Joshua Jones b c1745 and Eleanor Medley b c1745, Buncombe County, North Carolina genealogy

But the ancestral home of this Jones family was Scotland. In centuries before, Joshua's ancestral family may have lived near a village in the Glasgow area, Govan, Scotland, before a move to the Ards Peninsula in north Ireland. The given name Govan appears in the Buncombe County generations of this Jones family. Below is a map showing the River Clyde and Glasgow area during the middle ages. Both Meikle Govan and Little Govan are now part of the City of Glasgow. The historic Govan Parish Church, researchers believe, was the site of one of the earliest Christian settlements in mainland Scotland.

The Ulster Plantation in northern Ireland grew from 13,000 Protestant settlers living there in 1622 to 100,000 in 1641.

My mother Bonnie Jones Eubank was a little girl living with her grandparents on the North Fork of the Swannanoa in east Buncombe County when she listened to her grandfather MARCUS JONES talk with her Aunts Nora and Frances about the Jones ancestors and how his great grandfather came to Virginia as a little boy. She told me years later elements of what she remembered of what she had heard Grandpa say when he talked about the family. On one point she wanted to make sure I understood, "Now it was not Grandpa's grandfather who first came over, it was his great grandfather. He came as a little boy with his family from Ireland." And she remembered Grandpa saying they lived in . . . she couldn't remember the first part of the word Grandpa had said, but, "it was something . . . patrick." Downpatrick, County Down.? She knew they had lived in Albemarle in Virginia, and that "they didn't stay there long."

With more detailed research in County Down, we may find this Jones family and possibly the time of their settlement there. There were Jones families living in Down. From The Book of Ulster Surnames, by Robert Bell, p 106 - "Perhaps, not surprisingly the Joneses are now found mainly in areas of English settlement at the time of the Plantation, namely counties Antrim and Armagh and in northwest Down."

Beginning research in Buncombe County, and researching back to Wilkes and to Albemarle, where my mother Bonnie had told me they had lived, I found the same Jones first names in Albemarle and later Wilkes and Buncombe.

Marcus Maloney Jones was a great-grandson of Joshua and Eleanor. His name actually derived from the General Marquis de Lafayette who was so important to the military effort of the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. Marcus, or "Mark" as he was also known, had an uncle (brother of his mother Laura Garman Jones) who was known as M. D. L. Garman, or Marquis de Lafayette Garman. In the next generation of the familybthe name came to be pronounced Marcus.

M.D.L Garman died of his wounds in the last days of the war on his way home to Buncombe on the stagecoach. (above) Malcolm Slagle had been a prisoner of war during the Civil War. The two veterans, Malcolm Slagle and Marcus Jones, were old friends, and traveled each year to the reunions, no matter how far away they may have been held. Malcolm and Marcus' s wife Rachel had died when Marcus attended his last reunion in 1919 accompanied by his granddaughter Bessie Grant, Aunt Nora's daughter.

The Surry County Joneses - Early Settlers
Descendants of a Jones family that settled in Surry County in the 1760/1770's share similar elements in their "arrival" story with elements of the story that Marcus Jones told his family. I think the early Surry Jones families and the early Wilkes Jones families may be cousins. ( more information to come)

Arriving at the Port of Philadelphia
Joshua's family probably arrived at the port of Philadelphia; it was the busiest port by far in those days. The family hired wagons and traveled across Pennsylvania, through Lancaster County, turning south into Maryland, going through the town of Frederick, and gradually reaching the Virginia piedmont in Orange and Albemarle Counties.

Joshua probably grew up in northern Albemarle County, along Priddy's Creek just south of Orange and Culpeper Counties. Albemarle County deed records show Stephen, Jr., Thomas, and Russel Jones bought land along Priddy’s Creek. They lived near a small village called Petersburg, as described by John Hammond Moore in his book, Albemarle : Jefferson’s County . . . “Petersburg is the appellation of a hamlet on Priddy’s Creek . . .” Moore adds that the first water mill built by Thomas Jefferson’s father Peter Jefferson “for which we have record was located on Pretty’s (Priddy’s) Creek in 1742.” Peter's Mountain at right in the map (below) was named for Peter Jefferson.

1864, Jedediah Hotchkiss. Section from Albemarle County Map. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C.

With its head in Culpeper (afterwards Madison, now Greene County), Priddy's touches the southwest corner of Orange County, before dropping down through the northeastern section of Albemarle, flowing into the North Fork of the Rivanna River. The tracts of Stephen, Thomas, and Russel (deed list below) were located along Priddy's or along its branches, and was from ten to twelve miles north of Charlottesville.

(The following deed records from Ruth and Sam Sparacio, Albemarle County Deeds 1761 -1782)
Stephen, Thomas, and Russel Jones of north Albemarle County - Deeds
1765 STEPHEN JONES, JR. bought 200 acres on Priddy’s Creek, by oath of THOMAS JACKSON.
1767 THOMAS JONES bought 320 acres on branches of Priddy’s Creek.
1775 RUSSEL JONES bought 200 acres at the head of Meadow Creek on south side Rivanna.
1776 STEPHEN JONES and wife Sarah sold 236 acres eastside Priddy’s Crk, up the Meadows.
1777 THOMAS JONES of Orange County, Virginia, sold 57 acres on Priddy’s Creek.
1779 STEPHEN JONES and wife Sarah sold 74 acres on Priddy’s Creek
1779 RUSSEL JONES and wife Anne (Beasley) sold 208 acres on Meadow Creek.

A Theory for Parentage of Joshua Jones
Considering the first deed in the list above where Thomas Jackson gives oath on a deed of Stephen Jones, Jr., Joshua may have been a son of Stephen Jones, Jr. Joshua's mother's surname may have been Jackson. The first son born to Joshua and Eleanor was named Stephen, and the second eldest son was named Jackson. Using the customary naming pattern of first son named for the father's father and the second son named for the mother's father the first son Stephen and the second son Jackson would nicely conform to this pattern.

John Medley, Planter, of Culpeper County, Virginia
Eleanor Medley’s father, JOHN MEDLEY, was a planter and lived in Brumfield Parish, Culpeper County, Virginia. This would have been the southeastern corner of Culpeper, near Ruckersville. One of four colonial churches in Culpeper was located at Burton and later at Ruckersville. The will of John Medley was entered in probate in Culpeper County on October 20, 1763. He named his wife and children. His wife ELIZABETH named in the will, was one of four co-executors with Jacob Ward, Charles Brooking, and son John Medley. Daughters Elizabeth, younger daughters Elinor (sic), Mary, and Martha are also named. The appraisal of the will mentions Capt. Thomas Jones, promissory note to John Medley.

The will of ROBERT MEDLEY, John Medley's brother, was entered in probate on Sept. 20, 1759 in Culpeper County. Evidently unmarried, Robert willed his estate be divided among his mother, Eleanor, his brothers and members of their families named in the will. Family members mentioned in the will are brothers John, Isaac, Jacob, and James; brothers-in-law May Burton, Sr. and Reuben Shelton; nephews May Burton, Jr., Ambrose and Reuben Medley (sons of Jacob), Thomas Shelton; nieces Susannah Eastham and her sister Elizabeth. Robert Medley's estate was settled July 11, 1761.

Among the legatees being paid in the estate settlement of ROBERT MEDLEY was JAMES MEDLEY, SR. receiving payment for ELEANOR his wife. This seems to indicate that James Medley, Sr. was the father of the Medley brothers and sisters in this Culpeper County family. ELEANOR MEDLEY was named for her grandmother.

Using references from Maryland and Virginia, it is likely that this Medley line lived first in Maryland and later in Essex County, Virginia, before moving to Culpeper County in the 1750's/60's.

Burke County, North Carolina
Joshua and Eleanor married in the early 1770's in probably Culpeper or Albemarle. They had at least three children before their move to Burke County, North Carolina. Russel was born after the move. Russel's descendant WILLIAM NATHAN JONES writes in his book By the River and Beyond that Russel was born in Burke County, North Carolina, on December 29, 1780. Nathan is a gggrandson of Russel, who moved from Buncombe County to Cocke County, Tennessee, in 1819. It's likely the three children born in Virginia were Stephen, Mary, and Jackson .

Eldest sons of Joshua and Eleanor, STEPHEN JONES and JACKSON JONES lived into their 80's. They gave their place of birth as Virginia on the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Censuses. On the 1860 census of Fort Hembree, Cherokee County, North Carolina, the census taker, in addition to noting the state of birth for each entry, indicates the county as well.

Where Joshua and Eleanor lived in Burke County
    1778 - From Burke County Land Abstracts :
      # 1398, p. 461 - Archelos Coffey, 250 acres on main Mulberry Fork of John's River, beginning at   Thomas
      Hyrises (Harris) upper line, up fork for complement including improvements JOSHUA JONES lives on.
      Entered Dec. 29, 1778. Warrant ordered. Transferred to James Blare and to Thomas Hayes.
     1779 - # 1473, p. 486 - Reuben Brown, "on the Mulberry Fork of John's River joining Joneses line and on both
      sides of said Fork for complement." Entered Jan. 25, 1779. Transferred to Thomas Hoyle (Hayes?)

Wilkes County, North Carolina
The map below shows both the John's River and Mulberry Fork area in Burke County, and also shows the Lenoir/ King's Creek area of Wilkes County. Joshua lived first in the John's River area of Burke and later on the middle fork of King's Creek.. William Lenoir built the original Fort Defiance on the early North Carolina frontier. Between 1788 and 1792 he built the home which he named also Fort Defiance in honor of the old fort that had protected him and his neighbors as they settled the area. About five miles northeast from Lenoir is King's Creek. Joshua lived on the middle fork of King's Creek.

1791 - 26 April - From Wilkes County Court Minutes, 1789-1797, Vols. III & IV, Mrs. W. O. Absher Deed from Joshua Jones to Laurence Bradley, 100 acres, oath of Samuel Tucker.

1794 - From Wilkes County Deed Book D, 1795-1815, Absher.
1794, Nov. 16 - Between John Grayson and Ann Wisdom . . . 55 lbs . . . 100 acres both sides middle fork King's Creek. THOMAS STAPP'S line . . . JOSHUA JONES line. Wits : William Durham, Larance (Laurence) Bradley & John Walker. Signed : John Grayson. Page 84.

Joshua may have bought land at King's Creek that had been confiscated by the Whigs from the Tories, who were major land holders in that area.
      From Here Will I Dwell : The Story of Caldwell County by Nancy Alexander :
                page 47 -
                There are said to have been almost as many Tories as Whigs in this section of the State.
                King's Creek, reportedly, was the home of a number of Loyalists who had a drilling field
                there. . . . After the war there was much resentment toward the Tories and most of them
                were forced to flee from their homes and land, either selling them for almost nothing or
                having them confiscated by Whigs.

Library of Congress American Memory Collection Part of a complete map of North Carolina engraved by H. S. Tanner in 1833 from original surveys., published in Fayetteville, North Carolina

1833 Map - Burke and Wilkes Counties
This map shows the John's River and the main Mulberry Fork where Joshua's family lived in Burke County. The map also shows the Lenoir area and King's Creek where the family lived at the time he moved to Buncombe about 1795.

Note the Jones residence along the road just west of Lenoir. As of yet with little research on the subject, Russel Jones, whose wife was Anne Beasley, may have lived there. They later moved to Franklin County, Georgia.

From Hayes' book The Land of Wilkes, p 37 - "October 26, 1785. As several Justices of the Peace in said County are about to remove out of this state, it becomes necessary to have some others appointed, the court taking the same into consideration does recommend to the Legislature of this State to nominate and appoint Major Jesse Franklin, Robert Cleveland, RUSSEL JONES, Benjamin Elledge, and Ambrose Hammons to that important office, as we look upon them to be the most suitable for that purpose."

From State Records of North Carolina, p181 - "Dec. 6, 1788. Mr. Brown presented the resignation of RUSSEL JONES, one of the Justices of the Peace for Wilkes County, which was accepted and sent to the Senate."

       1790 U.S. Federal Census - Wilkes County, North Carolina
        Below is a partial list of Thomas Ferguson's 1st company
       Ancestry. com : 1790 U.S. Federal Census, Wilkes County, North Carolina, First Company

Joshua Jones and neighbors : note JESSE ISRAEL (daughter Mary's family), and other Israel families. At the lower end of the second column are neighbors ZEBULON BAIRD and THOMAS STEEP (sic). Thomas was the father of JOSEPH STEPP who settled in the Black Mountain area and was the father of Joshua P. Stepp who married Isabella Porter. Joshua died during the Civil War. His daughter Rachel Jane married Marcus Maloney Jones, shown above at the Civil War Veterans' reunion..

William Lenoir was the entry taker for this area on the State Census of 1784-1787. It may have been Lenoir who entered the names on this U.S. Federal Census of 1790.

Buncombe County, North Carolina
Joshua and Eleanor are enumerated on the 1800 U. S. Federal Census for Buncombe County, North Carolina, and on each subsequent federal census through 1830. Joshua and Eleanor gave their ages on the 1830 census as being between eighty and ninety years. Both died before the1840 census was taken, probably between 1838/40. In 1841 twenty-nine heirs signed a deed transferring a tract of land west of the French Broad River, including the mouth of Hominy Creek, to John Reynolds of Buncombe. In 1841 several children and grandchildren of Joshua and Eleanor still lived on farms in the rich valley land along the north and south side of Hominy Creek in west Buncombe County.

Kenneth Israel is a descendant of Mary Jones Israel, second child of Joshua and Eleanor. Kenneth Israel's research, which was published subsequently in his book, Children of Israel, identifies nine children. And too, Israel researched and identified the locations where each child with his family resided in 1819 before several moved away. In 1819 Joshua and Eleanor and nine children and their families lived on land along Hominy Creek. Joshua and Eleanor's home was near the mouth of the creek along the French Broad River.

(above) Map by Kenneth D. Israel, Children of Israel. The map also appears in William Nathan Jones, By the River and Beyond, a history of Jones families, and some others, in the Big Creek and Del Rio area of Cocke County, Tennessee, where Russel Jones moved in 1819/20. Russel was son of Joshua and Eleanor.

Stephen Jones, b 1773 in Virginia
Stephen gave his birthplace as Virginia on the 1850 U.S. Census, and his age as 77. His wife was Jane "Jennie" Hayes born 1775, North Carolina. In 1859 through a Deed of Gift in Buncombe County, gave each of his seven sons $250.00. All the sons lived in Buncombe, except Wilt or Wyatt, who, like his Uncle Russel, moved to Cocke County, Tennessee. In addition to Wilt, the sons were Thomas, Joshua, Russel, Ransom, William, and Stephen, Jr.

Mary Jones Israel Rogers - Jesse Israel and Mary Jones married in Wilkes County, and moved to Buncombe with the family about 1795. Kenneth Israel's book Children of Israel has some detail of this Jones lineage in Buncombe County.

Jackson “Jacky” Jones, b 1775 in Albemarle County, Virginia
By 1840 Jackson had moved from the family settlement along Hominy Creek in Buncombe County. He moved to Cherokee County which was established after the Cherokee removal of 1838. Jackson is between 60 and 70 years old on the 1840 U.S. Census for Cherokee County. Living in the same household are two males between 20 and 30 years old. On the 1850 U.S. Census of Cherokee County, taken June 1, Jackson’s age is given as seventy-five. On the 1860 census Jackson’s age is given as eighty-four, his birthplace as Albemarle County, Virginia.

Thomas Jones, b 1781
Thomas Jones left a will in which he names his wife Ann, his children : Rachel, William, Patsy, Russel, Jincy, James, Nancy, Thomas, Anna, Polly, and Nelly. The will was written in 1825 and probated in 1832. Executors of the estate were Thomas's brother William Jones and William Israel.

(Note: Thomas's brother William Jones was the father of Col. Joshua R. Jones, who married Laura M. Garman. Joshua R. Jones was father of Marcus Maloney Jones .)

Sources
The Joshua R. Jones and Marcus Maloney Jones Family of Buncombe County, North Carolina, and their Ancestors as Known and Recorded by Marcus Maloney Jones, his daughter Mrs. Frances B. Jones Whisenhunt, and her niece Bonnie Jones Eubank.

Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data:

Indexed from: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States in the Year 1790. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1908.
Imaged from: National Archives and Records Administration. First Census of the United States, 1790. M637, RG 29, 12 rolls. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1830.M19, 201 rolls.

Thomas Perkins Abernethy, From Frontier to Plantation : A Study in Frontier Democracy, Southern Historical Publication #12, University of Alabama Press, p 174.

Nancy Alexander, Here Will I Dwell : The Story of Caldwell County, Rowan Printing Comapny, 1956, Salisbury, N.C.

Dorothy R. Hyde, Old Buncombe County Heritage, Article # 411, The Joshua A. Jones Family [son of Stephen Jones, Sr.], Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society, Asheville, North Carolina.

Culpeper County Courthouse, Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper County Register of Deeds, Will Book A ; 1759-61 Estate Probate of Will of Robert Medley, pp 203-205, 263-264 ; 1763 Estate Probate of Will of John Medley, pp352-354.

Buncombe County Courthouse, Asheville, NC, Buncombe County Register of Deeds, Deed Book 26, page 449, Deed of Gift of Stephen Jones to his sons, April 9, 1859.

William Nathan Jones, great-great-grandson of Russel Jones [ Joshua and Eleanor's son ], By the River and Beyond, a history of the Del Rio community in Cocke County, Tennessee. Copyright by the author, 1996. Printed and Distributed by Newport Printing Company, Newport, Tennessee.

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Adm. 1850. M432, 1,009 rolls.

USGenWeb, Burke County, North Carolina page, History of Burke County, North Carolina, Burke County Annexation to Wilkes County, 1789.

W.W. Scott, The Annals of Caldwell County [North Carolina]. Originally published in 1930. Reprint of the manuscript in 1996 by The Caldwell County Genealogical Society, Caldwell County, North Carolina.

Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1,438 rolls.

Carolyn C. Aslund & Billie C. Ledbetter, compilers, Cemetery Inscriptions of Buncombe County, N.C., Vol. 1, 1984.

Mrs. W. O. Absher, Wilkes County, N.C., Deed Books D, F-1, G & H, 1795-1815. Pages 154, 213, 233, 244.