NOTE - The bulk of this bio is quoted from the book:
Benaiah Jones III - American Frontiersman by Ralph M. Powers, Jr.,
Only where you see brackets [ ] have I inserted additional or clarifying information. CatheaC
Chapter 3 - PAINESVILLE, OHIO YEARS - Sept 1808 to 1828 (Age 13 to 33)
Pg 9/10 - Benaiah and Jemima Jones II [Benaiah III’s parents] left their Berkshire County [Massachusetts] life for their second home in the wilderness during September 1808.
Benaiah III grew to manhood at his father’s side pioneering in Painesville [Ohio], having arrived at the age of 13 years in 1808 when the area was heavily wooded.
Certainly his father taught Benaiah III skills of carpentry, animal husbandry, agriculture and orchard cultivation as well as frugality and honesty.
In 1818, Benaiah Jones III married Lois Olds. [Benaiah’s sister, Caroline Jones had married Lois’ brother, James Olds a few years earlier.] At the time of their marriage Benaiah III was age 22 and Lois was age 27, which in itself was not a major age difference but it did leave Lois five years senior to her husband.
Pg 11 - Benaiah and Lois took up land “on the road to Champion” where Benaiah III built his house and likely cleared land to farm and possibly also practiced his trade of “joiner,” building barns and houses for others. During the first ten years of marriage, while at Painesville, five sons were born to them, each receiving ultra-classical names:
Croesus Benaiah, Leonidas Meltiades, Linnaeus Stanly, Rhoderick Dhu, and Claudius Cossus.
Chapter 4 – MICHIGAN TERRITORY YEARS 1828-1834 (Age 33 to 39)
Pg 13 - In 1828 Benaiah Jones III was living near Painesville with his wife of ten years, Lois Olds, and their five sons, she being pregnant with the sixth. Whether they were not satisfied with a life of improving living conditions or were attracted to fortunes to be made farther west is not known. Possibly Capt. Moses Allen, who had surveyed parts of the Chicago Trail from Detroit and in 1827 had settled west of Tecumseh, encouraged the Jones to cast their lot with Michigan Territory (M.T.). Certainly the lure of good lands at $100 for 80 acres and the opportunity of having their own “proprietorship-colony” prompted this couple to undertake a move to M.T. This was to be their third pioneering venture.
Pg 16 – Thus in the Spring of 1828 Benaiah & Lois (Olds) Jones III with their five sons took those possessions they deemed necessary and began the nearly 300-mile journey to M.T. by wagon....
They pushed on west about five miles to seek the hospitality and comfort of the Moses Allen family, who offered the use of their corn barn for a temporary shelter, as it was all they had…
Pg 18 - Lois Olds Jones made the Allen’s corn barn a home for five sons during June to October – a monumental task undoubtedly compounded by the rigors of the trip and her pregnancy. Benaiah and Croesus, the eldest at age eight, built a simple log house on the west bank of the river at “Jonesville.”
[Michigan Place Names - pg 295
JONESVILLE, Hillsdale County: Benaiah Jones, from Painesville, Ohio, land-looked here in 1828, with his brother, Edmund, bought the land in 1829, surveyed it in 1830, and platted the village named for him in 1831; the first platted village in the county and the first county seat..]
Pg 19 - Early in 1829 Benaiah was appointed postmaster of Jonesville and served about four years….
James Douglas Jones, the seventh son of Benaiah and Lois, was born in Jonesville in June of 1829, he being the first white child born in that town. He died in 1831 and is buried in the local cemetery. Benaiah promoted his “colony” by having the original village east of the river surveyed, laid out and conveyed in August of 1830. The location of the settlement and the steady influx of settlers caused him to commence the “Fayette House” or “Block House” on the northwest corner of present Water and Chi Streets. This was to be the second home in town for Benaiah and served as an inn and general meeting place until it burned in 1842….
Benaiah and Lois were operating the Fayette House and went further in debt to begin a stage coach operation 60 miles west to white Pigeon and 40 miles east to Tecumseh…..
Pg 20 - Also in 1831, Lewis Cass, governor of M.T. left to be secretary of war for Andrew Jackson. He was also in charge of “Indian Affairs” thus he worked to resettle Indian tribes to the benefit of white settlers.
Whereas the Indians of Mich. Ind. Ill. had signed treaties and accepted the white man’s settlement they could see that their lands would shortly be fenced and inhabited by white pioneers. An Indian chief, Black Hawk, came through M.T. in 1831 trying to inflame the Indian tribes to revolt but found little support. Black Hawk did lead Indians on the warpath in Illinois in early 1832 so that the militia of M.T. was called to help defend Chicago. On May 23, 1832, Benaiah Jones III received orders to mobilize and then by May 31st (his 37th birthday) one company from Hillsdale County and two companies from Branch County were on the trail to Chicago under command of Major Benaiah Jones III. Among the three companies were all the able-bodied men of the area, but Black Hawk was killed in battle so these companies returned from, Niles M.T., and were disbanded June 4th at Coldwater, M.T.
Pg 23 - On Nov. 10, 1832, the last child and only daughter of Benaiah and Lois (Olds) Jones III was born in Jonesville, receiving the name Lois Adelaide.
On the last evening of 1832 the very first ball was held at the Fayette House to celebrate the arrival of 1833.
Pg 24 - In 1834 Benaiah Jones III took Croesus Benaiah Jones, his thirteen-year-old son, and departed Michigan territory headed for “The Texas.”
Why did he leave all that he had labored so hard for six years to obtain in Jonesville, Michigan Territory – as well as leaving his wife and six children and his father and other relatives – never to return?
Apparently he took an assumed name en route, so maybe he considered himself a fugitive or possibly he legally was one. Whatever net worth he had attained he apparently did not take along because he was soon out of money.
Partial answers can be found in his letters enroute and in court records of 1834 and in family traditions that have passed down to the present…. Benaiah Jones III’s four letters en route tell “propelling incidents that may drive a fearless ambitious person to almost any extremity to support himself and withstand the wrongs frauds injuries and even no better than robberies committed by those who had aught to be his friends as well as foes.”
Family traditions say that money was missing from the operation of the post office while Benaiah Jones III was the Jonesville Postmaster. Further, that while Benaiah may not personally have taken the money he was responsible for its security, even if it was taken by an employee. Also, that his friends in town wanted Benaiah to stay and fight charges and prove his innocence, but that Benaiah decided that he had fought too long and too hard, so he departed the area instead of fighting further.
Court records show that Benaiah Jones III was indicted for embezzlement from the U.S. Mail and that upon a change in his plea from not guilty to guilty he was given a suspended sentence.
[NOTE - This newspaper article was not included in the book which tells of the incident that caused Benaiah to hastily move to Texas:]
National Gazette (Philadelphia PA), 24 Jan 1834, Fri, pg 2
Indictments have been presented at the present term of the United States Circuit Court, against Benaiah Jones, Post Master at Jonesville, M. T. [Michigan Territory] and also against Martin V. Withington, Post Master at LaSalle, Monroe county, M. T., charging the said Jones and Withington, severally, with embezzlement and larceny from the United States Mail. - Jones was arraigned on Monday last, and plead guilty. There are five indictments against him. - Detroit Courier.
Chapter 5: EN ROUTE TO TEXAS 1834-1837 (Age 39 to 42)
For reasons still under investigation Benaiah Jones III left Michigan Territory in 1834 with his eldest son, Croesus Benaiah Jones, age 13, headed for Texas, which was then in revolution with Mexico. Benaiah and Croesus were never again to see the M.T. lands where they had been the first settlers.
Pg 25 - Abigail Jones (Mrs. Jonathan Goldsmith) a sister of Benaiah Jones III, lived to the age of 100 years and resided in Painesville, Ohio over 75 years. Abigail was a prolific writer, poet and collector of historical family materials. Her records, copies of poems and letters received from the family were carefully preserved by Abigail and her descendants…. After the death of Abigail it is reported a daughter destroyed all items that might be an embarrassment to anyone; thus some valuable papers may now be lost.
But three letters to Abigail from Benaiah while he was en route from M.T. to Texas are preserved. The only other letter in the collection from Benaiah Jones III is of 1853 from Texas....
The tone of this letter of explanation is defensive and somewhat defiant. Possibly in 1830-34 Benaiah Jones III was a headstrong local entrepreneur standing in opposition to other power cliques, notably the Jacksonians. Benaiah’s personal, business and political reverses may have been contrived by a political clique which felt it could not control him so had to eliminate him. The letter also gives some hint that James Olds may have been involved, for he presented a problem to Benaiah and did assume many political offices vacated when Benaiah departed. James Olds became the second postmaster, was County Register of Deeds in 1834, Fayette Township Assessor and Fence Viewer in 1835 and platted the Olds Addition to Jonesville in Dec. 1835.
Chapter 6 - TEXAS YEARS 1837-1861 (Age 42 to 66)
Pg 33 - In 1838 Benaiah Jones III purchased 177 acres at the south east corner of the present junction of Field Store – Waller Road and Joseph Road. This land is among the partially forested areas, whereas only a few miles to the south are open, treeless prairie lands and to the north are densely wooded lands. This plot was to be the place of residence for Benaiah Jones III until his death in 1861.
By the time of the 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas on July 20, 1840, he was shown with 1,830 acres of land and 25 cattle, all located adjacent in Montgomery County, Texas. We wondered how Benaiah III could have owned 1,830 acres only 3 years after arriving and suspect that prices were very low on the undeveloped land and he may have borrowed some of the needed money. Also, he had worked for three years en route at his trade of carpentry and could have saved towards land costs through frugal conduct.
Pg 35 – No record of a divorce between Benaiah Jones and Lois Olds has been found, which probably was common practice because such legal actions were not required until sometime later. Possibly they were not legally divorced. Benaiah had left Lois and did not support her further as far as is known. Montgomery County, Texas court records show Benaiah Jones III (age 46) married Amanda Evans Hutchinson (age 23) on April 8, 1842. Amanda had a son named William Lawrence Hutchinson (age 1 years 3 months) at the time of this marriage. He was adopted by Benaiah and no information as to the father of William has been found.
[MY NOTE – The death certificate of William Hutchinson recorded his father’s name as Robert Hutchinson. CatheaC]
As to the Texas children of Benaiah and Amanda Jones, there were five and they lived at the homestead until the 1861 death of their father. They received classical or family names: Jemima Caroline born in 1843; Thomas Paine (called T.P.) born in 1845; Epicurus (called Eppie) born in 1847; Andrew Jackson Davis (called Davis) born in 1850/51 and Francis Jane (called Fanny) born in 1852/53. As Bill Hutchinson was only three years older than Caroline he fit right into the family circle.
Benaiah Jones III encouraged his Michigan children to join him in Texas and Leonidas with his family was the first to come. He arrived in 1850/51 and spent five years as a nearby neighbor. “Yankee” Jones sold son Leonidas 200 acres for $200 in 1853 during the time Leonidas served as collector for the Texas State Orphanage, traveling by horse to all counties of the state. Another Michigan son, Linnaeus Stanley Jones, at age 27 bought 200 acres of land from his father in 1851 and so lived as a neighbor also, Lois Adelaide Jones at age 19 accompanied her brother Leonidas to Texas in 1851. While in Grimes County, Texas, for two years Lois Adelaide met Daniel Gray, a planter from Missouri, and married him at the age of 21 on February 7, 1853, with Benaiah Jones III performing the ceremony in his capacity as justice of the peace. Daniel Gray died within a year, whereupon Lois Adelaide returned to Jonesville and a second marriage, living until 1901 in Michigan.
Of the other two sons of Benaiah & Lois in Michigan we understand that Claudius Cossus did not get to Texas but lived many years in Walworth, Wisconsin, where he died in 1906. V.L. Moore says that “Rhoderick Dhu did go to Texas and died there in 1892.” Benaiah says in his 1861 will that Leonidas, Rhoderick, Croesus and Linneaus have received their share but that Lois and Claudius in Michigan are to have $50 each. Five of the six northern children of Benaiah were well acquainted with Texas, so Benaiah was on good terms with his Michigan children even if he had left them.
Pg 40 - In Grimes County, Texas, in 1861, Benaiah Jones III was 66 years old, a resident of some 22 years, and was a large landowner with a young family. He had served as a justice of the peace in 1853, so was deeded responsible. His northern sympathies were solidly entrenched and most likely were loudly expounded. His letter of 1858 [Note: The author previously said 1853 letter] shows he had become an active follower of spiritualism and that he was firmly opposed to slavery and secession. His eldest child, Croesus, had died the year before and Benaiah appeared in court as administrator of the estate in April and May 1861. Quite likely Benaiah felt that the war he knew was coming and his Yankee sympathy posed a threat to him, for he made out his will on June 12, 1861, and two days after filed all the deeds to land he had bought many years before. Some feeling of the hate and fear that would soon evolve into the Civil War is seen in an item in an 1861 Galveston News: “A vigilance Committee composed of 24 leading citizens has been appointed in San Augustine County divided among the various beats. They are to keep a sharp lookout after all scamps and suspicious persons and hand them over to the civil authorities.” Another item noted that all those Texas citizens unable to support Confederate ideals would register as aliens.
BENAIAH JONES III’S DEATH
The exact circumstances of Benaiah Jones III’s death are not certain, though many versions do agree in parts. No court records have been found that specify the details…. There are at least four versions of the circumstances of his death:
1. V. L. Moore had gathered many stories from family members in the north, but never did succeed in gaining information from the south. Thus, her version resulted from information sent or told to family members in the north during or following the death and the ensuring disruptions of war.
“While in Texas, Mr. Jones became a convert to the principles of spiritualism and gave to that faith the same enthusiastic support given to any of his interests. When the Civil War broke out his sympathies were all with the north and he voiced his sympathies with his usual outspoken frankness. In this way he won the antagonism of his equally hotheaded southern neighbors, who were of the lawless class so often found in frontier settlements. Once too often he denounced the Confederacy. In the dead of night, a posse of his political foes came to his home, dragged him outside, and in the presence of his family, hanged him in front of his house. Thus, as a martyr to the Union Cause, did he expiate whatever wrong his earlier years had produced. He warned his murderers that they would surely suffer for their deed, that he would be with them in their eating and sleeping, in their coming in and going out, that he would ever be at their side by day and by night, never deserting them, that they would have no peace, that their consciences would never be free from the knowledge that he was present with each and every one of them at all times and in all places. His personality and the forceful manner in which he expressed himself made a profound impression on the mob, and it is said that several committed suicide and others met tragic and untimely deaths. Such stories never lose in being retold, however, and that may be an exaggerated account. Many of the family believed him to have been a martyr.”
2. Edna (Jones) McWilliams Version – Granddaughter of Benaiah Jones III through his son, A. J. Davis Jones.
“Texans were sensitive about property lines and about stray stock be it cattle or horses, and in 1861 much justice was dealt out by vigilantes composed of neighbors. Local law was required because the county and state officials were few and could not police all disturbances in those times of travel by horse. Apparently, there was a dispute over stray stock between Benaiah Jones III and a neighbor, Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah and Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah, Bill Hutchinson and Mr. Anderson a gunshot killed Mr. Anderson. Whereupon a committee of twelve vigilantes sentenced Benaiah Jones III to death by hanging. It was reported that Benaiah said that if they had to do this he needed time to get his affairs in order and that if they would give him two weeks he would do that and return to them. He told them he was a man of his word. This delay they did allow and at the agreed upon time and place Benaiah met his accusers and was hung.”
3. Other Texas Traditions of the Death of Benaiah.
Other versions of the death legends include the possibility that Bill Hutchinson was accused but that Benaiah took the penalty without admitting guilt. Another report from a person who knew Bill Hutchinson well claimed that Hutch’s lifelong beard was grown to cover the scars from the rope that was on his neck though not used to completion. The contention that Benaiah told his accusers time was needed to get his affairs in order was repeated to us several times and his assertion that he was known to be a “man of his word” and would return as promised is an ultimate statement of character.
4. Another local legend states that when (even as now) there were definite cliques that controlled local government. It was felt that probably Benaiah was outside the clique in control and that he could not be silenced and posed a threat to their power. Possibly those in control had schemed against Benaiah, but plans went amiss when Mr. Anderson was killed, which gave them the opportunity of doing away with Benaiah once and for all.
“History depends upon who writes it.”
Chapter 7. A GIANT OF A MAN – pg 45
Benaiah Jones III was a giant of the American Frontier. Not as famous as Daniel Boone in Kentucky nor as infamous as Aaron Burr on the Ohio River, he was more versatile and resilient than either. Across Western Massachusetts, New Connecticut, the Michigan Territory, Indiana, Louisiana, the Texas Republic; his audacious spirit ranged across half a continent.
He dared more, accomplished more and survived more than ten ordinary men. He is the Legend of Jonesville, still cloaked in mystery, an omnipresent human paradox to be ever pondered but never fully resolved.
Benaiah III has been the subject of penetrating research and rich analysis by Vivian Lyon Moore and Ralph M. Powers, Jr., the diligent Jones Family historians. Yet, his life defies assessment. No better attempt is known to us than the 1885 speech of Benaiah’s son, Leonidas, before the Pioneer Society in Michigan. Leonidas had been a boy of twelve when his father and brother left Jonesville for Texas. He later joined them there, as did other members of the family. With the warm intimacy of his experience – and the cool perspective of 24 years, which had elapsed since Benaiah’s death – Leonidas told the Pioneer Society:
“…for his redeeming traits of character and sterling qualities, I revere the name of my deceased father. That he made mistakes and had his faults, I am not here today to deny, but that he had integrity and a kindness of heart, none ever knew, only the business men, his immediate acquaintances, and personal friends. He gave up his life for his country as a Union son on southern soil, in the late war of the rebellion… His life has gone into history, and neither you nor I can alter or change the great or small truths of that history. We could wish some portions of it might have been different, but his name and memory will be handed down to posterity and will be spoken of in honorable circles in the North as in the South for years and generations to come…”
Those of us who have the honor to be descended from Benaiah Jones III are themselves stronger and more resourceful because he was how he was. It is our challenge to assure that the good he did lives after him. ROBERT J. COX, New York City, June 3, 1980.
----------------
1st MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III first married Lois Olds in 1818 in Painesville, Geauga Co Ohio.
They apparently divorced (?) although there are no records. Approximately in Jan 1834 Benaiah hastily moved from Jonesville, Michigan Territory to Texas leaving his wife and most of his children behind. (Most of his children joined him later in Texas)
Eight children were born to this union. Seven sons, and one daughter.
2nd MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III married next to Mrs. Amanda (Evans) Hutchinson on 8 April 1842, in Montgomery County, Republic of Texas. She had a son from her previous marriage to Mr. Hutchinson named William Lawrence "Bill Hutch" Hutchinson.
Five more children were born to this union:
Jemima Caroline Jones, b. 1843, m. Simon Pickens Taylor
*Thomas Paine Jones, b. about 1845, m. Elizabeth ?
Epicurus Jones, b. 1847, m. Martha Smith, had 5 children
Andrew Jackson Davis Jones, b. 1851
*Francis Jane "Fanny" Jones b. 1852/53, m. Walter Wilcox
[* Burials unknown at this time]
Benaiah Jones III - American Frontiersman by Ralph M. Powers, Jr.,
Only where you see brackets [ ] have I inserted additional or clarifying information. CatheaC
Chapter 3 - PAINESVILLE, OHIO YEARS - Sept 1808 to 1828 (Age 13 to 33)
Pg 9/10 - Benaiah and Jemima Jones II [Benaiah III’s parents] left their Berkshire County [Massachusetts] life for their second home in the wilderness during September 1808.
Benaiah III grew to manhood at his father’s side pioneering in Painesville [Ohio], having arrived at the age of 13 years in 1808 when the area was heavily wooded.
Certainly his father taught Benaiah III skills of carpentry, animal husbandry, agriculture and orchard cultivation as well as frugality and honesty.
In 1818, Benaiah Jones III married Lois Olds. [Benaiah’s sister, Caroline Jones had married Lois’ brother, James Olds a few years earlier.] At the time of their marriage Benaiah III was age 22 and Lois was age 27, which in itself was not a major age difference but it did leave Lois five years senior to her husband.
Pg 11 - Benaiah and Lois took up land “on the road to Champion” where Benaiah III built his house and likely cleared land to farm and possibly also practiced his trade of “joiner,” building barns and houses for others. During the first ten years of marriage, while at Painesville, five sons were born to them, each receiving ultra-classical names:
Croesus Benaiah, Leonidas Meltiades, Linnaeus Stanly, Rhoderick Dhu, and Claudius Cossus.
Chapter 4 – MICHIGAN TERRITORY YEARS 1828-1834 (Age 33 to 39)
Pg 13 - In 1828 Benaiah Jones III was living near Painesville with his wife of ten years, Lois Olds, and their five sons, she being pregnant with the sixth. Whether they were not satisfied with a life of improving living conditions or were attracted to fortunes to be made farther west is not known. Possibly Capt. Moses Allen, who had surveyed parts of the Chicago Trail from Detroit and in 1827 had settled west of Tecumseh, encouraged the Jones to cast their lot with Michigan Territory (M.T.). Certainly the lure of good lands at $100 for 80 acres and the opportunity of having their own “proprietorship-colony” prompted this couple to undertake a move to M.T. This was to be their third pioneering venture.
Pg 16 – Thus in the Spring of 1828 Benaiah & Lois (Olds) Jones III with their five sons took those possessions they deemed necessary and began the nearly 300-mile journey to M.T. by wagon....
They pushed on west about five miles to seek the hospitality and comfort of the Moses Allen family, who offered the use of their corn barn for a temporary shelter, as it was all they had…
Pg 18 - Lois Olds Jones made the Allen’s corn barn a home for five sons during June to October – a monumental task undoubtedly compounded by the rigors of the trip and her pregnancy. Benaiah and Croesus, the eldest at age eight, built a simple log house on the west bank of the river at “Jonesville.”
[Michigan Place Names - pg 295
JONESVILLE, Hillsdale County: Benaiah Jones, from Painesville, Ohio, land-looked here in 1828, with his brother, Edmund, bought the land in 1829, surveyed it in 1830, and platted the village named for him in 1831; the first platted village in the county and the first county seat..]
Pg 19 - Early in 1829 Benaiah was appointed postmaster of Jonesville and served about four years….
James Douglas Jones, the seventh son of Benaiah and Lois, was born in Jonesville in June of 1829, he being the first white child born in that town. He died in 1831 and is buried in the local cemetery. Benaiah promoted his “colony” by having the original village east of the river surveyed, laid out and conveyed in August of 1830. The location of the settlement and the steady influx of settlers caused him to commence the “Fayette House” or “Block House” on the northwest corner of present Water and Chi Streets. This was to be the second home in town for Benaiah and served as an inn and general meeting place until it burned in 1842….
Benaiah and Lois were operating the Fayette House and went further in debt to begin a stage coach operation 60 miles west to white Pigeon and 40 miles east to Tecumseh…..
Pg 20 - Also in 1831, Lewis Cass, governor of M.T. left to be secretary of war for Andrew Jackson. He was also in charge of “Indian Affairs” thus he worked to resettle Indian tribes to the benefit of white settlers.
Whereas the Indians of Mich. Ind. Ill. had signed treaties and accepted the white man’s settlement they could see that their lands would shortly be fenced and inhabited by white pioneers. An Indian chief, Black Hawk, came through M.T. in 1831 trying to inflame the Indian tribes to revolt but found little support. Black Hawk did lead Indians on the warpath in Illinois in early 1832 so that the militia of M.T. was called to help defend Chicago. On May 23, 1832, Benaiah Jones III received orders to mobilize and then by May 31st (his 37th birthday) one company from Hillsdale County and two companies from Branch County were on the trail to Chicago under command of Major Benaiah Jones III. Among the three companies were all the able-bodied men of the area, but Black Hawk was killed in battle so these companies returned from, Niles M.T., and were disbanded June 4th at Coldwater, M.T.
Pg 23 - On Nov. 10, 1832, the last child and only daughter of Benaiah and Lois (Olds) Jones III was born in Jonesville, receiving the name Lois Adelaide.
On the last evening of 1832 the very first ball was held at the Fayette House to celebrate the arrival of 1833.
Pg 24 - In 1834 Benaiah Jones III took Croesus Benaiah Jones, his thirteen-year-old son, and departed Michigan territory headed for “The Texas.”
Why did he leave all that he had labored so hard for six years to obtain in Jonesville, Michigan Territory – as well as leaving his wife and six children and his father and other relatives – never to return?
Apparently he took an assumed name en route, so maybe he considered himself a fugitive or possibly he legally was one. Whatever net worth he had attained he apparently did not take along because he was soon out of money.
Partial answers can be found in his letters enroute and in court records of 1834 and in family traditions that have passed down to the present…. Benaiah Jones III’s four letters en route tell “propelling incidents that may drive a fearless ambitious person to almost any extremity to support himself and withstand the wrongs frauds injuries and even no better than robberies committed by those who had aught to be his friends as well as foes.”
Family traditions say that money was missing from the operation of the post office while Benaiah Jones III was the Jonesville Postmaster. Further, that while Benaiah may not personally have taken the money he was responsible for its security, even if it was taken by an employee. Also, that his friends in town wanted Benaiah to stay and fight charges and prove his innocence, but that Benaiah decided that he had fought too long and too hard, so he departed the area instead of fighting further.
Court records show that Benaiah Jones III was indicted for embezzlement from the U.S. Mail and that upon a change in his plea from not guilty to guilty he was given a suspended sentence.
[NOTE - This newspaper article was not included in the book which tells of the incident that caused Benaiah to hastily move to Texas:]
National Gazette (Philadelphia PA), 24 Jan 1834, Fri, pg 2
Indictments have been presented at the present term of the United States Circuit Court, against Benaiah Jones, Post Master at Jonesville, M. T. [Michigan Territory] and also against Martin V. Withington, Post Master at LaSalle, Monroe county, M. T., charging the said Jones and Withington, severally, with embezzlement and larceny from the United States Mail. - Jones was arraigned on Monday last, and plead guilty. There are five indictments against him. - Detroit Courier.
Chapter 5: EN ROUTE TO TEXAS 1834-1837 (Age 39 to 42)
For reasons still under investigation Benaiah Jones III left Michigan Territory in 1834 with his eldest son, Croesus Benaiah Jones, age 13, headed for Texas, which was then in revolution with Mexico. Benaiah and Croesus were never again to see the M.T. lands where they had been the first settlers.
Pg 25 - Abigail Jones (Mrs. Jonathan Goldsmith) a sister of Benaiah Jones III, lived to the age of 100 years and resided in Painesville, Ohio over 75 years. Abigail was a prolific writer, poet and collector of historical family materials. Her records, copies of poems and letters received from the family were carefully preserved by Abigail and her descendants…. After the death of Abigail it is reported a daughter destroyed all items that might be an embarrassment to anyone; thus some valuable papers may now be lost.
But three letters to Abigail from Benaiah while he was en route from M.T. to Texas are preserved. The only other letter in the collection from Benaiah Jones III is of 1853 from Texas....
The tone of this letter of explanation is defensive and somewhat defiant. Possibly in 1830-34 Benaiah Jones III was a headstrong local entrepreneur standing in opposition to other power cliques, notably the Jacksonians. Benaiah’s personal, business and political reverses may have been contrived by a political clique which felt it could not control him so had to eliminate him. The letter also gives some hint that James Olds may have been involved, for he presented a problem to Benaiah and did assume many political offices vacated when Benaiah departed. James Olds became the second postmaster, was County Register of Deeds in 1834, Fayette Township Assessor and Fence Viewer in 1835 and platted the Olds Addition to Jonesville in Dec. 1835.
Chapter 6 - TEXAS YEARS 1837-1861 (Age 42 to 66)
Pg 33 - In 1838 Benaiah Jones III purchased 177 acres at the south east corner of the present junction of Field Store – Waller Road and Joseph Road. This land is among the partially forested areas, whereas only a few miles to the south are open, treeless prairie lands and to the north are densely wooded lands. This plot was to be the place of residence for Benaiah Jones III until his death in 1861.
By the time of the 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas on July 20, 1840, he was shown with 1,830 acres of land and 25 cattle, all located adjacent in Montgomery County, Texas. We wondered how Benaiah III could have owned 1,830 acres only 3 years after arriving and suspect that prices were very low on the undeveloped land and he may have borrowed some of the needed money. Also, he had worked for three years en route at his trade of carpentry and could have saved towards land costs through frugal conduct.
Pg 35 – No record of a divorce between Benaiah Jones and Lois Olds has been found, which probably was common practice because such legal actions were not required until sometime later. Possibly they were not legally divorced. Benaiah had left Lois and did not support her further as far as is known. Montgomery County, Texas court records show Benaiah Jones III (age 46) married Amanda Evans Hutchinson (age 23) on April 8, 1842. Amanda had a son named William Lawrence Hutchinson (age 1 years 3 months) at the time of this marriage. He was adopted by Benaiah and no information as to the father of William has been found.
[MY NOTE – The death certificate of William Hutchinson recorded his father’s name as Robert Hutchinson. CatheaC]
As to the Texas children of Benaiah and Amanda Jones, there were five and they lived at the homestead until the 1861 death of their father. They received classical or family names: Jemima Caroline born in 1843; Thomas Paine (called T.P.) born in 1845; Epicurus (called Eppie) born in 1847; Andrew Jackson Davis (called Davis) born in 1850/51 and Francis Jane (called Fanny) born in 1852/53. As Bill Hutchinson was only three years older than Caroline he fit right into the family circle.
Benaiah Jones III encouraged his Michigan children to join him in Texas and Leonidas with his family was the first to come. He arrived in 1850/51 and spent five years as a nearby neighbor. “Yankee” Jones sold son Leonidas 200 acres for $200 in 1853 during the time Leonidas served as collector for the Texas State Orphanage, traveling by horse to all counties of the state. Another Michigan son, Linnaeus Stanley Jones, at age 27 bought 200 acres of land from his father in 1851 and so lived as a neighbor also, Lois Adelaide Jones at age 19 accompanied her brother Leonidas to Texas in 1851. While in Grimes County, Texas, for two years Lois Adelaide met Daniel Gray, a planter from Missouri, and married him at the age of 21 on February 7, 1853, with Benaiah Jones III performing the ceremony in his capacity as justice of the peace. Daniel Gray died within a year, whereupon Lois Adelaide returned to Jonesville and a second marriage, living until 1901 in Michigan.
Of the other two sons of Benaiah & Lois in Michigan we understand that Claudius Cossus did not get to Texas but lived many years in Walworth, Wisconsin, where he died in 1906. V.L. Moore says that “Rhoderick Dhu did go to Texas and died there in 1892.” Benaiah says in his 1861 will that Leonidas, Rhoderick, Croesus and Linneaus have received their share but that Lois and Claudius in Michigan are to have $50 each. Five of the six northern children of Benaiah were well acquainted with Texas, so Benaiah was on good terms with his Michigan children even if he had left them.
Pg 40 - In Grimes County, Texas, in 1861, Benaiah Jones III was 66 years old, a resident of some 22 years, and was a large landowner with a young family. He had served as a justice of the peace in 1853, so was deeded responsible. His northern sympathies were solidly entrenched and most likely were loudly expounded. His letter of 1858 [Note: The author previously said 1853 letter] shows he had become an active follower of spiritualism and that he was firmly opposed to slavery and secession. His eldest child, Croesus, had died the year before and Benaiah appeared in court as administrator of the estate in April and May 1861. Quite likely Benaiah felt that the war he knew was coming and his Yankee sympathy posed a threat to him, for he made out his will on June 12, 1861, and two days after filed all the deeds to land he had bought many years before. Some feeling of the hate and fear that would soon evolve into the Civil War is seen in an item in an 1861 Galveston News: “A vigilance Committee composed of 24 leading citizens has been appointed in San Augustine County divided among the various beats. They are to keep a sharp lookout after all scamps and suspicious persons and hand them over to the civil authorities.” Another item noted that all those Texas citizens unable to support Confederate ideals would register as aliens.
BENAIAH JONES III’S DEATH
The exact circumstances of Benaiah Jones III’s death are not certain, though many versions do agree in parts. No court records have been found that specify the details…. There are at least four versions of the circumstances of his death:
1. V. L. Moore had gathered many stories from family members in the north, but never did succeed in gaining information from the south. Thus, her version resulted from information sent or told to family members in the north during or following the death and the ensuring disruptions of war.
“While in Texas, Mr. Jones became a convert to the principles of spiritualism and gave to that faith the same enthusiastic support given to any of his interests. When the Civil War broke out his sympathies were all with the north and he voiced his sympathies with his usual outspoken frankness. In this way he won the antagonism of his equally hotheaded southern neighbors, who were of the lawless class so often found in frontier settlements. Once too often he denounced the Confederacy. In the dead of night, a posse of his political foes came to his home, dragged him outside, and in the presence of his family, hanged him in front of his house. Thus, as a martyr to the Union Cause, did he expiate whatever wrong his earlier years had produced. He warned his murderers that they would surely suffer for their deed, that he would be with them in their eating and sleeping, in their coming in and going out, that he would ever be at their side by day and by night, never deserting them, that they would have no peace, that their consciences would never be free from the knowledge that he was present with each and every one of them at all times and in all places. His personality and the forceful manner in which he expressed himself made a profound impression on the mob, and it is said that several committed suicide and others met tragic and untimely deaths. Such stories never lose in being retold, however, and that may be an exaggerated account. Many of the family believed him to have been a martyr.”
2. Edna (Jones) McWilliams Version – Granddaughter of Benaiah Jones III through his son, A. J. Davis Jones.
“Texans were sensitive about property lines and about stray stock be it cattle or horses, and in 1861 much justice was dealt out by vigilantes composed of neighbors. Local law was required because the county and state officials were few and could not police all disturbances in those times of travel by horse. Apparently, there was a dispute over stray stock between Benaiah Jones III and a neighbor, Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah and Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah, Bill Hutchinson and Mr. Anderson a gunshot killed Mr. Anderson. Whereupon a committee of twelve vigilantes sentenced Benaiah Jones III to death by hanging. It was reported that Benaiah said that if they had to do this he needed time to get his affairs in order and that if they would give him two weeks he would do that and return to them. He told them he was a man of his word. This delay they did allow and at the agreed upon time and place Benaiah met his accusers and was hung.”
3. Other Texas Traditions of the Death of Benaiah.
Other versions of the death legends include the possibility that Bill Hutchinson was accused but that Benaiah took the penalty without admitting guilt. Another report from a person who knew Bill Hutchinson well claimed that Hutch’s lifelong beard was grown to cover the scars from the rope that was on his neck though not used to completion. The contention that Benaiah told his accusers time was needed to get his affairs in order was repeated to us several times and his assertion that he was known to be a “man of his word” and would return as promised is an ultimate statement of character.
4. Another local legend states that when (even as now) there were definite cliques that controlled local government. It was felt that probably Benaiah was outside the clique in control and that he could not be silenced and posed a threat to their power. Possibly those in control had schemed against Benaiah, but plans went amiss when Mr. Anderson was killed, which gave them the opportunity of doing away with Benaiah once and for all.
“History depends upon who writes it.”
Chapter 7. A GIANT OF A MAN – pg 45
Benaiah Jones III was a giant of the American Frontier. Not as famous as Daniel Boone in Kentucky nor as infamous as Aaron Burr on the Ohio River, he was more versatile and resilient than either. Across Western Massachusetts, New Connecticut, the Michigan Territory, Indiana, Louisiana, the Texas Republic; his audacious spirit ranged across half a continent.
He dared more, accomplished more and survived more than ten ordinary men. He is the Legend of Jonesville, still cloaked in mystery, an omnipresent human paradox to be ever pondered but never fully resolved.
Benaiah III has been the subject of penetrating research and rich analysis by Vivian Lyon Moore and Ralph M. Powers, Jr., the diligent Jones Family historians. Yet, his life defies assessment. No better attempt is known to us than the 1885 speech of Benaiah’s son, Leonidas, before the Pioneer Society in Michigan. Leonidas had been a boy of twelve when his father and brother left Jonesville for Texas. He later joined them there, as did other members of the family. With the warm intimacy of his experience – and the cool perspective of 24 years, which had elapsed since Benaiah’s death – Leonidas told the Pioneer Society:
“…for his redeeming traits of character and sterling qualities, I revere the name of my deceased father. That he made mistakes and had his faults, I am not here today to deny, but that he had integrity and a kindness of heart, none ever knew, only the business men, his immediate acquaintances, and personal friends. He gave up his life for his country as a Union son on southern soil, in the late war of the rebellion… His life has gone into history, and neither you nor I can alter or change the great or small truths of that history. We could wish some portions of it might have been different, but his name and memory will be handed down to posterity and will be spoken of in honorable circles in the North as in the South for years and generations to come…”
Those of us who have the honor to be descended from Benaiah Jones III are themselves stronger and more resourceful because he was how he was. It is our challenge to assure that the good he did lives after him. ROBERT J. COX, New York City, June 3, 1980.
----------------
1st MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III first married Lois Olds in 1818 in Painesville, Geauga Co Ohio.
They apparently divorced (?) although there are no records. Approximately in Jan 1834 Benaiah hastily moved from Jonesville, Michigan Territory to Texas leaving his wife and most of his children behind. (Most of his children joined him later in Texas)
Eight children were born to this union. Seven sons, and one daughter.
2nd MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III married next to Mrs. Amanda (Evans) Hutchinson on 8 April 1842, in Montgomery County, Republic of Texas. She had a son from her previous marriage to Mr. Hutchinson named William Lawrence "Bill Hutch" Hutchinson.
Five more children were born to this union:
Jemima Caroline Jones, b. 1843, m. Simon Pickens Taylor
*Thomas Paine Jones, b. about 1845, m. Elizabeth ?
Epicurus Jones, b. 1847, m. Martha Smith, had 5 children
Andrew Jackson Davis Jones, b. 1851
*Francis Jane "Fanny" Jones b. 1852/53, m. Walter Wilcox
[* Burials unknown at this time]
NOTE - The bulk of this bio is quoted from the book:
Benaiah Jones III - American Frontiersman by Ralph M. Powers, Jr.,
Only where you see brackets [ ] have I inserted additional or clarifying information. CatheaC
Chapter 3 - PAINESVILLE, OHIO YEARS - Sept 1808 to 1828 (Age 13 to 33)
Pg 9/10 - Benaiah and Jemima Jones II [Benaiah III’s parents] left their Berkshire County [Massachusetts] life for their second home in the wilderness during September 1808.
Benaiah III grew to manhood at his father’s side pioneering in Painesville [Ohio], having arrived at the age of 13 years in 1808 when the area was heavily wooded.
Certainly his father taught Benaiah III skills of carpentry, animal husbandry, agriculture and orchard cultivation as well as frugality and honesty.
In 1818, Benaiah Jones III married Lois Olds. [Benaiah’s sister, Caroline Jones had married Lois’ brother, James Olds a few years earlier.] At the time of their marriage Benaiah III was age 22 and Lois was age 27, which in itself was not a major age difference but it did leave Lois five years senior to her husband.
Pg 11 - Benaiah and Lois took up land “on the road to Champion” where Benaiah III built his house and likely cleared land to farm and possibly also practiced his trade of “joiner,” building barns and houses for others. During the first ten years of marriage, while at Painesville, five sons were born to them, each receiving ultra-classical names:
Croesus Benaiah, Leonidas Meltiades, Linnaeus Stanly, Rhoderick Dhu, and Claudius Cossus.
Chapter 4 – MICHIGAN TERRITORY YEARS 1828-1834 (Age 33 to 39)
Pg 13 - In 1828 Benaiah Jones III was living near Painesville with his wife of ten years, Lois Olds, and their five sons, she being pregnant with the sixth. Whether they were not satisfied with a life of improving living conditions or were attracted to fortunes to be made farther west is not known. Possibly Capt. Moses Allen, who had surveyed parts of the Chicago Trail from Detroit and in 1827 had settled west of Tecumseh, encouraged the Jones to cast their lot with Michigan Territory (M.T.). Certainly the lure of good lands at $100 for 80 acres and the opportunity of having their own “proprietorship-colony” prompted this couple to undertake a move to M.T. This was to be their third pioneering venture.
Pg 16 – Thus in the Spring of 1828 Benaiah & Lois (Olds) Jones III with their five sons took those possessions they deemed necessary and began the nearly 300-mile journey to M.T. by wagon....
They pushed on west about five miles to seek the hospitality and comfort of the Moses Allen family, who offered the use of their corn barn for a temporary shelter, as it was all they had…
Pg 18 - Lois Olds Jones made the Allen’s corn barn a home for five sons during June to October – a monumental task undoubtedly compounded by the rigors of the trip and her pregnancy. Benaiah and Croesus, the eldest at age eight, built a simple log house on the west bank of the river at “Jonesville.”
[Michigan Place Names - pg 295
JONESVILLE, Hillsdale County: Benaiah Jones, from Painesville, Ohio, land-looked here in 1828, with his brother, Edmund, bought the land in 1829, surveyed it in 1830, and platted the village named for him in 1831; the first platted village in the county and the first county seat..]
Pg 19 - Early in 1829 Benaiah was appointed postmaster of Jonesville and served about four years….
James Douglas Jones, the seventh son of Benaiah and Lois, was born in Jonesville in June of 1829, he being the first white child born in that town. He died in 1831 and is buried in the local cemetery. Benaiah promoted his “colony” by having the original village east of the river surveyed, laid out and conveyed in August of 1830. The location of the settlement and the steady influx of settlers caused him to commence the “Fayette House” or “Block House” on the northwest corner of present Water and Chi Streets. This was to be the second home in town for Benaiah and served as an inn and general meeting place until it burned in 1842….
Benaiah and Lois were operating the Fayette House and went further in debt to begin a stage coach operation 60 miles west to white Pigeon and 40 miles east to Tecumseh…..
Pg 20 - Also in 1831, Lewis Cass, governor of M.T. left to be secretary of war for Andrew Jackson. He was also in charge of “Indian Affairs” thus he worked to resettle Indian tribes to the benefit of white settlers.
Whereas the Indians of Mich. Ind. Ill. had signed treaties and accepted the white man’s settlement they could see that their lands would shortly be fenced and inhabited by white pioneers. An Indian chief, Black Hawk, came through M.T. in 1831 trying to inflame the Indian tribes to revolt but found little support. Black Hawk did lead Indians on the warpath in Illinois in early 1832 so that the militia of M.T. was called to help defend Chicago. On May 23, 1832, Benaiah Jones III received orders to mobilize and then by May 31st (his 37th birthday) one company from Hillsdale County and two companies from Branch County were on the trail to Chicago under command of Major Benaiah Jones III. Among the three companies were all the able-bodied men of the area, but Black Hawk was killed in battle so these companies returned from, Niles M.T., and were disbanded June 4th at Coldwater, M.T.
Pg 23 - On Nov. 10, 1832, the last child and only daughter of Benaiah and Lois (Olds) Jones III was born in Jonesville, receiving the name Lois Adelaide.
On the last evening of 1832 the very first ball was held at the Fayette House to celebrate the arrival of 1833.
Pg 24 - In 1834 Benaiah Jones III took Croesus Benaiah Jones, his thirteen-year-old son, and departed Michigan territory headed for “The Texas.”
Why did he leave all that he had labored so hard for six years to obtain in Jonesville, Michigan Territory – as well as leaving his wife and six children and his father and other relatives – never to return?
Apparently he took an assumed name en route, so maybe he considered himself a fugitive or possibly he legally was one. Whatever net worth he had attained he apparently did not take along because he was soon out of money.
Partial answers can be found in his letters enroute and in court records of 1834 and in family traditions that have passed down to the present…. Benaiah Jones III’s four letters en route tell “propelling incidents that may drive a fearless ambitious person to almost any extremity to support himself and withstand the wrongs frauds injuries and even no better than robberies committed by those who had aught to be his friends as well as foes.”
Family traditions say that money was missing from the operation of the post office while Benaiah Jones III was the Jonesville Postmaster. Further, that while Benaiah may not personally have taken the money he was responsible for its security, even if it was taken by an employee. Also, that his friends in town wanted Benaiah to stay and fight charges and prove his innocence, but that Benaiah decided that he had fought too long and too hard, so he departed the area instead of fighting further.
Court records show that Benaiah Jones III was indicted for embezzlement from the U.S. Mail and that upon a change in his plea from not guilty to guilty he was given a suspended sentence.
[NOTE - This newspaper article was not included in the book which tells of the incident that caused Benaiah to hastily move to Texas:]
National Gazette (Philadelphia PA), 24 Jan 1834, Fri, pg 2
Indictments have been presented at the present term of the United States Circuit Court, against Benaiah Jones, Post Master at Jonesville, M. T. [Michigan Territory] and also against Martin V. Withington, Post Master at LaSalle, Monroe county, M. T., charging the said Jones and Withington, severally, with embezzlement and larceny from the United States Mail. - Jones was arraigned on Monday last, and plead guilty. There are five indictments against him. - Detroit Courier.
Chapter 5: EN ROUTE TO TEXAS 1834-1837 (Age 39 to 42)
For reasons still under investigation Benaiah Jones III left Michigan Territory in 1834 with his eldest son, Croesus Benaiah Jones, age 13, headed for Texas, which was then in revolution with Mexico. Benaiah and Croesus were never again to see the M.T. lands where they had been the first settlers.
Pg 25 - Abigail Jones (Mrs. Jonathan Goldsmith) a sister of Benaiah Jones III, lived to the age of 100 years and resided in Painesville, Ohio over 75 years. Abigail was a prolific writer, poet and collector of historical family materials. Her records, copies of poems and letters received from the family were carefully preserved by Abigail and her descendants…. After the death of Abigail it is reported a daughter destroyed all items that might be an embarrassment to anyone; thus some valuable papers may now be lost.
But three letters to Abigail from Benaiah while he was en route from M.T. to Texas are preserved. The only other letter in the collection from Benaiah Jones III is of 1853 from Texas....
The tone of this letter of explanation is defensive and somewhat defiant. Possibly in 1830-34 Benaiah Jones III was a headstrong local entrepreneur standing in opposition to other power cliques, notably the Jacksonians. Benaiah’s personal, business and political reverses may have been contrived by a political clique which felt it could not control him so had to eliminate him. The letter also gives some hint that James Olds may have been involved, for he presented a problem to Benaiah and did assume many political offices vacated when Benaiah departed. James Olds became the second postmaster, was County Register of Deeds in 1834, Fayette Township Assessor and Fence Viewer in 1835 and platted the Olds Addition to Jonesville in Dec. 1835.
Chapter 6 - TEXAS YEARS 1837-1861 (Age 42 to 66)
Pg 33 - In 1838 Benaiah Jones III purchased 177 acres at the south east corner of the present junction of Field Store – Waller Road and Joseph Road. This land is among the partially forested areas, whereas only a few miles to the south are open, treeless prairie lands and to the north are densely wooded lands. This plot was to be the place of residence for Benaiah Jones III until his death in 1861.
By the time of the 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas on July 20, 1840, he was shown with 1,830 acres of land and 25 cattle, all located adjacent in Montgomery County, Texas. We wondered how Benaiah III could have owned 1,830 acres only 3 years after arriving and suspect that prices were very low on the undeveloped land and he may have borrowed some of the needed money. Also, he had worked for three years en route at his trade of carpentry and could have saved towards land costs through frugal conduct.
Pg 35 – No record of a divorce between Benaiah Jones and Lois Olds has been found, which probably was common practice because such legal actions were not required until sometime later. Possibly they were not legally divorced. Benaiah had left Lois and did not support her further as far as is known. Montgomery County, Texas court records show Benaiah Jones III (age 46) married Amanda Evans Hutchinson (age 23) on April 8, 1842. Amanda had a son named William Lawrence Hutchinson (age 1 years 3 months) at the time of this marriage. He was adopted by Benaiah and no information as to the father of William has been found.
[MY NOTE – The death certificate of William Hutchinson recorded his father’s name as Robert Hutchinson. CatheaC]
As to the Texas children of Benaiah and Amanda Jones, there were five and they lived at the homestead until the 1861 death of their father. They received classical or family names: Jemima Caroline born in 1843; Thomas Paine (called T.P.) born in 1845; Epicurus (called Eppie) born in 1847; Andrew Jackson Davis (called Davis) born in 1850/51 and Francis Jane (called Fanny) born in 1852/53. As Bill Hutchinson was only three years older than Caroline he fit right into the family circle.
Benaiah Jones III encouraged his Michigan children to join him in Texas and Leonidas with his family was the first to come. He arrived in 1850/51 and spent five years as a nearby neighbor. “Yankee” Jones sold son Leonidas 200 acres for $200 in 1853 during the time Leonidas served as collector for the Texas State Orphanage, traveling by horse to all counties of the state. Another Michigan son, Linnaeus Stanley Jones, at age 27 bought 200 acres of land from his father in 1851 and so lived as a neighbor also, Lois Adelaide Jones at age 19 accompanied her brother Leonidas to Texas in 1851. While in Grimes County, Texas, for two years Lois Adelaide met Daniel Gray, a planter from Missouri, and married him at the age of 21 on February 7, 1853, with Benaiah Jones III performing the ceremony in his capacity as justice of the peace. Daniel Gray died within a year, whereupon Lois Adelaide returned to Jonesville and a second marriage, living until 1901 in Michigan.
Of the other two sons of Benaiah & Lois in Michigan we understand that Claudius Cossus did not get to Texas but lived many years in Walworth, Wisconsin, where he died in 1906. V.L. Moore says that “Rhoderick Dhu did go to Texas and died there in 1892.” Benaiah says in his 1861 will that Leonidas, Rhoderick, Croesus and Linneaus have received their share but that Lois and Claudius in Michigan are to have $50 each. Five of the six northern children of Benaiah were well acquainted with Texas, so Benaiah was on good terms with his Michigan children even if he had left them.
Pg 40 - In Grimes County, Texas, in 1861, Benaiah Jones III was 66 years old, a resident of some 22 years, and was a large landowner with a young family. He had served as a justice of the peace in 1853, so was deeded responsible. His northern sympathies were solidly entrenched and most likely were loudly expounded. His letter of 1858 [Note: The author previously said 1853 letter] shows he had become an active follower of spiritualism and that he was firmly opposed to slavery and secession. His eldest child, Croesus, had died the year before and Benaiah appeared in court as administrator of the estate in April and May 1861. Quite likely Benaiah felt that the war he knew was coming and his Yankee sympathy posed a threat to him, for he made out his will on June 12, 1861, and two days after filed all the deeds to land he had bought many years before. Some feeling of the hate and fear that would soon evolve into the Civil War is seen in an item in an 1861 Galveston News: “A vigilance Committee composed of 24 leading citizens has been appointed in San Augustine County divided among the various beats. They are to keep a sharp lookout after all scamps and suspicious persons and hand them over to the civil authorities.” Another item noted that all those Texas citizens unable to support Confederate ideals would register as aliens.
BENAIAH JONES III’S DEATH
The exact circumstances of Benaiah Jones III’s death are not certain, though many versions do agree in parts. No court records have been found that specify the details…. There are at least four versions of the circumstances of his death:
1. V. L. Moore had gathered many stories from family members in the north, but never did succeed in gaining information from the south. Thus, her version resulted from information sent or told to family members in the north during or following the death and the ensuring disruptions of war.
“While in Texas, Mr. Jones became a convert to the principles of spiritualism and gave to that faith the same enthusiastic support given to any of his interests. When the Civil War broke out his sympathies were all with the north and he voiced his sympathies with his usual outspoken frankness. In this way he won the antagonism of his equally hotheaded southern neighbors, who were of the lawless class so often found in frontier settlements. Once too often he denounced the Confederacy. In the dead of night, a posse of his political foes came to his home, dragged him outside, and in the presence of his family, hanged him in front of his house. Thus, as a martyr to the Union Cause, did he expiate whatever wrong his earlier years had produced. He warned his murderers that they would surely suffer for their deed, that he would be with them in their eating and sleeping, in their coming in and going out, that he would ever be at their side by day and by night, never deserting them, that they would have no peace, that their consciences would never be free from the knowledge that he was present with each and every one of them at all times and in all places. His personality and the forceful manner in which he expressed himself made a profound impression on the mob, and it is said that several committed suicide and others met tragic and untimely deaths. Such stories never lose in being retold, however, and that may be an exaggerated account. Many of the family believed him to have been a martyr.”
2. Edna (Jones) McWilliams Version – Granddaughter of Benaiah Jones III through his son, A. J. Davis Jones.
“Texans were sensitive about property lines and about stray stock be it cattle or horses, and in 1861 much justice was dealt out by vigilantes composed of neighbors. Local law was required because the county and state officials were few and could not police all disturbances in those times of travel by horse. Apparently, there was a dispute over stray stock between Benaiah Jones III and a neighbor, Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah and Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah, Bill Hutchinson and Mr. Anderson a gunshot killed Mr. Anderson. Whereupon a committee of twelve vigilantes sentenced Benaiah Jones III to death by hanging. It was reported that Benaiah said that if they had to do this he needed time to get his affairs in order and that if they would give him two weeks he would do that and return to them. He told them he was a man of his word. This delay they did allow and at the agreed upon time and place Benaiah met his accusers and was hung.”
3. Other Texas Traditions of the Death of Benaiah.
Other versions of the death legends include the possibility that Bill Hutchinson was accused but that Benaiah took the penalty without admitting guilt. Another report from a person who knew Bill Hutchinson well claimed that Hutch’s lifelong beard was grown to cover the scars from the rope that was on his neck though not used to completion. The contention that Benaiah told his accusers time was needed to get his affairs in order was repeated to us several times and his assertion that he was known to be a “man of his word” and would return as promised is an ultimate statement of character.
4. Another local legend states that when (even as now) there were definite cliques that controlled local government. It was felt that probably Benaiah was outside the clique in control and that he could not be silenced and posed a threat to their power. Possibly those in control had schemed against Benaiah, but plans went amiss when Mr. Anderson was killed, which gave them the opportunity of doing away with Benaiah once and for all.
“History depends upon who writes it.”
Chapter 7. A GIANT OF A MAN – pg 45
Benaiah Jones III was a giant of the American Frontier. Not as famous as Daniel Boone in Kentucky nor as infamous as Aaron Burr on the Ohio River, he was more versatile and resilient than either. Across Western Massachusetts, New Connecticut, the Michigan Territory, Indiana, Louisiana, the Texas Republic; his audacious spirit ranged across half a continent.
He dared more, accomplished more and survived more than ten ordinary men. He is the Legend of Jonesville, still cloaked in mystery, an omnipresent human paradox to be ever pondered but never fully resolved.
Benaiah III has been the subject of penetrating research and rich analysis by Vivian Lyon Moore and Ralph M. Powers, Jr., the diligent Jones Family historians. Yet, his life defies assessment. No better attempt is known to us than the 1885 speech of Benaiah’s son, Leonidas, before the Pioneer Society in Michigan. Leonidas had been a boy of twelve when his father and brother left Jonesville for Texas. He later joined them there, as did other members of the family. With the warm intimacy of his experience – and the cool perspective of 24 years, which had elapsed since Benaiah’s death – Leonidas told the Pioneer Society:
“…for his redeeming traits of character and sterling qualities, I revere the name of my deceased father. That he made mistakes and had his faults, I am not here today to deny, but that he had integrity and a kindness of heart, none ever knew, only the business men, his immediate acquaintances, and personal friends. He gave up his life for his country as a Union son on southern soil, in the late war of the rebellion… His life has gone into history, and neither you nor I can alter or change the great or small truths of that history. We could wish some portions of it might have been different, but his name and memory will be handed down to posterity and will be spoken of in honorable circles in the North as in the South for years and generations to come…”
Those of us who have the honor to be descended from Benaiah Jones III are themselves stronger and more resourceful because he was how he was. It is our challenge to assure that the good he did lives after him. ROBERT J. COX, New York City, June 3, 1980.
----------------
1st MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III first married Lois Olds in 1818 in Painesville, Geauga Co Ohio.
They apparently divorced (?) although there are no records. Approximately in Jan 1834 Benaiah hastily moved from Jonesville, Michigan Territory to Texas leaving his wife and most of his children behind. (Most of his children joined him later in Texas)
Eight children were born to this union. Seven sons, and one daughter.
2nd MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III married next to Mrs. Amanda (Evans) Hutchinson on 8 April 1842, in Montgomery County, Republic of Texas. She had a son from her previous marriage to Mr. Hutchinson named William Lawrence "Bill Hutch" Hutchinson.
Five more children were born to this union:
Jemima Caroline Jones, b. 1843, m. Simon Pickens Taylor
*Thomas Paine Jones, b. about 1845, m. Elizabeth ?
Epicurus Jones, b. 1847, m. Martha Smith, had 5 children
Andrew Jackson Davis Jones, b. 1851
*Francis Jane "Fanny" Jones b. 1852/53, m. Walter Wilcox
[* Burials unknown at this time]
Benaiah Jones III - American Frontiersman by Ralph M. Powers, Jr.,
Only where you see brackets [ ] have I inserted additional or clarifying information. CatheaC
Chapter 3 - PAINESVILLE, OHIO YEARS - Sept 1808 to 1828 (Age 13 to 33)
Pg 9/10 - Benaiah and Jemima Jones II [Benaiah III’s parents] left their Berkshire County [Massachusetts] life for their second home in the wilderness during September 1808.
Benaiah III grew to manhood at his father’s side pioneering in Painesville [Ohio], having arrived at the age of 13 years in 1808 when the area was heavily wooded.
Certainly his father taught Benaiah III skills of carpentry, animal husbandry, agriculture and orchard cultivation as well as frugality and honesty.
In 1818, Benaiah Jones III married Lois Olds. [Benaiah’s sister, Caroline Jones had married Lois’ brother, James Olds a few years earlier.] At the time of their marriage Benaiah III was age 22 and Lois was age 27, which in itself was not a major age difference but it did leave Lois five years senior to her husband.
Pg 11 - Benaiah and Lois took up land “on the road to Champion” where Benaiah III built his house and likely cleared land to farm and possibly also practiced his trade of “joiner,” building barns and houses for others. During the first ten years of marriage, while at Painesville, five sons were born to them, each receiving ultra-classical names:
Croesus Benaiah, Leonidas Meltiades, Linnaeus Stanly, Rhoderick Dhu, and Claudius Cossus.
Chapter 4 – MICHIGAN TERRITORY YEARS 1828-1834 (Age 33 to 39)
Pg 13 - In 1828 Benaiah Jones III was living near Painesville with his wife of ten years, Lois Olds, and their five sons, she being pregnant with the sixth. Whether they were not satisfied with a life of improving living conditions or were attracted to fortunes to be made farther west is not known. Possibly Capt. Moses Allen, who had surveyed parts of the Chicago Trail from Detroit and in 1827 had settled west of Tecumseh, encouraged the Jones to cast their lot with Michigan Territory (M.T.). Certainly the lure of good lands at $100 for 80 acres and the opportunity of having their own “proprietorship-colony” prompted this couple to undertake a move to M.T. This was to be their third pioneering venture.
Pg 16 – Thus in the Spring of 1828 Benaiah & Lois (Olds) Jones III with their five sons took those possessions they deemed necessary and began the nearly 300-mile journey to M.T. by wagon....
They pushed on west about five miles to seek the hospitality and comfort of the Moses Allen family, who offered the use of their corn barn for a temporary shelter, as it was all they had…
Pg 18 - Lois Olds Jones made the Allen’s corn barn a home for five sons during June to October – a monumental task undoubtedly compounded by the rigors of the trip and her pregnancy. Benaiah and Croesus, the eldest at age eight, built a simple log house on the west bank of the river at “Jonesville.”
[Michigan Place Names - pg 295
JONESVILLE, Hillsdale County: Benaiah Jones, from Painesville, Ohio, land-looked here in 1828, with his brother, Edmund, bought the land in 1829, surveyed it in 1830, and platted the village named for him in 1831; the first platted village in the county and the first county seat..]
Pg 19 - Early in 1829 Benaiah was appointed postmaster of Jonesville and served about four years….
James Douglas Jones, the seventh son of Benaiah and Lois, was born in Jonesville in June of 1829, he being the first white child born in that town. He died in 1831 and is buried in the local cemetery. Benaiah promoted his “colony” by having the original village east of the river surveyed, laid out and conveyed in August of 1830. The location of the settlement and the steady influx of settlers caused him to commence the “Fayette House” or “Block House” on the northwest corner of present Water and Chi Streets. This was to be the second home in town for Benaiah and served as an inn and general meeting place until it burned in 1842….
Benaiah and Lois were operating the Fayette House and went further in debt to begin a stage coach operation 60 miles west to white Pigeon and 40 miles east to Tecumseh…..
Pg 20 - Also in 1831, Lewis Cass, governor of M.T. left to be secretary of war for Andrew Jackson. He was also in charge of “Indian Affairs” thus he worked to resettle Indian tribes to the benefit of white settlers.
Whereas the Indians of Mich. Ind. Ill. had signed treaties and accepted the white man’s settlement they could see that their lands would shortly be fenced and inhabited by white pioneers. An Indian chief, Black Hawk, came through M.T. in 1831 trying to inflame the Indian tribes to revolt but found little support. Black Hawk did lead Indians on the warpath in Illinois in early 1832 so that the militia of M.T. was called to help defend Chicago. On May 23, 1832, Benaiah Jones III received orders to mobilize and then by May 31st (his 37th birthday) one company from Hillsdale County and two companies from Branch County were on the trail to Chicago under command of Major Benaiah Jones III. Among the three companies were all the able-bodied men of the area, but Black Hawk was killed in battle so these companies returned from, Niles M.T., and were disbanded June 4th at Coldwater, M.T.
Pg 23 - On Nov. 10, 1832, the last child and only daughter of Benaiah and Lois (Olds) Jones III was born in Jonesville, receiving the name Lois Adelaide.
On the last evening of 1832 the very first ball was held at the Fayette House to celebrate the arrival of 1833.
Pg 24 - In 1834 Benaiah Jones III took Croesus Benaiah Jones, his thirteen-year-old son, and departed Michigan territory headed for “The Texas.”
Why did he leave all that he had labored so hard for six years to obtain in Jonesville, Michigan Territory – as well as leaving his wife and six children and his father and other relatives – never to return?
Apparently he took an assumed name en route, so maybe he considered himself a fugitive or possibly he legally was one. Whatever net worth he had attained he apparently did not take along because he was soon out of money.
Partial answers can be found in his letters enroute and in court records of 1834 and in family traditions that have passed down to the present…. Benaiah Jones III’s four letters en route tell “propelling incidents that may drive a fearless ambitious person to almost any extremity to support himself and withstand the wrongs frauds injuries and even no better than robberies committed by those who had aught to be his friends as well as foes.”
Family traditions say that money was missing from the operation of the post office while Benaiah Jones III was the Jonesville Postmaster. Further, that while Benaiah may not personally have taken the money he was responsible for its security, even if it was taken by an employee. Also, that his friends in town wanted Benaiah to stay and fight charges and prove his innocence, but that Benaiah decided that he had fought too long and too hard, so he departed the area instead of fighting further.
Court records show that Benaiah Jones III was indicted for embezzlement from the U.S. Mail and that upon a change in his plea from not guilty to guilty he was given a suspended sentence.
[NOTE - This newspaper article was not included in the book which tells of the incident that caused Benaiah to hastily move to Texas:]
National Gazette (Philadelphia PA), 24 Jan 1834, Fri, pg 2
Indictments have been presented at the present term of the United States Circuit Court, against Benaiah Jones, Post Master at Jonesville, M. T. [Michigan Territory] and also against Martin V. Withington, Post Master at LaSalle, Monroe county, M. T., charging the said Jones and Withington, severally, with embezzlement and larceny from the United States Mail. - Jones was arraigned on Monday last, and plead guilty. There are five indictments against him. - Detroit Courier.
Chapter 5: EN ROUTE TO TEXAS 1834-1837 (Age 39 to 42)
For reasons still under investigation Benaiah Jones III left Michigan Territory in 1834 with his eldest son, Croesus Benaiah Jones, age 13, headed for Texas, which was then in revolution with Mexico. Benaiah and Croesus were never again to see the M.T. lands where they had been the first settlers.
Pg 25 - Abigail Jones (Mrs. Jonathan Goldsmith) a sister of Benaiah Jones III, lived to the age of 100 years and resided in Painesville, Ohio over 75 years. Abigail was a prolific writer, poet and collector of historical family materials. Her records, copies of poems and letters received from the family were carefully preserved by Abigail and her descendants…. After the death of Abigail it is reported a daughter destroyed all items that might be an embarrassment to anyone; thus some valuable papers may now be lost.
But three letters to Abigail from Benaiah while he was en route from M.T. to Texas are preserved. The only other letter in the collection from Benaiah Jones III is of 1853 from Texas....
The tone of this letter of explanation is defensive and somewhat defiant. Possibly in 1830-34 Benaiah Jones III was a headstrong local entrepreneur standing in opposition to other power cliques, notably the Jacksonians. Benaiah’s personal, business and political reverses may have been contrived by a political clique which felt it could not control him so had to eliminate him. The letter also gives some hint that James Olds may have been involved, for he presented a problem to Benaiah and did assume many political offices vacated when Benaiah departed. James Olds became the second postmaster, was County Register of Deeds in 1834, Fayette Township Assessor and Fence Viewer in 1835 and platted the Olds Addition to Jonesville in Dec. 1835.
Chapter 6 - TEXAS YEARS 1837-1861 (Age 42 to 66)
Pg 33 - In 1838 Benaiah Jones III purchased 177 acres at the south east corner of the present junction of Field Store – Waller Road and Joseph Road. This land is among the partially forested areas, whereas only a few miles to the south are open, treeless prairie lands and to the north are densely wooded lands. This plot was to be the place of residence for Benaiah Jones III until his death in 1861.
By the time of the 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas on July 20, 1840, he was shown with 1,830 acres of land and 25 cattle, all located adjacent in Montgomery County, Texas. We wondered how Benaiah III could have owned 1,830 acres only 3 years after arriving and suspect that prices were very low on the undeveloped land and he may have borrowed some of the needed money. Also, he had worked for three years en route at his trade of carpentry and could have saved towards land costs through frugal conduct.
Pg 35 – No record of a divorce between Benaiah Jones and Lois Olds has been found, which probably was common practice because such legal actions were not required until sometime later. Possibly they were not legally divorced. Benaiah had left Lois and did not support her further as far as is known. Montgomery County, Texas court records show Benaiah Jones III (age 46) married Amanda Evans Hutchinson (age 23) on April 8, 1842. Amanda had a son named William Lawrence Hutchinson (age 1 years 3 months) at the time of this marriage. He was adopted by Benaiah and no information as to the father of William has been found.
[MY NOTE – The death certificate of William Hutchinson recorded his father’s name as Robert Hutchinson. CatheaC]
As to the Texas children of Benaiah and Amanda Jones, there were five and they lived at the homestead until the 1861 death of their father. They received classical or family names: Jemima Caroline born in 1843; Thomas Paine (called T.P.) born in 1845; Epicurus (called Eppie) born in 1847; Andrew Jackson Davis (called Davis) born in 1850/51 and Francis Jane (called Fanny) born in 1852/53. As Bill Hutchinson was only three years older than Caroline he fit right into the family circle.
Benaiah Jones III encouraged his Michigan children to join him in Texas and Leonidas with his family was the first to come. He arrived in 1850/51 and spent five years as a nearby neighbor. “Yankee” Jones sold son Leonidas 200 acres for $200 in 1853 during the time Leonidas served as collector for the Texas State Orphanage, traveling by horse to all counties of the state. Another Michigan son, Linnaeus Stanley Jones, at age 27 bought 200 acres of land from his father in 1851 and so lived as a neighbor also, Lois Adelaide Jones at age 19 accompanied her brother Leonidas to Texas in 1851. While in Grimes County, Texas, for two years Lois Adelaide met Daniel Gray, a planter from Missouri, and married him at the age of 21 on February 7, 1853, with Benaiah Jones III performing the ceremony in his capacity as justice of the peace. Daniel Gray died within a year, whereupon Lois Adelaide returned to Jonesville and a second marriage, living until 1901 in Michigan.
Of the other two sons of Benaiah & Lois in Michigan we understand that Claudius Cossus did not get to Texas but lived many years in Walworth, Wisconsin, where he died in 1906. V.L. Moore says that “Rhoderick Dhu did go to Texas and died there in 1892.” Benaiah says in his 1861 will that Leonidas, Rhoderick, Croesus and Linneaus have received their share but that Lois and Claudius in Michigan are to have $50 each. Five of the six northern children of Benaiah were well acquainted with Texas, so Benaiah was on good terms with his Michigan children even if he had left them.
Pg 40 - In Grimes County, Texas, in 1861, Benaiah Jones III was 66 years old, a resident of some 22 years, and was a large landowner with a young family. He had served as a justice of the peace in 1853, so was deeded responsible. His northern sympathies were solidly entrenched and most likely were loudly expounded. His letter of 1858 [Note: The author previously said 1853 letter] shows he had become an active follower of spiritualism and that he was firmly opposed to slavery and secession. His eldest child, Croesus, had died the year before and Benaiah appeared in court as administrator of the estate in April and May 1861. Quite likely Benaiah felt that the war he knew was coming and his Yankee sympathy posed a threat to him, for he made out his will on June 12, 1861, and two days after filed all the deeds to land he had bought many years before. Some feeling of the hate and fear that would soon evolve into the Civil War is seen in an item in an 1861 Galveston News: “A vigilance Committee composed of 24 leading citizens has been appointed in San Augustine County divided among the various beats. They are to keep a sharp lookout after all scamps and suspicious persons and hand them over to the civil authorities.” Another item noted that all those Texas citizens unable to support Confederate ideals would register as aliens.
BENAIAH JONES III’S DEATH
The exact circumstances of Benaiah Jones III’s death are not certain, though many versions do agree in parts. No court records have been found that specify the details…. There are at least four versions of the circumstances of his death:
1. V. L. Moore had gathered many stories from family members in the north, but never did succeed in gaining information from the south. Thus, her version resulted from information sent or told to family members in the north during or following the death and the ensuring disruptions of war.
“While in Texas, Mr. Jones became a convert to the principles of spiritualism and gave to that faith the same enthusiastic support given to any of his interests. When the Civil War broke out his sympathies were all with the north and he voiced his sympathies with his usual outspoken frankness. In this way he won the antagonism of his equally hotheaded southern neighbors, who were of the lawless class so often found in frontier settlements. Once too often he denounced the Confederacy. In the dead of night, a posse of his political foes came to his home, dragged him outside, and in the presence of his family, hanged him in front of his house. Thus, as a martyr to the Union Cause, did he expiate whatever wrong his earlier years had produced. He warned his murderers that they would surely suffer for their deed, that he would be with them in their eating and sleeping, in their coming in and going out, that he would ever be at their side by day and by night, never deserting them, that they would have no peace, that their consciences would never be free from the knowledge that he was present with each and every one of them at all times and in all places. His personality and the forceful manner in which he expressed himself made a profound impression on the mob, and it is said that several committed suicide and others met tragic and untimely deaths. Such stories never lose in being retold, however, and that may be an exaggerated account. Many of the family believed him to have been a martyr.”
2. Edna (Jones) McWilliams Version – Granddaughter of Benaiah Jones III through his son, A. J. Davis Jones.
“Texans were sensitive about property lines and about stray stock be it cattle or horses, and in 1861 much justice was dealt out by vigilantes composed of neighbors. Local law was required because the county and state officials were few and could not police all disturbances in those times of travel by horse. Apparently, there was a dispute over stray stock between Benaiah Jones III and a neighbor, Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah and Mr. Anderson, and during a confrontation between Benaiah, Bill Hutchinson and Mr. Anderson a gunshot killed Mr. Anderson. Whereupon a committee of twelve vigilantes sentenced Benaiah Jones III to death by hanging. It was reported that Benaiah said that if they had to do this he needed time to get his affairs in order and that if they would give him two weeks he would do that and return to them. He told them he was a man of his word. This delay they did allow and at the agreed upon time and place Benaiah met his accusers and was hung.”
3. Other Texas Traditions of the Death of Benaiah.
Other versions of the death legends include the possibility that Bill Hutchinson was accused but that Benaiah took the penalty without admitting guilt. Another report from a person who knew Bill Hutchinson well claimed that Hutch’s lifelong beard was grown to cover the scars from the rope that was on his neck though not used to completion. The contention that Benaiah told his accusers time was needed to get his affairs in order was repeated to us several times and his assertion that he was known to be a “man of his word” and would return as promised is an ultimate statement of character.
4. Another local legend states that when (even as now) there were definite cliques that controlled local government. It was felt that probably Benaiah was outside the clique in control and that he could not be silenced and posed a threat to their power. Possibly those in control had schemed against Benaiah, but plans went amiss when Mr. Anderson was killed, which gave them the opportunity of doing away with Benaiah once and for all.
“History depends upon who writes it.”
Chapter 7. A GIANT OF A MAN – pg 45
Benaiah Jones III was a giant of the American Frontier. Not as famous as Daniel Boone in Kentucky nor as infamous as Aaron Burr on the Ohio River, he was more versatile and resilient than either. Across Western Massachusetts, New Connecticut, the Michigan Territory, Indiana, Louisiana, the Texas Republic; his audacious spirit ranged across half a continent.
He dared more, accomplished more and survived more than ten ordinary men. He is the Legend of Jonesville, still cloaked in mystery, an omnipresent human paradox to be ever pondered but never fully resolved.
Benaiah III has been the subject of penetrating research and rich analysis by Vivian Lyon Moore and Ralph M. Powers, Jr., the diligent Jones Family historians. Yet, his life defies assessment. No better attempt is known to us than the 1885 speech of Benaiah’s son, Leonidas, before the Pioneer Society in Michigan. Leonidas had been a boy of twelve when his father and brother left Jonesville for Texas. He later joined them there, as did other members of the family. With the warm intimacy of his experience – and the cool perspective of 24 years, which had elapsed since Benaiah’s death – Leonidas told the Pioneer Society:
“…for his redeeming traits of character and sterling qualities, I revere the name of my deceased father. That he made mistakes and had his faults, I am not here today to deny, but that he had integrity and a kindness of heart, none ever knew, only the business men, his immediate acquaintances, and personal friends. He gave up his life for his country as a Union son on southern soil, in the late war of the rebellion… His life has gone into history, and neither you nor I can alter or change the great or small truths of that history. We could wish some portions of it might have been different, but his name and memory will be handed down to posterity and will be spoken of in honorable circles in the North as in the South for years and generations to come…”
Those of us who have the honor to be descended from Benaiah Jones III are themselves stronger and more resourceful because he was how he was. It is our challenge to assure that the good he did lives after him. ROBERT J. COX, New York City, June 3, 1980.
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1st MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III first married Lois Olds in 1818 in Painesville, Geauga Co Ohio.
They apparently divorced (?) although there are no records. Approximately in Jan 1834 Benaiah hastily moved from Jonesville, Michigan Territory to Texas leaving his wife and most of his children behind. (Most of his children joined him later in Texas)
Eight children were born to this union. Seven sons, and one daughter.
2nd MARRIAGE -
Benaiah Jones III married next to Mrs. Amanda (Evans) Hutchinson on 8 April 1842, in Montgomery County, Republic of Texas. She had a son from her previous marriage to Mr. Hutchinson named William Lawrence "Bill Hutch" Hutchinson.
Five more children were born to this union:
Jemima Caroline Jones, b. 1843, m. Simon Pickens Taylor
*Thomas Paine Jones, b. about 1845, m. Elizabeth ?
Epicurus Jones, b. 1847, m. Martha Smith, had 5 children
Andrew Jackson Davis Jones, b. 1851
*Francis Jane "Fanny" Jones b. 1852/53, m. Walter Wilcox
[* Burials unknown at this time]
Family Members
Siblings
Children
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Croesus Benaiah Jones
1820–1860
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Dr Leonidas Meltiades Jones
1822–1905
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Linnaeus Stanley Jones
1824–1896
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Rhoderick Dhu Jones
1825–1887
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Claudius Cossus Jones
1826–1906
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Cordus Mutus Jones
1828–1840
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James Douglas Jones
1830–1831
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Lois Adelaide Jones Clark
1832–1901
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Jemima Caroline Jones Taylor
1843–1905
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Epicurus Jones
1847–1866
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Andrew Jackson Davis Jones
1851–1935
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Frances "Fannie" Jones Wilcox
1852–1932
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