Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:
It's Saturday Night again
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Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!
Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings:
1) Which of your ancestors lived a life of hardship or sadness? Who had few possessions or resources, was involved in violence or war, lived through a famine, or suffered forced immigration?
Here's mine:
I have a story from an interview with a great uncle, O.D. “Pig”
Johnston. Yes, that’s his name and what he had been called since a toddler. The
interview was conducted by Jewell Dukes Huddleston and published in two installments
in the Comanche Chief in her column called “Wagon Wheels keep on turnin’” on 29
November 1979 and 6 December 1979. He was 81 at the time of the interview.
Here is the transcript of what he said about his maternal grandmother, Amanda A. (Haley) Jones.
“. . . a twice-told tale recalls the trials experienced by Johnston’s maternal grandmother in her trek to Texas. Her husband [Benjamin W. Jones] was a physician with the Confederate Army. He was stricken with an illness and died during the siege. His widow and six small children, five girls and one boy, left Tennessee by wagon. One of the horses died enroute, leaving them stranded. Grandmother Jones cooked up provisions for the children, gave them a stern warning to stay together until she returned. She rode away on the remaining animal, hoping to find help somewhere in the country-side in order that the journey might be resumed. She met a stranger, told him her story and was cheered by his answer. He told her to go back to her children and help would be on the way. The next morning she awoke to find a horse tied to the wagon that would replace the dead animal.”
It’s a nice story and I have tried to substantiate it without much success. He may be Benjamin W. Jones of the 3rd Mississippi Cavalry State Troop in Company A. This soldier enlisted on 4 July 1864 in Brandon, Rankin County, Mississippi, which was the county they were living. On the only muster roll card in the service record, he was listed as a corporal and not a physician. This muster roll dated August 14 to September 14, 1864.[1] If this is the correct man, I have yet to find a date of death. My next step is to research the unit. Were they ever in Tennessee? Was Amanda and the children following the troops?
The next thing to analyze is how did Pig hear the story? He certainly was not alive when this happened. He was born in 1898. His grandmother died in 1904 in Hill County, several counties to the east of Comanche County. So likely, he heard the story from his mother. However, she was born in 1859 and was five or six when this occurred. So how much would she have known about the story, unless it was told over and again to her. Also, Benjamin and Amanda had 9 children, the last one, Mattie M., born in November 1865, if her grave marker is correct.
Even if the story stretches the truth, I can imagine the Jones family experienced some hardship traveling from Mississippi to Texas during the war without a man to help her. It must have been a remarkable feat that the story was passed on to their descendants.
[1] "Compiled Service Records of
Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of
Mississippi," NARA M269, roll 23, muster roll dated 14 Sept 1864, Benj W
Jones, 3 Cav, Co A. There is only this one card.
What an experience it would be if you can document any of this, but moving west had to be difficult, even in the best of circumstances. I can't imagine crossing the country in an open (even if covered) wagon, hauling the few possessions chosen for the trip plus having children to care for. Our ancestors were definitely hardy people.
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