Mark Jones

While researching Lawrenceville, and the early days  of Stanly County, around the time the two counties were separated, I came across the name of Mark Jones again.

I first 'met' Mr. Jones while doing family research, and began to wonder what connection he had to them. Was he just an early 'mover and shaker' who had his hand in many changes of the time, land and politics, or was the connection deeper?

As in my research on the Kernachan's, the Jones family played a critical role in tracing migration of a group of families from Virginia south and west. As common a name as Jones was, one would not think that this would be the case, but with Vinkler Jones and his descendants, they left a mark and a great deal of intermarriage with the Booths, and the Kernachans, that their trail from Virginia to North Carolina to South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi was undeniably beneficial in that research.

The Uwharrie River near El Dorado, North Carolina

Mark Jones was a resident of Stanly County. In the 1840 census, it seems that the enumerators were very knowledgeable about the separation that was to take place, and enumerated "East PeeDee" or the later Montgomery and "West PeeDee", or the side that was to become Stanly, as two separate entities already. They gave their numbers separately, which was:

"The number of persons within my Division consisting of 3692 free white persons, 52 free colored persons, and 1157 slaves, total 5171, appears on the foregoing schedule subscribed by me this 24 day of October in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty. 

James Allen

We certify that a correct copy of the above schedule signed by the  said James Allen  has been put up at  two of the most publick places within the Division open to the Inspection of all concerned. 

E. F. Lilly
G. J. Allen

As opposed to West Pee Dee, East Pee Dee was enumerated by John L. Christian, Assistant Marshall to the District of North Carolina. He counted for the east side of the river, the modern day county of Montgomery, 4259 free whites, 20 free persons of color and 1330 slaves, a total of 5609 people, trumping West Pee Dee (or present Stanly County), by 438.

Mr. James Allen was the enumerator and I had came across his name before. He, himself, eventually migrated to   , and married the widow of William Lilly, who had married Eliza Ann Winfield, daughter of Great, Great Uncle Edward Winfield. The Allen family was a very old name along the PeeDee River near the forks, having established one of the earliest towns in this area, and indeed, likely the very earliest in what is now Stanly County, Allenton. The area that was Allenton is primarily underwater due to the building of the dams across the Pee Dee. A street in Norwood, which began as center, Allenton Road, leads to the river where the town would have been and is now a river, or resort area. An early Revolutionary War battle, or skirmish, known as the Battle of Colstons Mill, was fought at a mill near this ancient little town.

But back to Mark Jones.

Mark Jones appeared in 3 census records. The last, 1850, gives us his nearest exact age or year of birth, about 1800 or 50 years of age. He is listed here as living alone.

Name:	Mark Jones
Age:	50
Birth Year:	abt 1800
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Freemans, Stanly, North Carolina
Gender:	Male
Family Number:	180
Household Members:	Name Age Mark Jones 50

His nearest possible neighbors, of those counted in the listing nearest to him were Ferdinand Morton, Sarah and Ann Fooks, Nathan Carter, Edmund Lilly, John Fesperman, Alexander Kirk, Eldridge Hall, John Calloway, Henry Pence, Michael Fersperman, Phillip A. Fesperman, Henry Pence, Lurena Huckabee, Arthur F. Atkins and John Calloway. This was his 'neighborhood', so to speak. You can already tell he was 'on the river' or near present day Badin.

Eldridge Hall turned out to be a relative, having married his niece. Eldridge Hall was the son of William "Billy" Hall. The Hall plantation was located near the present location of the old Alcoa Aluminum plant on Badin Lake.


Other neighbors of Mark Jones are called 'citizens of Palmerville', an old community located on the river between Old Whitney and Badin near Palmer Mountain, or attended Ebenezer Baptist Church, which is now Badin Baptist, and predated the town of Badin by more than a hundred years. The township in 1850 was known as Freemans, which seems to, in my research, have become Harris Township. I could be wrong, so don't take that as fact. Just my speculations.

The other 2 census's that Mark Jones appeared in are the 1830 and 1840, and pique my curiosity.

Name:	Mark Jones
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:	1
Slaves - Females - Under 10:	4
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35:	2
Free White Persons - Under 20:	1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	3
Total Slaves:	6
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	9

In 1830, Mr. Jones had a household of 9 people. There was one male 30 to 39. In using the 1850 census, he would have been 30 and as Head of Household, this oldest male would likely have been Mark Jones. There is a younger man, aged 20 to 29, in his home and a little girl, under 5 years old. 

He also owned 6 slaves, all female, 2 young women, aged 24 to 35 and 4 little girls. 

Name:	Mark Jones
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):	West Pee Dee River,Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14:	1
Free Colored Persons - Females - 24 thru 35:	1
Slaves - Males - Under 10:	4
Slaves - Males - 10 thru 23:	5
Slaves - Males - 36 thru 54:	1
Slaves - Females - Under 10:	3
Slaves - Females - 24 thru 35:	1
Slaves - Females - 36 thru 54:	2
Persons Employed in Agriculture:	10
Free White Persons - Under 20:	1
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	2
Total Free Colored Persons:	1
Total Slaves:	16
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:	19

By 1840, his household had grown to 19 persons. The younger male had disappeared. Was this perhaps and employee? But the young white female was still in his household, now between the ages of  10 and 14. Very likely to be the same girl. There was another unusual person in his household, a free female of color, aged 24 to 35. Was this one of the female slaves in the 1830 census that he had set free? Or perhaps a Native American nanny that he had hired to care for the young girl, as Native Americans were noted either as mulatto, or as FPOC's in these early census records. The 1850 census gives no hint as to whom this lady may have been, as the nearest female FPOC to where he lived in 1850 was Selena Shankle, a daughter of Tildy Shankle, a free black woman of the Fork area of Stanly County, who had a large family and a close relationship to the Biles family. In 1850, her daughter Selena was living with Isaac Biles, which would make sense as far as the Biles family connection. Selena was 19 in 1850, which would mean she was too young to have been the adult woman in Mr. Jones househole in 1840. There were also 16 slaves and 10 persons employed in agriculture. To break it down, there were 2 females 36 to 54, which seems to have been the adult females in 1830. There is also an adult male aged 36 to 54, who was not there in 1830, and 5 males 10 to 23. These men/boys were also not in the household in 1830. It appears Mr. Jones expanded his farming pursuits between 1830 and 1840 and needed the help. There is also a young woman between the ages of 24 and 35 and 7 children under 10, 3 girls and 4 boys, who were born during the decade between the census records. 

In the 1850 census, Mark Jones has 15 slaves, one less than in 1840, and the Free Woman of Color is gone. Also gone is the young white girl who grew up in his household. Was this his daughter? Three courthouse fires destroyed records in Montgomery County, so if Mark Jones was ever married, say, in the 1820's, had a daughter and her mother passed away by 1830, the records to prove it had been lost. 

In 1850, the men in the Jones household were 65, 35,30, 25, 20, 20, 18. The women were 45, 45, 25 and 18. There were also 4 children between 11 and 13, two boys and two girls. 

If Mark Jones had a daughter, and she was married by 1850, she predeceased him by 1858 and left no heirs, as all of the heirs mentioned in his estate records are nieces and nephews, no daughters, no grandchildren.

There were two marriages of Jones ladies in the very early marriages of Stanly County, the early 1850's, that did not give names of their parents. 

Mary Jones married widower Nathan Safely in 1851, but she moved with him to Mecklenburg County and is buried there with him, having died in 1905.

The other, Sarah Jones, married Lewis Smith in 1854, but she too, survived past 1858, and died prior to 1879, when Mr. Smith remarried Talitha Griffin. 

So the young woman in Mark Jones household remains a mystery. 

I thought maybe early court records may give a hint unto his life. 

He shows up fairly frequently during the early records of Stanly County. 

In the earliest most entries, he is posting as security for Samuel P. Morton, a direct ancestor of mine, in his bid for the office of clerk, as the new county is being organized.

In 1844, he was appointed to a commitee, along with Francis Locke and John F. Miller, to alot one year's provisions for Barbara Lefler and her family, the widow of Mathias Lefler.  Then later, he gave security for David  Kendall to be appointed the guardian of the orphans of Benjamin Cagle, Rebecca, Martha and David. In November session, this same year, he was appointed the administrator of Winny Shankle, and gave security with Travis Carter. The next mystery is to discover the identity of Winny Shankle. She is not easily found in the records or in any Shankle family tree.


In February, 1845, Mark Jones along with A. F. Atkins and Francis Locke were on a committee to settle with Samuel P. Morton as the executor of Job Calloway. Samuel P. Morton and Job Calloway are both direct ancestors of mine, Samuel P. Morton having married Job Calloway's daughter Vashti. Therefore, making him Job Calloway's son-in-law.  Later that spring, Mark Jones again posted bond in Morton's bid as Register.

Mark Jones served on the jury in November of 1845, and again soon after.

In his close relation with Francis Locke, he posted bond along with John Calloway, when Mr. Locke was appointed guardian of the orphans of George Carter, namely, Matilda, Mary, William, Clinton, James and Letitia.

In May of 1846, Mark Jones was again on a jury in the case of Solomon Hathcock vs Joshua Hearne. Solomon Hathcock, being the father of Rebecca Hathcock who married Job Davis's son E. W. Davis and Joshua Hearne being a member of the founding family of Albemarle.

The next entry gives more than a little rise. In May of 1856 still, this entry appeared "Francis Locke, E.L. Parker, and Samuel P. Morton appointed a committee to settle with Mark Jones, admin. of Winny Shad and report to next term. And then, before the name Winny, the name Lucretia is marked through. Then, later in the same session of court " Mark Jones permitted to amend his inventory as Admin of Winny Shad by returning a bond due from himself to said estate for $270.93, $50 having been mentioned by mistake on former return.

In August session of 1846, Mark Jones is mentioned several times. He stands security for E. L. Parker as guardian for the heirs of John Parker, namely, Eliza, Oney, Nicey Ann, Martha Orathy, Charlotte Francis, and Howell Alexander Parker.

He is again mentioned twice as the administrator of Winny Shad. So Shad, not Shankle, must have been Winny's correct surname, however, there were no Shad's in the county or anywhere near by on record.

The following census record from 25 years later however, may provide a link to the identity of Winnie Shad. With the close relationship between Mark Jones and the Parkers of Stanly County, and the Mauney family, which became a prominent family in both Stanly and Rowan County's, especially in the mining operations of Gold Hill, the occurance of these 4 young Gold miners in Cleveland County, might not be a coincidence.

Name:	G W Shad
Age in 1870:	22
Birth Year:	abt 1848
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1870:	Township 4, Cleveland, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Post Office:	White Planes
Value of real estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age G W Shad 22 Joseph Parker 26 E H Parker 20 Harvey Mauney 30

I took a few weeks to look into the Shad family of Stanly and surrounding families. There was a John Shad who arrived in the area with a railroad company from up north around the turn of the century (1900). Prior to that, the only Shad in late 1800 Stanly and Cabarrus counties were people of color. These persons stem from a female-led family who appear in Burke County in the 1850 and 1860's. They were denoted as "FOP's" or Free People of Color, prior to the Civil War. Therefore, Winny Shad was likely the female FOP in Mark Jones household in 1840.

The later mentions of Mark Jones in the court sessions were typical of the day:

In November of 1847, a deed from Michael Fesperman to Mark Jones was ordered to be registered and was proved by his friend, Samuel P. Morton.



In August of 1848, Mark Jones was a witness who gave testimony in the case against Ursula Forrest.
The verdict: "Ursula Forrest is an idiot or lunatic and is incapable of attending to her business and liable at any time to be imposed upon." This was on a petition entered by John G Forrest stating that she was of weak mind and non compos mentis.

A little research shows that this Ursula Forrest was the daughter of John Gresham Forrest and Mary Bailey Forrest. She was born about 1800 and would have been in her latter 40's at the time of this court hearing. She is only shown in one census, the 1850. She is shown as having died about 1857.

NAME:	Urula Forrest
AGE:	50
BIRTH YEAR:	abt 1800
BIRTHPLACE:	North Carolina
HOME IN 1850:	Freemans, Stanly, North Carolina
GENDER:	Female
FAMILY NUMBER:	136
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:	NAME AGE Mary Forrest 72 Urula Forrest 50

In this census, she is shown living with her mother, Mary Bailey Forrest. As her father passed away prior, the John G Forrest who set up the petition was likely her brother, John Gresham Forrest, Jr. Her father also had a sister named Ursula Forrest who married Jeremiah Adderton. The younger Ursula then being her namesake.


Afterwards, Mark Jones just appeared in the records serving on juries or posting bonds with his associates. The next posts will be concerning his land records and 117 page estate settlement, which delineates and connects a lengthy Jones family spread out over several counties.