Col. Jonathan Jones

While researching my sixth great grandfather, Caleb Jones, I’ve come across many trees which have attributed him as being the son of Col. Jonathan Jones, Nov 1738 – 26 Sep 1782 (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=49714814). Col. Jones served with note during the Revolutionary War, and at one point was an escort to Martha Washington. He would be a great addition to anyone’s family tree, but unfortunately, he is not the father of the Caleb Jones in my line. I base this conclusion on a couple of things:

1) In the book Genealogy of David Jones by Mrs. Ellen M. Beale (http://books.google.com/books?id=LB5WAAAAMAAJ), there is an extensive list of descendants of Col. Jones contained in the chapter on him (page 33). While he did have a son named Caleb Jones among his eleven children, further reading shows that Caleb died single and a lifelong bachelor.

2) When the wife of Col. Jones, Margaret Davis, passed away in September of 1819, it was at the house of her son, Caleb, who lived at the time at the foot of the Welsh Mountain near Morgantown, Pennsylvania. My sixth great grandfather, Caleb, lived in Ohio at this time.

Many family trees also attribute this same Col. Jones to being the father of Lieut. Edward Jones, who is buried in Old Four Mile Run Cemetery, Austintown, Mahoning County, Ohio (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28923887). Austintown is where my Jones ancestors did live, and Lieut. Jones could very possibly be the brother of my sixth great grandfather, Caleb. Lieut. Jones is not the son of Col. Jonathan Jones, however. Going back to the Genealogy of David Jones book, there is not an Edward Jones listed among the children of Jonathan Jones. The year of birth on Edward’s military headstone (1779) is the same birth year as Hannah Jones, the youngest child of Col. Jones. No mention is made anywhere of Col. Jones having been the father of twins, if Edward was in fact one of his children.

My hope is that other researchers may come across this post, read through the information in the book on David Jones, and not continue to make the same mistakes many others have made of attributing the father of my sixth great grandfather, Caleb Jones, and the father of Lieut. Edward Jones buried in Austintown, as being Col. Jonathan Jones. If any contradictory evidence is discovered, I would be very appreciative of being made aware of it.