JOHN JONES and
ALVINA (WILLIAMS DAVIS) JONES

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The landscape around John and Alvina may have changed, from mid-Wales to mid-America, but the landscape of work and family life didn't vary much between the two countries. Both were born into hard-working families that we would now call lower class, but in Wales they were in the majority. Coming to America provided more opportunities than they had in Wales, but it wasn't until the next generation that the hard work paid off.

The ancestor we know as Alvina Davis was baptized Elwina Williams on 27 October 1844 at Abbey Cwmhir, Radnorshire, Wales. She was probably born the last of September or the first part of October. Her mother was Jane Williams, a 26-year-old servant, who lived with her parents and siblings in Lowy cottage about three-quarters of a mile southeast of the village. Elwina/Alvina's father’s name wasn’t recorded on the baptism record. It reads, “Elwina, illegitimate daughter of Jane Williams, Lowy cottage, Servant.” Someday DNA may lead us to her father, but for now we can only speculate. There are two Jane Williams’ listed in the 1841 UK Census, both working as servants on farms in the area. When Jane Williams married Daniel Davis on 26 December 1846, her occupation was listed as a servant at Abbey Hall, Abbey Cwmhir. Was her father someone she met when she worked as a servant on a farm, or did they meet when she was working at Abbey Hall? Or was Daniel Davis the father of Elwina/Alvina? Although Jane and Daniel weren’t married until more than two years later, it is possible Daniel is Elwina/Alvina's biological father.  In Wales at this time there was no stigma among the working class people in this area for a woman to have a child before the wedding, or for a man to marry a woman who had children while unmarried[1]. Daniel was most likely born in the area but traveled to Ebbw Vale to work in the iron mines, as had other men from the area.

After Jane’s marriage, Elwina was known as Alvina Davis. In 1851[2], Alvina was living with her parents and younger brother Jonathan in Ebbw Vale, Wales, which is where Daniel was living at the time of his marriage to Jane. In the 1851 UK census, her name looks like it is spelled “Selina”, but several things indicate that this is the right family. First, Jane and “Selina” are were born in Abbeycwmhir;  second, “Selina’s” age of 6 years means she was born in 1844/45, third, Alvina had a brother, John, and fourth, Jane was four years older than Daniel. This unusual fact makes finding the right family in subsequent census records much easier. Daniel was a laborer in 1851. I haven't been able find the family on a ship passenger list, but by 1860[3], the family was living in Pittston, Pennsylvania. Daniel's occupation was a miner. The Daniel Davis family was listed at the bottom on one census page and continued on the next. Either Alvina's name was inadvertently left off the 1860 census as the enumerator finished Daniel and Jane on one page and began with Alvina's next younger sibling, Jonathan, on the next page, or she was working out and was not counted in her employer’s household.

John Jones' family of origin hasn't been definitely identified but the Solomon Jones family[4] who lived 18 houses away from the Davis family[5] in Pittston with a son John the right age is worth continued research. If this is our John, at age 15 he was working as a driver in a coal mine.

In September 1864 John was recruited by the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. He walked with other Luzerne county recruits to Chambersburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, which was about 165 miles. He joined the Army[6] on 25 September 1864. He was a substitute for Josiah Swank of Conemaugh Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He would have received $300 from Mr. Swank to take his place. He was described as 5 feet, 4 1/2 inches tall, light complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair, and by occupation, a miner. John served with Company M, 2nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. According to History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865 by Samuel P. Bates, John’s company would have arrived on the battlefield about the time Fort Harrison was captured from the Confederates. They were at Fort Harrison until December 1864 when they were ordered to the Bermuda Front, (Bermuda, Virginia). John was discharged[7] 25 June 1865 at Petersburg, Virginia.  

While John was serving in other parts of Virginia, the Siege of Petersburg was taking place. The goal of the Union army under Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was to stop supplies from reaching the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and the Confederate Army. Part of the siege was the Battle of the Crater which took place on 30 July 1864 at Petersburg, Virginia. The Union army laid explosives in a mine under Confederate troops, blowing a hole in their defenses and leaving a huge crater. Instead of taking advantage of this, the Union army were thrown into confusion. The Confederates gained the upper hand and dealt the Union army serious causalities. Instead of it ending quickly, this was just the start of a nine month siege. Eventually the Union army was successful and Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee abandoned Richmond. John undoubtedly saw the devastation and heard first-hand accounts of what Ulysses S. Grant called “the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war”. Soon after the fall of Richmond, on 9 April 1865, General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

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[1] Wales. Lingen, Symons, & Johnson, compilers, Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales, p. 301, (London : William Clowes & Sons, 1848); image copy, Google Books (http://books.google.com : accessed 23 April 2014).

[2] 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census, Monmouthsire, Bedwelty, Ebbw Vale, p 690 (stamped), Daniel Davies; image, "Census, Land & Substitutes," Findmypast (www.findmypast.com : accessed 20 March 2015); Archive reference HO107, piece 2448, folio 690, p. 10.

[3] 1860 US Census, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Pittston Township, p. 65, dwelling 482, family 489, Solomon Jones;  image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 April 2000); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1135.

[4] 1860 U.S. census, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Pittston township, p. 65, dwelling 482, family 48, Solomon Jones; image, Ancestry.com  (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 April 2010); citing Family History Library Film 805135.

[5] 1860 U.S. census, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Pittston post office, p. 66 & 67, dwelling 500, family 506, Daniel Davis; image, Ancestry.com  (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 April 2010); citing Family History Library Film 805135.

[6] Compiled military service record, John Jones, Pvt., Co. M, 2nd Reg't Pa. (Heavy) Art'y; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94: Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s–1917; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[7] John Jones, Private, 2nd Reg't Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, discharged 1864, Petersburg, Virginia; privately held by descendants of Gerald Jones.