Jones County, Georgia (1807-1907)

Through the library system of Inter-Library Loan (ILL) I was able to get the book, History of Jones County Georgia: For One Hundred Years, Specifically 1807 - 1907 by Carolyn White Williams.  I requested the book because my paternal great-grandparents, Turner WILLIAMS and Mary Jane BROWN, are from Jones County, Georgia and I wanted to get a feel for the area during the time they lived there.

There was information that I could further research, like:

" . . . the slaves in Jones County came in from the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland and were about four generations removed from the savage African Negro." page 32  (Okay the "savage" is a bit much but being four generations removed is very interesting.)

" . . . Until emancipation the negroes had no surnames, though often they used their owners.  After freedom they did, on most occasions adopt the family name of those with who they had lived."  page 68  (Is this why my last name is Williams)

 "The Negroes before the Civil War worshiped in the same buildings with the whites in the country churches" (page 66) and the list of "colored churches"  with organization dates, ministers, trustees and other information (pages 71, 72).


There are laughable statements such as  "In the North the slaves were never profitable, the negro was not suited for the cold climate.   The agricultural south suited him better as to climate and as to work. The work was manual, uncomplicated and routine; plowing, planting, cultivating and picking, from February to December.  He liked the South and was thriving in it." (page 100)  This particular statement had me laughing because (1) I have lived in the North all my life and so have both of my parents; and (2) it reminded me of a class in my freshman year of college.  I don't know what the topic of discussion was, but I clearly remember the philosophy class discussion in which a student said that Blacks didn't play hockey because their skin disintegrates in the cold.  This was in the northern winter cold when I had to take two buses to get to the college.  (I was the only Black person in the class and one of a handful in the entire college.)

There are also many statements about the loving "Mammy" and familial ties between the negroes and their white families.


But way in the back of the book were family names with brief genealogies that really caught my attention. "The first Williams came to America from Wales about 1620 to Culpepper, Co, Va.  John Williams and Mary Childers moved to Warren Co., Ga. in the late 1700s.  They had a family of four boys and six girls.  When Jones County was formed from Baldwin Co., these four boys were living near Blountsville. Samuel, Henry, John and Thomas Jefferson Williams.  . . . " (page 701).

WAIT A MINUTE!!!

(1)  There is a 13-year old Turner Williams (possibly my great-grandfather) listed in the 1870 Clinton, Georgia census on the same page as Thomas Jefferson Williams  --  and on the previous page is John Williams.
(2)  My European DNA is mainly from the Great Britain area.
(3)  A DNA cousin of European descent contacted me who is directly related to John and Thomas Williams.

Mary Lane Button -- I'm trying to do the math!

Looking at various documentation, my great grandmother, Mary LANE BUTTON , has a birth span from 1869 to 1875 (a six-year span).  The more I find, the more questions I have . . .

Below is a letter from 1935 that my paternal great-grandmother Mary BUTTON sent to the county clerk in Georgia requesting a copy of her marriage record to my great-grandfather Henry BUTTON.   In the letter she states that they were married December 24, 1883.  She needs proof of her age to get "old age assistance". Following that is the response from the clerk's office.

Mary LANE BUTTON inquiry for marriage license (24 Jan 1938)

Response to Mary LANE BUTTON from Deputy Clerk, Bibb County, Georgia (27 Jan 1938)

Marriage License of Henry Button (Burton) and Mary Lane
from

• Georgia, Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978

The 1910 U.S, census lists the number of years married as 26 years which would be 1883  --  another verification of their marriage year.  My great-grandmother's age is listed as 41 which would make her birth year 1869 and she would have been 14 years old when she was married.  She is living with her husband, Henry BUTTON and five daughters  --  Florence, Ida B, Annie M, Bessie, and Verna E.  There is also an 18-year old niece, Fanny GROSS.  Residence: Macon Ward 1, Bibb County, Georgia.

In the 1920 census  my great grandmother's age is listed as 44 --  three years older in ten years  --  making her birth year 1876.  At this time she is a widow living with her so-in-law and oldest daughter, William and Florence BURKETT and their infant son, Joesph.   Also in the household are Mary BUTTON's two young daughters, Bessie and Lizzie (Verna). Residence:  Macon Ward 1, Bibb, Georgia

On to the 1930 census, her age is listed as 59 making her birth year 1871.  She is living in Detroit Michigan with her son-in-law and daughter, Charles and Ida B. RUSSELL and their adopted daughter, Cauurn (?) Johnson.

Of course the last available census is from 1940.  Her age is listed as 72 making birth year 1868. She is living in Detroit with her son-in-law, Charles and two lodgers.  (Her daughter, Ida B. BUTTON RUSSELL, is deceased.)

Below is the New York State Death Certificate  for Mary BUTTON.  The year of her birth is given as 1875  --  which would have made my great grandmother 8 years old when she got married!  Informant was her daughter, my great-aunt Anna Mae DAVENPORT.  At this time she was living with her son-in-law and daughter, Richard and Anna Mae DAVENPORT in Buffalo New York.

In each of the census years, I know of every one who is listed as members of my great grandmother's family  --  initially husband & children.  Later as a widow, she lived with her adult children.

I have documentation through census records and city directories that my great grandmother, Mary LANE BUTTON lived with each of her daughters at various times and for some reason I find that very comforting.  I just wish I could find out her birth year!

I Really Stuck My Foot In It This Time!

So I went to Forest Lawn Cemetery yesterday as I do on a regular basis  --  it's one of my favorite places. When I got out of my car, I did a brief assessment of the best way to get to where I wanted because there were snow mounds and mud puddles all around.  As I stepped off the paved path to find who I was looking for I noticed a lot of new residents, what I didn't think about was the condition of the earth.  I walked around and suddenly my right leg went down into the earth and the more I tried to pull it out, the deeper it went. Got to the point where my leg was stuck in the ground up to my knee!  The worst part was that when I was finally able to pull it out, my boot stayed.  I live in the northeast, so I NEED my boot and as I mentioned there was both snow & mud puddles all around.  So without a second thought,  I'm on my hands & knees trying to get my boot.  Mission accomplished but my boot is ruined, of course.  Not to mention the fact that I'm wet and caked in mud.

In this "adventure" I've discovered that there is clearly something wrong with my thought process:  (1) While my leg was stuck in the ground, my first thought was that I wished someone was around to take my picture.  (2) As I walked muddy & wet to my car, I was trying to think how I get in without getting the interior of my new car dirty.  And then there's the initial assessment/thought process of deciding to walk around in the first place!   At any rate,  I LAUGHED all the way home and I'm still laughing every time I think about it.