Jenny, Alvina, Frank and John Jones
Obituary of Alvina (Williams Davis) Jones'. Her name is misspelled Alma, but her sister Caroline married Alexander Roy, she had one brother and several sisters, and her mother was living. Her father / step-father died the same year, 11 June 1896.
John Jones, ca. 1900-1912
John Jones, Leavenworth National Cemetery
JOHN JONES and
ALVINA (WILLIAMS DAVIS) JONES
page 3 of 4
In 1898, the pension bureau requested pensioners complete a form about family members. Unfortunately, most likely because Alvina was deceased, he didn't give his wife's name, when, where, and by whom they were married, or what record of their marriage existed. It does give the names of living children. John's answer was: William Jones born Jan 28th 1870, Frank Jones born Dec 11th 1877, Jane Jones born April 12th 1882. Some of this information is not right. In the 1870 census, his son William was 3 years old and his daughter Jane, who apparently died before the 1880 census, was 1 year old. I believe William Jones was born in January 1867. John's daughter Jenny was born 12 April 1882. With so many children and probably not having a family Bible to look at, John got some fact mixed up. Probably not bad for a man who was in pain, alone without a wife or children nearby, living in stressful circumstances, and who perhaps drank too much. We do learn one more thing about John from the pension papers. He could read and write, as he signed his name on several documents. Being able to read and write is not something every man who grew up in his circumstances could do.
In 1900[1], John, Frank and Jennie were living in Bevier, Missouri. In spite of his disability and receiving a pension, he still worked as a coal miner. In August 1901, John admitted himself to the National Home for Disabled Soldiers[2] in Leavenworth, Kansas. He checked himself out several times. Contemporary newspaper reports suggest strongly that only a few years earlier, this Home was a hard place to live with cruelty from the staff not unusual[3], so it makes sense that John would write to Frank[4] and Jennie[5] asking them to come get him or send money so he could go to Nebraska to live with them. Neither one apparently obliged. He returned to the Home and passed away there on 4 June 1912. [6]Cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. [7]He was buried in the Leavenworth National [8]Cemetery[9].
According to family stories from Jennie (Jones) Jackson's daughter Margaret (Jackson) Johnson, John visited the Jacksons once when they lived near Comstock, Nebraska. He liked to drink but Jennie hid the bottle. Her daughter Ruth saw this and grandpa John asked, "Ruty, where did mama hide a bottle." She took him to the flour bin where the bottle was hidden. Jennie recalled that her father wasn't a very good provider, but he always bought them good shoes.
[1] 1900 US Census, Macon County, Missouri, population schedule, Bevier Township, ED 63, sheet 10, dwelling 205, family 214, John Jones; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 April 2000); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, Roll 873.
[2] "U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 1866-1938," online database with images, John Jones, p. 12257, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 June 2007); citing NARA Microfilm Publication M1749, Dept of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15,Washington, D.C.
[3] "Soldiers Brutally Treated," 27 October 1893, NewYork Times, images, page 7, col 1; Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 24 June 2009).
[4] John Jones (Leavenworth, Kansas) to "Dear Son Frank" [Frank Jones], letter, 1 page, 6 December 1911; Privately held by descendants of Gerald Jones.
[5] John Jones (Leavenworth, Kansas) to "Dear Daughter Jennie" [Jennie (Jones) Jackson], letter, 1 page, 20 February 1912; Privately held by descendants of Gerald Jones.
[6] John Jones Obituary, 6 June 1912, Leavenworth Times, morning edition, photocopy, unknown page, col. 3; microfilm, Leavenworth Public Library, accessed 25 June 2009.
[7] John Jones, (2nd Reg't Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Civil War), Pension Certificate 710,080 Transmittal, notification of death of John Jones to Board of Managers, National Home for D.V.S.; Privately held by descendants of Gerald Jones.
[8] Leavenworth National Cemetery, (Leavenworth, Kansas), John Jones marker, sec 18, row 1; personally read by Mary Russell Hollowell, 25 June 2009.
[9] Leavenworth National Cemetery, Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960, John Jones, section "J", unnumbered pages; database images online, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 May 2015), citing Burial Registers, compiled 1867-2006; Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.