Jones County Wills, Estates, Newspapers
Jones County (taken from Baldwin County) was created on 10 December 1807 and named for James Jones of Savannah, a young 23-year-old legislator, member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1798, and congressman. Old Clinton, the first site of the courthouse, was built in 1809. In 1905, the county seat was moved to Gray. The earliest county records survive. Baldwin and Bibb Counties should be searched along with Jones County records.
Marriages
- Jones County Marriages 1811-1850.
- Jones County Marriage Bonds 1811-1813 (digital images).
- Jones County Marriages 1811 to 1850
- Marriages 1810-1925
- Index to Jones County Bonds 1811 to 1813
- Index to Jones County Marriages 1811 to 1828
- Index to Jones County Marriages 1859 to 1866
- Divorces
Images of Jones County Wills 1809 to 1835
Testators: Adkerson, John Allen, Jesse Allen, William R. Allen, William W. Baldwin, Robert Ballard, John Barron, Joannah Barron, John Barron, Samuel Bedel, Abner Bell, Samuel Bourquin, Benedict Billingslea, Jacob Birdsong, Benejah Blalock, Alidia Blalock James Blount, Elizabeth Bond, Seth Boswell, Susannah Bowen, Charles Bray, Elizabeth Breedlove, Nathan Buckner, John Calhoun, John Carey, Robert Cary, Ann Carson, Elizabeth Carson, John Castleberry, Richard Chapman, William Childs, John Sr. Childs, Nathan Conner, Nancy Cook, James Cook, Samuel Cox, Jesse Cruther, Robert Davidson, William Davis, Gardiner Davis, William Dawson, Washington Dennis, Jacob Sr. Denson, James Dennis, John Dent, Samuel Dickens, Ephraim Dickson, John Driver, Giles Sr. Duckworth, Joseph Dunn, Nehemiah Edwards, Ambrose Eiland, Absalom Emerson, William Feagin, Richardson Finney, Benjamin Finnie, John Flewellin, William Flowers, John Fryer, Richard Gafford, Stephen Garrat, John Goodwin, Shadrack Gordon, Goven Grigsby, Grizzle Grigsley, Bathshiba Halstead, Jonathan Hamlin, John Hamlin, Richard Hammock, Benedict Hansford, Benjamin Harris, Edwin Harris, Joshua Sr. Harris, Richard Harrison, Joseph Hassell, William H. Hart, Warren Hawkins, Samuel Haws, C. Hester, Zackariah Hetton, Sarah Hines, John Hobson, John Hood, Elizabeth Horn, Simeon Hoskins, John Ivey, Jacob Johnson, Thomas Jones, Elizabeth Jordan, Robert Justice, Eliza King, Littleberry Kirk, John Lacey, Nancy Ledbetter, Benjamin Ledbetter, Samuel Ledbetter, Silas Long, Mary Magee, Davis Manning, Levi Martin, Elijah Mason, Gideon Mathis, Nathaniel McClendon, Joel McDaniel, Benjamin McDougall, Andrew McFarland, Dugal McFarlin, Peter McElroy, Reuben McGill, Susannah McLamore, Charles Messer, Noah Messer, Sarah Middlebrooks, Thomas Miller, George Mitchell, Robert M. Minyard, John Moore, Ebenezer Moore, Green B. Morris, Elizabeth Morris, Nathaniel Morris, Thomas Moughon, William Newberry, William Newman, Allison Oliver, Caleb Owen, Spencer Oxford, Jonathan Parramore, James Partings, Peter Person, John Pettway, Hinchia Philips, Mary Pigg, William Pitts, Aaron Rease, Alexander Reese, Isham Sr. Reynolds, Benjamin Richardson, Sarah Rimes, Jesse Robertson, James C. Rogers, Collen Simmons, John Slatter, Solomon Smith, John Smith, John (2) Smith, John C. Smith, Samuel Spencer, Charity Stephenson, Nancy Stone, William Stubbs, James Taylor, Joseph G. Thompson, Henry Tooley, William Trammel, Daniel Trice, Elisha Trice, James Trice, John Walden, Richard Walker, George Wall, Elizabeth Ward, John Watson, Tabitha Weathers, Jenkins Wheless, Hardy Wilder, William Williams, James Williams, Joshua Willis, Joel Wimberly, Lewis Wyche, Peter Wynn.
Abstracts of Jones County
- Jones County Will Book E 1808-1850.
- Jones County Will Book C 1851-1856.
- Jones County Will Book D 1864-1890.
Indexes to Probate Records
- Index to Jones County Wills, Books A, B and C 1809-1851.
- Index to Jones County Wills, Parts of Books C and D 1851-1867.
- Index to Jones County Annual Returns and Estates, Bk F, 1825-1828.
Miscellaneous Records
- Lowe, John (will)
- Simmons, William (estate)
- Sommons, John (will
Newspapers (images of select issues)
- The Jones Headlight
Traced Genealogies:
Jones County Families
| Barron | Bazemore | Billingslea | Breedlove |
| Brooks | Clower | Comer | Dennis |
| Drawhorn | Earnest | Emerson | Finney |
| Flewellen | Hawkins | Jarrell | Justice |
| Lavendar | Lowe | Morton | McKay |
| Owen | Roberts | Slocumb | Ussery |
| Wilder | Wimberley |
Gray's Station in Jones County
In 1886 the Covington and Macon Railroad Company began building a railroad from Macon to Covington. At the time, the tracks passed through land owned by Congressman James Henderson Blount, and a depot was built near his house. The depot stood on the present site of 115 E. Clinton St. in Clinton Georgia. Old issues of The Jones Headlight published at Gray’s Station are available for members to read. They are found under “obituaries” on Georgia Pioneers Graves of the Pioneer Families to Waystation. ” In the company of several friends on sabbath afternoon last we visited the old homestead of the elder Carons, one of the pioneers of Jones County. Not much remains to mark the spot where once stood (for aught we know) a stately country mansion. Our party which had been augmented by a descendant of the red man (though this individual was far from being red) repaired to the ancient burial ground of the Carsons, Finneys, and Barons. Here are buried some of the first settlers to the county. Our party wended its way back to the Station without an accident save breaking a footlog across the creek. ” Signed. Leviticus. To track this cemetery down, one must search on the map for Gray’s Station, where a railroad station was built two miles northeast of Clinton, Georgia. When the county seat moved to Gray the current courthouse was built in 1905. Source: The Jones Headlight Gray’s Station. February 11, 1888.
” Sheriff’s Sale. Georgia. Jones County. To e sold before the courthouse door in Clinton on the first Tuesday in March next to the following property: one 8-horse power engine and Talbott make and one fifty saw cotton gin and one rubber belt. Levied on the property of Robert Lundy to satisfy a fi fa. from Jones County in favor of Talbott & Sons vs. Robert Lundy.” Source: The Jones Headlight, Gray’s Station, Georgia, February 4, 1888.
Gray's Station in Jones County
“Judge J. W. Harkness has in his possession an old scotch brooch that has been in the possession of his wife’s family for more than 200 years. It is an old-style Masonic breastpin with the faint outlines of the compass and the square engraved on it but the date is worn away Mr. Hartman prizes it very highly and says he will wear it on his shirt the remainder of his days.” B7 Jackson Argus. Source: The Jones Headlight, Gray’s Station, Georgia, March 17, 1888.
Old Relics
” Mr. Robert F. Ezelle of Smithboro has had is possession of ilver spoon in his wife’s family (Howards) for more than 100 years. A badge of 1844 was obtained in Madison, Georgia at the Madison Convention with the following printed on the face: Madison Convention
Whig Nominations
Henry Clay
Theodore Frelinghuyson
Whig Principles
One Presidental Term. Source: The Jones Headlight, Gray’s Station Georgia. May 5, 1888.
Jeremiah Lamar
Jeremiah Lamar of Maryland sold the lands which he inherited and removed to South Carolina with his brothers. He was granted 300 acres on Beaver Dam Creek in 1757. Two years later he removed to Georgia.
A Champion Butter Maker
” Mrs. J. R. Chiles is a champion butter maker and housewife of this County and there can be found more substantial housekeepers in Jones County than anywhere in middle Georgia. Mrs. Chiles has made and sold more than
one hundred dollars worth of butter since the first of October, besides having used all the family needed at home, and divided with neighbors and friends also. She has no Jerseys either but believes in good feeding and close attention to dairying.”
Source: The Jones Headlight Jones County, Georgia, January 7, 1888.
Jarrell Plantation
The Jarrell or Fitz Jarrell home is located in northwest Jones County, southeast of Juliette, Georgia. It was operated as a cotton plantation by the Jarrell family, who owned it for more than 140 years. John Jarrell built this house in 1847 on a 600-acre plantation having 39 slaves, a sawmill, cotton gin, gristmill, shingle mill, planer, a sugar cane press, syrup evaporator, workshop, barn, and other outbuildings. In 1860, the 600-acre plantation was farmed by 39 slaves. After the Civil War, John increased his land holdings to nearly 1,000 acres farmed by former slaves. But as John became older, the workers left and the slave houses deteriorated and disappeared. After the death of John Fitz Jarrell, his son, Dick Jarrell, gave up his teaching career to return to the farm, and in 1895, he built a small house for his family which had grown into twelve children. Dick diversified the farm, adding a sawmill, cotton gin, gristmill, shingle mill, planer, a sugar cane press, syrup evaporator, workshop, barn, and outbuildings. In 1974, his descendants donated these buildings to establish Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site.
