My Genealogy Hound

Manasseh Jones, farmer and ex-judge of the county court, was born in the “Blue Grass State” in 1833, and is the son of Martin and Lucy (Wilson) Jones, who were born in North Carolina and Kentucky, and died in 1867 and 1836 respectively. The former’s birth occurred in 1787, and in 1794 he moved to Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood and married. About 1860 he moved to Illinois, but his family, which consisted of fifteen children by two marriages, were reared principally in Kentucky. Three of his children are now living: Manasseh, John and Elijah. Philip Jones, the paternal grandfather, was a farmer by occupation, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Manasseh Jones spent his early life in Kentucky, and at the age of nineteen years began the battle of life for himself as a farm hand. In 1854 he espoused Miss Margaret A. Poynter, born in Kentucky in 1834 and a daughter of Mason and Nancy T. (Bird) Poynter, who were the parents of the following children: Susan J., Margaret A., Julia Ann, William, Henry, Franklin, Matilda, John, and Nancy W. Soon after he married Mr. Jones removed from Kentucky to Illinois, and was here engaged in farming until 1868, at which date he removed to Miller County, Mo., and again engaged in farming. He now owns an excellent farm of 210 acres and has 100 acres under cultivation. He is a Republican in politics, and cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and in 1886 was elected on that ticket as judge of Miller County, which position he held two years. In 1862 he enlisted in Company C, Ninety-eighth Illinois Infantry, as corporal, under Captain William McCracken, Wiley’s brigade, and was at the battle of Hoover’s Gap, Chickamauga, with Sherman on his march to the sea, and Selma, Ala. He received his discharge at Nashville, Tenn., in 1865, and is now a member of the G. A. R. He belongs to the I. O. O. F., and he and wife belong to the Congregational church and are the parents of these children: Arsineth, Nancy J., John F., Martin A., Manasseh T., O. A. Mack, Mary E., George, William, and Nathan.