Lafayette Co. FL
Death: 4 Feb 1911 Lafayette Co. FL
Spouse: Mary O. Bass
Marriage: 29 Dec 1901 Lafayette Co. FL
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7 F: Sarah A. Jones
Birth: 20 Mar 1881 Lafayette Co. FL
Death: 19 Mar 1905 Lafayette Co. FL
Spouse: Joseph Bell
Marriage: 11 Dec 1898 Lafayette Co. FL
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8 M: Eugene A. Jones
Birth: 7 Sep 1890 Lafayette Co. FL
Death: 31 Oct 1893 Lafayette Co. FL
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9 M: Albert Zonder Jones
Birth: 26 Oct 1892 Hatch Bend FL
Death: 28 Mar 1984 Hatch Bend FL
Spouse: Annie Jane Todd
Marriage: 23 Dec 1923 Hague FL
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10 F: Ethel Lavinia Jones
Birth: 6 Apr 1895 New Troy, Lafayette County, Florida
Death: 14 Mar 1924 Haigue Station, Alachua County, Florida
Spouse: William Laurie Severance
Marriage: 11 Feb 1912 Mayo, Lafayette County, Florida
Spouse: George W. Hunter
Marriage: 7 Aug 1920 Alachua, Florida