Meet the Joneses

James Jones married Phoebe Mouser in 1850 Hempstead county Arkansas.  They first set up housekeeping near the Jones family in neighboring Lafayette county Arkansas, but ten years later (1860) they were settled near the Mouser family outside Rocky Mound, Hempstead county Arkansas.   James Jones and Phoebe Mouser are my paternal 3xgreat-grandparents.

In the 1860 Census of Hempstead county Arkansas, James Jones and his wife “Feeby” have four children in their household:  Mandy J (Amanda) Jones age 8, Martha Anne Jones age 6, Martin T Jones age 4, and Eliza A (Alice) Jones age 11 months.  Their youngest son, Isaac Jones was born after 1860. 

There is evidence that James Jones served in the Civil War.  He and his wife “Phobe” appear on a list of ‘Families of Indigent Soldiers in Hempstead County Arkansas, 1862’.  There are three Jones men appearing on a list for Company C of the 24^th Arkansas Infantry – Gabriel Jones, JH Jones, and W Jones.  I suspect, but am not certain, that JH Jones is our James  Jones (probably James Henry Jones), and the others are his two brothers Gabriel Jones and William Jones.  I hope to explore the Civil War Service of the Jones family in Arkansas in a later blog post. 

My question for now . . . Did James Jones die during service in the Civil War?  We have no further records for him following the 1862 listing of Families of Indigent Soldiers.  There is some disagreement over the date of birth for his youngest son, Isaac Jones.  Sources give his birth year in 1863 and 1866.  I have been unable to locate the Jones family in the 1870 census, but “Febey” Jones does appear as a widow in the 1880 census of DeRoan township, Hempstead county Arkansas. 

Phoebe Mouser Jones and her children; (front) Martin Jones, Phoebe  Jones, Amanda Jones Crosnoe*; (back) Martha Jones Stewart*, Isaac Jones, Alice Jones (Smith) Herndon; about 1895*; *identity uncertain

This wonderful photograph of Phoebe Mouser Jones and her five children appears in LaFrona Foshee Mouser’s 1978 book, “A Genealogy of the Mouser Ancestry, Including the Best and other families.”  A copy of this treasured photo was shared with my mother by Roy and LaVeta Mouser of Hope Arkansas.  I am not absolutely certain that I have labeled the children in the photo correctly.

For more details on James Jones, Phoebe Mouser, and their children, visit their individual pages at FamilyStories, pamgarrett.com.  Children:  Amanda Jane Jones (1852-1905) married John Malachi Crosnoe (1848-1918); Martha Ann Jones (1854-1942) married John M Stewart (1851-1930);  Martin Terrell Jones (1856-1932) married Susan Hooper (1854-1927);  Eliza Alice Jones (1859-1942) married first Richard Smith (b.1856) and married second Phillip Herndon (b.1868); Isaac Jones (1863-1918) married Hettie Herndon (b.1874).

Moving back in time:  Edith W Tanner 1902 (wife of Robert Hutchison) > Mary Lula Smith 1879 > Eliza Alice Jones 1859 > James Jones 1824 (married Phoebe Mouser)