L. JONES

The following bio was taken from page 264 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

My grandfather, Newt Jones, married Artie Missie Smith in Lumpkin County, Georgia. My father, Joseph Ance Jones, was born September 23, 1866. My grandfather, Henry Grindle, married Hanner Ducket in Lumpkin County. My mother, Mary Ann Grindle, was born October 28, 1873. I, L. L. Jones, was born October 25, 1894 and was the oldest of seven children. In 1904 we moved from Lumpkin County to the Jim Tate place in the Crims Chapel Community near Henderson, Texas. We also lived at Millville, Joinerville, Whites, Pleasant Hill, Grandview, Chicken Feather, and New Prospect. I was saved when I was sixteen during a revival at Chicken Feather. I joined the army May 10, 1918. I was stationed at Camp Travis in San Antonio, Camp Bowie in Ft. Worth, and Ft. Sill in Oklahoma. After World War I, I was discharged on January 22, 1919 at Camp Travis. My parents were living on the Vinson farm when I returned home. We then moved back to Millville. My father died March 11, 1922 and was buried in the Millville Cemetery. After he died we lived on the John Harris place in Carlisle and on the John Cone place and the George Eaton place in London. On September 29, 1928 I married Lillian Berniece Moore, who was teaching school at Shiloh. She was born July 3, 1894 and died July 19, 1934. Her father, James Pat Moore, was born November 7, 1864 and died August 1, 1922. Her mother, Emma Prudence Moore, was born August 11, 1866 and died April 6, 1927. I worked on the railroad for three months, and in 1929 I farmed the Wilson place near Arp. The next two years I worked at the Letch Dean Nursery in Arp. In 1931 we moved to London where I filled the unexpired term of school trustee Sanford Crim. Then I was elected the next term. Our daughter, Lillian Oleta, was born November 7, 1931 while we were keeping a boarding house in London. We then bought a farm in Lindale where I joined a Southern Baptist Church and started tithing. James Luther (J. L.) was born on July 17, 1934. Two months before the London School explosion in 1937, I started my job as the schoolyard custodian. I held this job until I retired in 1960. On December 31, 1939 I married my second wife, Odie Jewel Witcher. She was born September 15, 1900. Her father, Dee Witcher, was born August 21, 1872 and died January 24, 1953. They, the Witchers, married December 8, 1898. I have been a trustee of Texas Baptist Institute in Henderson since its organization in 1947. I am now an honorary trustee. I bought a house in Henderson and moved into it in 1960. Then in 1968 we bought a home at Joinerville where Odie and I now live. Written by L. L. Jones