My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

* * * *

Hon. John T. Jones, State senator from Little Rock district, and a prominent planter of Pulaski County, was born in Albemarle County, Va., in 1842, and is a son of Thomas and Sarah E. (Bunch) Jones, of the same State. The parents remained in Virginia until John T. had reached the age of about five years, and then moved to Hinds County, Miss., where the father died in 1866, and the mother in 1871. The elder Jones was a successful and wealthy planter. None of his riches were inherited, but all made through his own industry and good management. He was a Whig in politics, and a strong Union man, but when the Civil War commenced he remained true to the soil that gave him birth, and cast his fortunes with the Southern States. He also fought in one of the early Indian wars, and, although his services in the last great struggle were with the Lost Cause, his name deserves a place in history for his bravery. He was a member of the A. F. & A. M., and a prominent man in both the Masonic order and in public life. Reuben Jones, his father, was also a soldier in some of the earlier wars of this country, as was also Benjamin Bunch, the maternal grandfather of John T. Jones. John T. was the second child in a family of four sons and two daughters, and was educated in the subscription schools of Mississippi. When the Civil War commenced he joined the Twelfth Mississippi Infantry, and served through the entire period in the army of Virginia, taking part in the battles of Bull Run, Seven Days’ Battles around Richmond, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, being captured at the latter place. He was taken prisoner to Washington, D. C., and confined in the old Capitol Prison for a while, and then transferred to Point Lookout, Md., and kept until November, 1864, when he was exchanged and returned home. Soon after this he joined Wirt Adams’ Company, in Gen. Forrest’s army, and went to Selma, Ala., where he was engaged in several hot skirmishes until the war was ended. After the surrender he returned home and took charge of his father’s farm, as his oldest brother had been killed in the Confederate army, and the father was then in feeble health. In 1869 he was married to Miss Martha E., a daughter of Lewis and Martha E. Bell, by whom he has had six children, two sons and two daughters yet living: Ida (wife of George Prothro), Thomas P., Minnie and Fleming. In 1872 Mr. Jones moved with his family to Pulaski County, and settled in Maumelle Township, where he purchased two farms of 400 and 160 acres, comprising some of the best land in Central Arkansas. Since 1885 he has resided in Little Rock, where he has bought a comfortable home, in order to properly educate his children. In 1868 Mr. Jones was elected sheriff of Smith County, Miss., and served two years. Upon his arrival in Pulaski County he was elected justice of the peace, and served until 1882, when he was elected to the lower house of representatives, and in 1884 re-elected. In 1886 he was elected to represent the Tenth district (Pulaski and Perry Counties) in the State senate for four years, and during the Cleveland administration was also deputy United States marshal for the Eastern district of Arkansas. During his first term in the legislature he was chairman of the committee on public roads and highways, and a member of the committee on elections. He has been chairman several terms of important committees, and a member of agricultural, public charities and various other committees. In politics he is a Democrat and a leader in his party, his intellect, shrewdness and influence making him a valuable friend and a formidable enemy. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel and the A. F. & A. M., belonging to Mount Moriah Lodge, Mississippi, since 1866. Mrs. Jones was a devout attendant of the Baptist Church from her fourteenth year until her death, and was a very charitable Christian lady. She died in May, 1886.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 156 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Pulaski County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Pulaski County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.