A New Blog

I have begun a new blog called The JONES Surname. It is intended to focus on the JONES surname, its origins, history, and genealogy. For the history and genealogy folks it should help focus the discussion and provide more insight into the history of our surname and other Celtic surnames. I will continue to write my family's stories on this blog site for those who have enjoyed reading them.

Questions

Anyone with questions regarding the JONES surname or about doing genealogy please post. Would love to try and help.

My starting point

After successfully navigating the gauntlet of park benches that lined the walkway to the front of the Court House, you entered a long hallway. This was no ordinary hallway. The ceilings were 14-16 feet tall, the floor was marble, and you could barely make out the back exit being so far away. The hallway was lined with large white doors spaced irregularly down each side. Some doors had that milk-colored glass halfway at the top that would not let you see what was going on inside. Some doors had no glass at all, being all wood, but had one of those small, rectangular slanting windows that opened and closed by using a long metal rod that disappeared into the room behind. Some of the doors had large black letters, and some only had large black numbers painted on the outside window front. You sure had to know where you were going I thought! What struck me the most was that the hallway was empty of people. Occasionally you would pass someone leaving one door going to another, but compared to outside, this place was quiet.

Walking down the long, long, hallway, the last two doors on the left and right seemed always to be opened. Looking in to the right, you saw a large number of books stacked about the room in various metal contraptions that looked like flattened bookcases. Some stretched from floor to ceiling, and some stopped halfway up the wall. Some of these contraptions actually stood in the middle of the room with people walking around them. Each flattened metal shelf seem to contain a large book, often red in color, with large gold writing and numbers on the side. What mysteries did all these books contain?

The room on the left was somewhat different. It was lined floor to ceiling with narrow metal drawers. They were painted gray in color, each with a small rectangular label on the outside. In the room, there was one of those specialized ladders that had wheels and a platform at the top. This could be moved about and used to reach those drawers at the top. Inside each drawer were tightly packed, letter-sized records with names and dates written on the outside. What stories did these records tell?

Needless to say, a nine year old was easy to overlook. Most of those walking about must have thought I was certainly lost, or that I was waiting for an adult who was there checking some record. At any rate, I soon figured out that there were Deed Books, Marriage Records, Will Books, Tax Books, Military Records, Church Records, and Order Books. I was not sure what an Order Book was, but that understanding was yet to come.

Of course where do you start? I would take a book near the floor, which was much easier to manipulate, and open to a random page. The writing style was amazing to me...all the slanted, twisted letters with funny looking lines and squiggles. At places, it looked like some of my own doodling. Man I thought, I could get along with this guy.

It would take me several years before I could reach and lift the books higher up on the shelves. By that time it had become clear that an index was the secret key needed to open the stories and mysteries within all these books. Finding the index became my starting point.

Beach Front Property

The world would never be the same after Christopher returned to Spain in 1492, having sailed the ocean blue. The new world powers that had a lot of beach front property recognized the need to build and maintain ships of all kind---trading ships, fishing ships, transport ships, and especially war ships. Thus began the first arms race.

Spain had a leg up on the others since they were willing to fund an adventure that bucked the going dogma of the day, that the earth was flat. Of course, Christopher thought he was actually going to Japan, known as the "Far East", by going West! Imagine that, heading the opposite direction you wanted to go and expecting to end up there. The French, Dutch, English, Swedish, and Russians certainly did not want to be left out of the colonizing business and started their own explorations using their own ships.

The French managed to slide down the St. Lawrence and name a bunch of settlements soon to be called Canada. They also managed to slip by the Spanish and settle a place at the mouth of the Mississippi called "New Orleans" after the "Old Orleans". The Dutch and Swedish focused their settlements along the upper coast of North America called "New Amsterdam" after the "Old Amsterdam". The English, fighting the Spanish all the way, split the difference between St. Augustine to the south, and New Amsterdam in the north, calling their new land "Virginia" after their unmarried, virgin queen, Elizabeth. Of course the Russians went down the other side of the Continent that didn't exist before Christopher stumbled into it, opening the doors to Alaska and the upper Pacific coast.

Besides "Gold" and "Glory", a major factor in driving this arms race, was "God"! Each country had settled into a religious warfare that sought to control the hearts and minds of those participating in this colony-building enterprise. Spain had become the defender of the Catholic faith and was rewarded by Pope Alexander VI who issued two international decrees (Papal Bulls) that all land west of a line running north-south through the Azores and Cape Verde islands would belong to Spain. [Somewhere between the 41st and 44th meridians west of Greenwich.] The land yet to be discovered lying east of this line would, of course, belong to another Catholic country, Portugal. These decrees were issued the 3rd and 4th of May, 1493, at request of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.

The Protestants (English, Dutch, and some French) were left out in the cold, literally, since their only options were to explore northeast or northwest, freezing in the Arctic circle. Priests, ministers, pastors, elders, and all sorts of church leaders were involved in the planning and practice of this nation-building enterprise. This religious fervor would be a major driving force to many who were yet to come to these new lands. These forces continued to thrive even to the very building of our little town, Winchester, KY., Pop. 8,000.

lost forever

You entered the front of the Clark County Court House from Main Street at ground level. Walking down a long hallway, without going up or down any steps, you exited the back of the court house from the second floor. First floor, second floor, boy you sure could get turned around in here. Getting lost was never a big problem for me. However, one of my biggest problems was not getting side tracked coming into the courthouse from Main Street.

Starting from the curb, there was an eight to ten foot wide sidewalk which stretched across the front. As you approached the entrance to the court house, which was centered in the middle of the block, there began a series of park benches which lined each side of a narrowing walkway. You had to go up several groups of steps to get to the very heavy front doors. In doing this you passed a gambit of folks who occupied the park benches which lined the walkway. There were whittlers, checker players, farmers, tobacco chewers, talkers of all kinds, and very few if any women. Of course I had to stop and watch the whittlers and checker players, but I was always a little afraid of the tobacco expectorate, for the spitters seemed to manage to hit a shoe or two of anyone standing too close.

To me, the most amazing activity was to watch someone roll their own cigarette. This was a real art and often the men who practiced this art, sat alone to demonstrate before all their own special techniques.

It began almost always from a sitting position by lightly patting your left shirt pocket with your right hand. I often wondered why you did this, because you already knew that the tobacco pouch and cigarette rolling paper was there, and besides you had already done this dance hundreds of time before. I guessed that it must have been to loosen up the ground tobacco that had some time to settle in the specialized tobacco pouch. Then reaching in the left pocket with your right hand, you withdrew the tan colored tobacco pouch which was bound tightly at the top by a yellow string. Using both hands you had to open the tightly bound top to just the right size opening. You then placed the pouch on your right thigh and withdrew, using your left hand, if you were good enough, only one rectangular sheet of bright white rolling tobacco paper. Now you were never quite certain that you could only draw out one sheet so you needed both hands free in order to separate any sheets that had gotten stuck. [static electricity would always cause a problem] Now, the most amazing part was that you held the paper on its bottom between your thumb and middle finger while your first finger pressed lightly down from the top. This would created a paper trough to receive the tobacco. With little attention paid to the tobacco pouch, you would take it from its resting place on your right thigh, bring it to the perfectly level rolling paper, and begin to sprinkle the tobacco onto the top of the paper trough. Now how much tobacco that got sprinkle was of course your personal choice. You then put the tobacco pouch to your mouth drawing the yellow string back to its very tight position. Most would then place the tobacco pouch back on their right thigh. However, if you were really good, holding perfectly level the white tobacco paper, filled with its row of tobacco, you place the tobacco pouch back in your left shirt pocket. Now the most important part was drawing the outer edge of the tobacco paper to your tongue, licking down the inside edge, while keeping the tobacco from spilling out the lower edge. Almost all would use both hands to do this part of the dance, but a few could do this using only one hand. Finally the cigarette would come together and be placed to the lips. A match would be struck, and the dance would be over. What skill, dexterity, and art I thought. What a dance, now, lost forever.

second rate

The Clark County Court House was one of my favorite places to visit. It housed my families' records dating back to 1795 when Timothy Ewen (we pronounced it U-IN) was being taxed on 50 acres of land located on of all places, 4 mile creek! One thing I learned very quickly was that the words and spellings could vary remarkably even within the same record. In this "Land Book Second", he is listed as Timothy Euwin under the column "Owners Names". The next column was titled "County where lying" given as "Clarke". The next column was "water course" given as "4 mile". "Quantity of acres" followed showing "50". Then what followed were narrow columns for "first rate", "second rate", and "third rate" which I assumed referred to the quality of the land being taxed. The 50 acres of land that Timothy was being taxed was "second rate"! I laughed, we were considered second rate folks way back then. The last page of this record summarized the tax situation for Clark County in 1795. The summary stated:

Tax on 1249 Slaves

" 4958 Horses

" 16441 Cattle

" 31 Stud Horses

" 7 Oliances [assumed to be ordinary]

" 5 retail Stores

" 55,866 acres of 1st rate land

" --,-576 acres of 2nd [part damaged]

" 292,998 - Do- 3rd rate [Do used to mean ditto]

[an ordinary was a tavern or eating house serving regular meals]

So there you have it. The Clark County tax list of 1795! What were those two main events? Birth....Death. Well here is what happened between. Taxes.

A New River

While the Shawnee, Cherokee, and Iroquois were fighting over this land they all seemed to want to claim, the colony of Virginia was trying to find its way around. Taking less than 32 years, they had settled the coastal areas and were wondering what was beyond the mountains to the west. Exploration to the head waters of the rivers that flowed to the Ocean [called The Tidewater] had only shown other mountains to the west, and only rivers that flowed to the eastern Atlantic coast. The Virginia Assembly in June 1641 encouraged individuals to undertake the discovery of a new river or unknown land with a river that would flow to the west. To the explorer this would mean reaching the other side of the mountains and perhaps being the first to discover a waterway to the long sought after route to China. The Assembly allowed those who discovered such a river to have exclusive right to the discovery for fourteen years. Their heirs, executors or administrators or assigns could enjoy all profit whatsoever. Wow, what a deal! You only had to get there first.

The first to get there and record their accomplishment were Edward Bland, merchant; Abraham Wood, Captain; Sackford Brewster, gentleman; and Elias Pennant, gentleman. Writing August 27, 1650, they describe the "...firft River in New Brittaine, which runneth Weft; being 120. Mile South-west, between 35. & 37 degrees, (a pleafant Country,)..." Imagine the excitement that this discovery produced, offering fame and wealth to those who could explore and settle this "new river". Now, for a genealogist, imagine the excitement this produced when you realized that two of these folks were family members!

To those who know early Virginia history, they know that Abraham Wood was the founder of Fort Henry (1646); and he was the first to open many doors to these western mountains. He arrived in Virginia at the young age of 8, and was 10 years of age in 1623 when the "Musters of The Inhabitants In Virginia" were recorded. His second wife was Margaret Jones, a widow who already had some Jones boys---Abraham, Richard, Peter, and William. These Jones boys had a lot to do with the naming and settlement of Petersburg, Virginia. Now, Elias Pennant seemed to be one of the backers [money lenders who were usually other family members] and he carried the same Jones blood that my Jones family carried from Wales. Both the Pennant and Jones families were descendants of Tudor Trevor, the founder of many Welsh and English surnames. But, that's another story.