| John Ellis & Martha Jones' oldest child, Stovall Jones Stovall T. Jones, the oldest child, who was eighteen when his father died in 1889, remained in the area of Grit [country singer Ricky Van Shelton's hometown]. In 1897, Stovall Jones married Roberta Finch who was three years older and lived on a nearby farm. The couple told the court that they planned to live in Lynchburg in Campbell County, Virginia. Roberta Finch was the daughter of Thomas W. and Martha V. Finch. In 1905, Martha Finch’s brother John T. Finch was appointed Postmaster of Grit, Virginia. The post office and his undertaker’s shop were in the store he operated on Ward’s Road near the Dew’s Road intersection. Just around the corner is the New Bethel Methodist Church where Stovall, his family and Finch in-laws are buried. Stovall operated the Grit store for a time and then his in-laws operated it. The Finch and Finch Funeral home, now across the Staunton River in Alta Vista (Campbell County), began in the Grit store not far from the Barber/Jones homeplace. In 1900, Stovall Jones is shown to be in Pittsylvania County and in the mercantile business. Joe stated that Stovall might have been a partner with Tom Finch. He could have worked for him or ran a separate store in the area. In 1910, Stovall is in Lynchburg where he worked at the city fire department. In 1920, he operated a wholesale dry goods business in Lynchburg. In 1930, Stovall is operating a dairy farm in Brookville, which is south east of Lynchburg. Stovall died in 1945 and is buried with his wife Roberta in the New Bethel Methodist Church cemetery in Grit. Martha & Other Children Move to Danville After John Ellis Jones died in 1889, his widow Martha Ann (Barber) Jones brought seven of her eight children to work in the cotton mills in Danville, Virginia in 1889. Her oldest Stovall had married and stayed behind in Grit. We don’t know the month she moved, but Martha’s youngest child Berta Mae was born in July 1889, so she was either pregnant or had a very young baby. The 1898 Danville City Directory lists Martha Ann Jones, widow of John E. Jones, living at 410 John Street. At some time later, John Street was changed to Richmond Avenue because there was a street by the same name across the river. Danville annexed the area where Martha Ann Jones lived in 1896, but it seems the name change did not take place at that time. The 1898 City Directory shows three of Martha's children as living with her and working at Riverside Cotton Mills. Those children are John Bracken "Brack" Jones (b Nov 1876), Mark Daniel "Dan" Jones (b. 1878), and Martha E. "Lady" Jones (b 1880). At that time, there were also three younger children at home, but they are not listed in the City Directory. Their names are Tom Jones (b. June 1883), Ollie E. Jones (b. Jan. 1887), and Berta Mae Jones (b July 1889). In addition, Martha Ann Jones had two older children who had left home. Stovall Jones (b Jan 1871) stayed in the Grit area, and Mollie Belle Jones (b 1875) married William Ballard Adkins, and lived in the Museville/Climax area of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Dan Jones, Cotton Mill Worker My grandfather Mark Daniel "Dan" Jones began working in the Riverside Cotton Mills the year they moved to Danville (1889) when he was only eleven years old. The mill prepared a wooden platform so he could reach the spinning frames. By the 1930s, Grandpa Dan Jones was a loom fixer in Riverside Mill No. 8, across the river from where they lived. He continued to work in the mill until shortly before he died in December 1946. My brother Ray Ricketts remembers taking lunch to Grandpa Jones in the cotton mill back in the 1930s, before they tore down the Old 97 train trestle. The old Lynchburg and Danville Railroad tracks were only a couple of blocks west of our house on Washington Street. Ray and my sisters would often take Grandpa Dan Jones his lunch by walking down the tracks to the old trestle where the famous train wreck took place in 1903. Then they would go through the "manway" to the number 8 mill on the southside of Dan River where Dan then worked. The "manway" was a covered bridge (the longest in the state) and it was built to connect the Long Mill and No. 8 Mill in 1920 at a cost of $205,000. Our sister Idella Lynch remembers one time when she was in the center of the curved trestle, she heard the train coming. She laid down at the edge of the track 45-feet above the Still House Branch and the train barely missed her. She never took the shortcut again. Ray calls the experience of crossing the trestle "Walking the Plank." People could "cut off a considerable amount of steps for anyone going to Riverside Mill or over town." He said that in a stiff wind, some people could be seen to reach the mid-point and then get down on "all fours" to crawl to the end of the trestle. The trestle was demolished in 1938 or 1939. Grandpa Dan Jones had bought four lots at the corner of Washington and Aspen Streets near Danville in 1908. In 1927, he gave a lot to my mother (Annie Marie Jones Ricketts) where she and my father had our house built. Carl Jones, her brother was operating the store across the street when he entered the army during World War II. Dan’s wife Annie, with help from the family, operated the store for Carl while he was gone. |
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| Grandpa Jones & His Ancestors |
In September 2005, my sister Elaine (Ricketts) Gibson and I headed to the northern part of
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in search of our grandfather Dan Jones' birthplace. His dad, our
great-grandfather, was John Ellis Jones, who was a prisoner during the Civil War and died when his children
were small. Years ago, some older relatives took Grandpa Dan Jones out to the Hurt area of Pittsylvania
County, searching for the old place, but they said he never found the place where he was born and his father
was buried. There were family stories, but no one seemed to know the exact location.
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in search of our grandfather Dan Jones' birthplace. His dad, our
great-grandfather, was John Ellis Jones, who was a prisoner during the Civil War and died when his children
were small. Years ago, some older relatives took Grandpa Dan Jones out to the Hurt area of Pittsylvania
County, searching for the old place, but they said he never found the place where he was born and his father
was buried. There were family stories, but no one seemed to know the exact location.
| This picture was taken in 1946 not long before Grandpa Dan Jones died. (L to R) That's me (Danny Ricketts) at five years old, my sister Elaine who married Ed Gibson, and our Grandpa Dan Jones. |
John Ellis Jones
Grandpa Dan Jones' real name was Mark Daniel Jones. He was only eleven years old when his mother, newly
a widow, moved the family to Danville, Virginia, in the southern part of the county. His father, John Ellis Jones,
had died suddenly in 1889. From a description of the symptoms, it appears that appendicitis may have caused
his death. His wife, Martha Ann (Barber) Jones sold the cow for money to bury him and then moved to Danville.
Actually, it seemed like a miracle that John Ellis Jones actually lived until 1889. The family had assumed he was
dead years before. He had enlisted in 2nd Co. C, 46th Virginia Infantry in the Confederate army. Company “C”
was called the “Pigg River Invincibles” after the river near his father’s home. He was captured at Sailor’s Creek
just days before the surrender at Appomattox, and was confined in prison at Newport News until July of 1865,
but his family thought he was killed during the war. One October day, they were working in the fields when they
saw someone walking toward the house. John Ellis Jones had walked all of the two hundred miles from Newport
News, while stopping to work for food.
Grandpa Dan Jones' real name was Mark Daniel Jones. He was only eleven years old when his mother, newly
a widow, moved the family to Danville, Virginia, in the southern part of the county. His father, John Ellis Jones,
had died suddenly in 1889. From a description of the symptoms, it appears that appendicitis may have caused
his death. His wife, Martha Ann (Barber) Jones sold the cow for money to bury him and then moved to Danville.
Actually, it seemed like a miracle that John Ellis Jones actually lived until 1889. The family had assumed he was
dead years before. He had enlisted in 2nd Co. C, 46th Virginia Infantry in the Confederate army. Company “C”
was called the “Pigg River Invincibles” after the river near his father’s home. He was captured at Sailor’s Creek
just days before the surrender at Appomattox, and was confined in prison at Newport News until July of 1865,
but his family thought he was killed during the war. One October day, they were working in the fields when they
saw someone walking toward the house. John Ellis Jones had walked all of the two hundred miles from Newport
News, while stopping to work for food.
Marriage to Martha Ann Barber
In 1870, John Ellis Jones married Martha Ann Barber (b.1850) in her
widowed mother’s house. Martha’s father Daniel Barber was a
Confederate soldier (see note at right).
Daniel Barber left his wife Elizabeth (Moon) Barber with small children
including Martha Ann Barber who was born in 1850, Sarah E. Barber
who was born in 1851 (married George Smith in 1851), Mary D. Barber
who was born in 1852, James W. Barber who was born in 1854, Judith
Barber who was born in 1855, and Elizabeth J. Barber who was born in
1857.
Pleasant Moon
With six children, Elizabeth Barber was fortunate that her father
Pleasant Moon lived on the adjacent farm just down the hollow of
Beech Tree Creek. Pleasant Moon and his son-in-law Daniel Barber
had purchased farms next to each other in 1857. Pleasant had 113
acres and Daniel owned 92 acres. Pleasant Moon died in 1879 and is
buried in the family cemetery just east and across the spring branch
from the house.
In September of 2005, Joe Farmer was living in the old house with the
large rock chimney. Joe, almost 94 years old, showed me the
cemetery where Pleasant Moon is buried. The oldest of the graves
are unmarked. John Ellis Jones died just ten years after his wife's
grandfather Pleasant Moon died. It is almost certain that he is also
buried in this cemetery.
In 1870, John Ellis Jones married Martha Ann Barber (b.1850) in her
widowed mother’s house. Martha’s father Daniel Barber was a
Confederate soldier (see note at right).
Daniel Barber left his wife Elizabeth (Moon) Barber with small children
including Martha Ann Barber who was born in 1850, Sarah E. Barber
who was born in 1851 (married George Smith in 1851), Mary D. Barber
who was born in 1852, James W. Barber who was born in 1854, Judith
Barber who was born in 1855, and Elizabeth J. Barber who was born in
1857.
Pleasant Moon
With six children, Elizabeth Barber was fortunate that her father
Pleasant Moon lived on the adjacent farm just down the hollow of
Beech Tree Creek. Pleasant Moon and his son-in-law Daniel Barber
had purchased farms next to each other in 1857. Pleasant had 113
acres and Daniel owned 92 acres. Pleasant Moon died in 1879 and is
buried in the family cemetery just east and across the spring branch
from the house.
In September of 2005, Joe Farmer was living in the old house with the
large rock chimney. Joe, almost 94 years old, showed me the
cemetery where Pleasant Moon is buried. The oldest of the graves
are unmarked. John Ellis Jones died just ten years after his wife's
grandfather Pleasant Moon died. It is almost certain that he is also
buried in this cemetery.
| John Ellis Jones' father-in-law Daniel March 10, 1862, and his company commander was Capt. Sherwood T. Mustain. He was with Co. H. of the 21st Va. Infantry. Just over a year in the army, Daniel Barber died at Guinea Station, Virginia on April 3, 1863. Gen. Stonewall Jackson died in the same area the next month. |
| The old Pleasant Moon house near Grit where Joe Farmer now lives. Pleasant’s daughter Elizabeth Moon married Daniel Barber who died at Guinea Station in 1863 during the Civil War. Daniel’s daughter Martha married John Ellis Jones. Martha and John Ellis Jones were living with her mother west of this house when John died in 1889. Joe Farmer said that there is no graveyard at the Jones house. John Ellis Jones is probably buried in an unmarked grave in the Moon cemetery east of this house. |
Joe Farmer said that there is no
graveyard at the Barber/Jones
house about a half mile away.
Joe called it the Jones house
and said that the house had
fallen down and the road had
grown up.
The 92 ¾ -acre farm with the
“Jones House,” as Joe called it,
stayed on the county tax books
as belonging to “Daniel Barber,
dec’d” through 1906. Joe the
neighbor called this the Jones
house and knew that Stovall
Jones married “one of the Finch
girls.” Since Stovall was the only
Jones to stay in the area, he
would have lived in his
grandmother’s house until he
moved to Lynchburg.
graveyard at the Barber/Jones
house about a half mile away.
Joe called it the Jones house
and said that the house had
fallen down and the road had
grown up.
The 92 ¾ -acre farm with the
“Jones House,” as Joe called it,
stayed on the county tax books
as belonging to “Daniel Barber,
dec’d” through 1906. Joe the
neighbor called this the Jones
house and knew that Stovall
Jones married “one of the Finch
girls.” Since Stovall was the only
Jones to stay in the area, he
would have lived in his
grandmother’s house until he
moved to Lynchburg.
| (left) These are the head and foot stones for Charles H. Chumney (b 1849) who sold the Pleasant Moon farm in 1919 to Joe Farmer’s father Lonnie Farmer (b 1876). Most of the graves are marked only by field stones. |
| At left on the above map is state road 640 which is a continuation of the Spring Garden Road from Danville. This was the old stage road to Lynchburg. The Finch, Jones, and Moon families lived near each other here in the community of Grit. |
| This is Carl Jones' store at 1633 Washington Street in about 1939. Carl (b 1917) is shown with his father Mark Daniel "Dan" Jones (1878-1946) at left and sister Florence Jones (Hutcherson Reynolds, b.1913). Other children in the family: Austin Jones, Katie Jones McKinney, and my mother Annie Marie Jones Ricketts. |
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