| Name | James JONES2, Source |
| Birth Date | 24 Dec 18643 |
| Birth Place | Newberry County, South Carolina |
| Death Date | 29 Aug 1943 Age: 78 |
| Death Place | Lemoore, Kings County, California |
| Burial Date | 3 Sep 19434 |
| Burial Place | Lemoore Cemetery, Kings County, California |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Mother | UNNAMED |
| Children | John Paul 'Jaye' (1897-1961) |
| 2 | Sarah HARE |
| Birth Date | 9 SEP 1882/1884 |
| Birth Place | Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina |
| Burial Date | 26 Dec 19615 |
| Burial Place | Lemoore Cemetery, Kings County, California |
| Death Date | 24 Dec 1961 Age: 79 |
| Death Place | Lemoore, Kings County, California |
| Occupation | Housewife5 |
| Religion | Seventh Day Adventist |
| Father | Norris HARE Sr. (1857-) |
| Mother | Eliza NORRIS (1861-1928) |
| Marriage Date | 1896 |
| Marriage Place | Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina |
| Children | Bertha Irene (1899-1967) |
| Amos (1902-1930) | |
| Annie "Ana" Marie (1904-1987) | |
| Chester (Jester) "Jess" Pierpoint (1906-1992) | |
| Mary Viola (1907-1983) | |
| Willie "Bill" David (1910-1988) | |
| Isaac (Isiah) (1911-1915) | |
| Pearl Stella (1912-1978) | |
| Harold Leroy (Living) | |
| Floyd (1916-1977) | |
| Ethel Velma (1919-1998) | |
| Manuel Vernon (1921-1971) | |
| Clarence Donald (1923-1998) | |
| Edward (Died as Infant) (1925-1925) | |
| Dennis (Died as Infant) (1953-1953) |
THE SHELL NOT BE FORGOTTEN- PIONEERS OF KINGS County, CALIFORNIA
DIED:1961
CEM: Lemoore Cemetery, Kings County,California
INTERMENT:
BIRTHDATE:
UNDERTAKER CODE:
VETERAN:
SECTION: 002
BLOCK: 06
LOT: 032
SPACE: 003
SUPPLEMENT CODES:
GID:
RECORD #: 3774
James was born in the Carolina's - supposedly had a number of children by his first wife. A son, John Paul Jones, was born 12/9/1896 in Riley, North Carolina and was stolen by his father when he left the Carolina's with Sarah Hare and a one year old daughter, Bertha. Evidently he had left his first wife and married Sarah Hare. They ran from the Newberry, South Carolina area in teh early 1900's, stopping in Atlanta, Georga where a son, Amos, was born on 10/19/1902/03. this timetable would have John Paul Jones six/seven years old and Bertha 2/3 years old.
Upon that note, I will list the information found during my pursuit of Grandfather Jones. Again, I have to voice my frustration of trying to track James Jones with the information I had. The dates of birth for Sarah and Bertha were fabricated by family members for other purposes. We all were told that names were changed during the trip from Carolina to California. It was almost impossible to match the information given with any information found during research without looking for alternatives.
When I found Sara Hare listed in teh 1900 census, she was living at home. This killed the idea tht she and Jamesd were married in 1897 and that Bertha was born in 1899.
The story that John Paul Jones, Jr. was born in North Carolina and that James snatched him over the back fence and ran with Sarah and Bertha doesn't seem plausible when matched with the information in the paragraph above. I looked at every black James Jones listed in South Carolina in teh 1900 census and did not find any family with a John Paul Jones, Jr. listed. Then I remembered how I used to stare at Uncle Jay and and Grandpa Jones and wonder if they were white. When Jenine sent me pictures of Jay, it brought back those memories I had as a little boy. I also remember Clarence having long blond curls.
So I started looking for a Jones family who was white and livved in close proximity with Sarah Hare. I found John Paul Jones, Sr. This also resolved my problem with why a man named James Jones would elect to steal a particular young son and leave another unless it was namesake pride.
On my initial trip to Columbia I found the white John Paul Jones and family. this trip I looked at the 1880 and 1910 Fiarfield County census to find out where John had come from and where he went. After 1900, the famiy dispersed.
In 1880 the Jones family was listed with a mother and father and three sons, John P. 24, James E. 21, and Thomas H. 20.
In 1900 John Paul Jones family was listed with his wife Mary L. 29, two daughters Sallie D. 8 and Marie P. 7, and two sons Thomas D. 5 and John P. Jr., 4. His mother Caroline 72 and his brother Thomas H. 39 also lived with him.
In 1910 I could not find John Paul Jones or John Paul Jones, Jr. I couldn't find his son Thomas D., but I did find his brother Thomas H. who had a wife named Mary, a son James 19 and a daughter Hannah 5. There was no listing to the mother Caroline, so I think she died.
I found Sallie Jones 19 in Darlington County, a teacher, single.
I found Marie Jones 19 in Sumter County.
I think Thomas Jones took over his brothers family between 1900 and 1910. I think that the James listed in family was really his nephew Thomas D. who would have been 15 or 16.
I think John Paul Jones met Sarah Hare in Fairfield County, got her pregnant after the 1900 census and had Bertha in 1901 or 1902 and got her pregnant again with Amos and had to leave the area around 1902 if Amos was born in 1903. I think he assumed his brother Jame's name.
I found a Jones, Mary L. in Horry County, however I didn't have time to research further.
Amos was born in October, 1902 in Atlanta. If Sarah was six months pregnant when they ran, their departure must have been around June/July 1902. If Bertha was one yar old then, she would have been orn in 1900 or 1901.
This research <Pacific Southwest Region of the National Archives in Laguna Niguel> shows Bertha as 11 years old in 1910. From this data and previous 1900 cenus data, I have surmised that Sara was pregnant with Bertha at the time the 1900 census was taken and she was still living athome with her family. I think John Paul Jones, "Grandpa Jones", got her pregnant with Amos and decided to take John Paul, Jr. and run away with Sarah. If she was 6 months pregnant when they ran and Amos was born in Atlanta, Georgia on September 19, 1902, then they left the Fairfield County area of South Carolina around May/June 1902.
I think John Paul took his brother James' name. I don't know what he did before he left South Carolina, but I doremember Clarence and Manuel telling me to ask Grandpa why he always got his gun when he saw a car turn into the lane and head for the house.
When I go back down to South Carolina in September, I will try to reseach that through county and local news records. I would really like to find out what happened to John Paul's brother James.
Everyone reading this document must realize that the assumptions made throughout this document are strictly my own, however, I feel that the conclusions reached are very plausible.
Sarah had told family members that she had 5 or 6 sisters in South Carolina.
A search of the 1900 census revealed only one family with a Sarah Hare born September, 1884. The number of sisters matched her previous information, however everyone listed in teh 1900 census resided in the home and there was no mention of a baby (Bertha) or a husband.
These Hare's were from Fairfield County which is adjacent to Newberry County where Bertha was born, and in the vicinity of Little Mountain and Stoney Hill, often mentioned by James.
I found it very difficult to match up the story that James snatched John Paul over a fence and ran with Sarah and Bertha across a plowed field. Sarah supposedly developed complications from a 6 month pregnancy, brought on by the strenuous effort of running across the plowed field. Because of this, they stopped in Atlanta, Georgia for 6 months where Amos was born.
Another story was that James left other sons from his first marriage who supposedly passed for white. Also ther was talk of owning/operating a woodyard.
I decided to check those Jone's listed as white and who lived in Fairfield County, South Carolina during the 1900 census.
Since there was supposed to have been a number of name changes during their escape and both Sarah and Bertha's birth dates were changed by family members to enable them to qualify for Social Security payments, open season on speculation seems fair.
Bertha has stated numerous times that she helped raise ALL of her brothers and sisters and was like a second mother. Since she was married in 1918, she didn't help with Ethel, Manuel or Clarence. Frank Greenway, Jr. was born 5/11/26 and on his birth certificate his father's age was listed as 30 and his mother's as 36. This would have put Bertha's year of birth at 1889/90 versus 1899. Frank Jr. wa born 8 miles so. west of Tulare, California, at home.
Oftimes, when deceptions are practiced, the truth briefly emerges during stressful events. With that thought in mind, I checked the 1900 census for further information and discovered the following:
During census taking, the names HARE, HAIR, HAIRE, HARRIS and HARRY are synonomous and were mixed by different census takers during each census. Archive records list the names together in alphabetical order in the HARE/HAIR section.
The names Bertha and Irene were not common during the 1900 census. The same applies to the name Sarah HARE. My initial visit to Newberry exposed me to a group of Hare's who seemed anxious for me to find a connection in tehir ancesters. the first day in Newberry, my wife and I went to the courthouse in search of my mother Bertha's birth certificate. We were directed to the County Health Deparment where a gracious lady took our inquiry and promised to research old records and send us the results.
On our way out of the building we met a young black woman. We introduced ourselves and asked if she knew any people named Hare. Her name wa Deneece Stolemire. She said that her great-grandmother on her mother's side was named Nancy Hare, and volunteered to take us to a town called Prosperity, 5 miles from Newberry, to meet Barnett and Brunell HAIR. We did not find them home, however we left word at their place of employment for them to contact us at our motel. Later that evening we received a call from a Frank HARE (803/321-0178). He picked us up at our motel and took us to his mother's house in Newberry. His mother, Lillie Mae Hare, talked to us at great length but said we needed to talk to her nephew, Tim Gray, in Washington, DC, who was compiling a family tree document for a HAIR/HARE family reunion to be held in Newberry, SC May 27 throgh 29, 1994.
After returning home I contacted Tim Gray in Washington (703/902-8315). He invited us to attend their family reunion and sent us a summary of the Hair/Hare family history.
I was unable to connect Sarah to these particular Hare's, but decided to attend their family reunion in the hope of meeting older family members who might have some knowledge of a connection.
On our way back to the reunion, we stopped at the South Carolina Welcome Facility on US 95. We discovered a number of brochures on Afro-American history. The senior custodian on duty made us aware that the state archives were located in Columbia, SC and suggested we utilize the historical data stored there to aid in our search for Sarah and James.
On Thursday we met Tim Gray's uncle, Milton Hare, a brother to Lillie Mae Hare, in Newberry. After a three hour visit we still could not connect Sarah with this Hair/Hare clan. On Friday we spent the day in the Columbia Archives. We found the listing for Norris and Eliza Hare with Sarah listed as the third Hare. Later we located a daughter, Cecilia Kelly, of an Ella Hare. She said her mother was the second born. Ella made up the sixth sister.
We returned to Newberry to attend the scheduled Hair/Hare family reunion picnic, but we were too tired and said we would attend the reunion dinner on Saturday.
The next morning we went to Windsboro, the county seat of Fairfield County, in seach of anyone who knew a Hare. We met a lady named Daisy McGraw who took us to meet a lady named HAIR. This lady said she knew that people named HARE lived in a town called Ridgeway, 15 miles away. Daisy took us to Ridgeway where we learned that some Hare's lived on 3rd Street. We located Norris and Buleah Hare. Norris told us that he was named after his grandfather and that James Hare was his father. He said that he really didn't recognize the name Sarah, but thought that she was an aunt everyone called "Hon", and that "Hon" was buried in teh church graveyard in Simpson, SC.
His youngest daughter, Lauretta, came to visit while we were there. she knew of each aunt listed, but asked who Sarah was. She said she had never heard anyone talk about a Sarah.
We spent a couple of hours with Norris and his wife. We listed their family members from the family bible. Buelah told us that some young family members were interested in tracing family roots, but she didn't have any phone numbers.
After leaving there, we went to the Hair/Hare reunion dinner and had a nice time. These Hare's didn't know anything about the Hare's in Fairfield county and the ones in Fairfield county didn't know the Hare's in Newberry county. Each said they were not related.
After our return home, we wrote Norris and Buelah, thanking them for their hospitality. We sent them copies of pictures we had taken while there.
A week after writing the letter we received a call from a lady who said her name was Martha, that she lived in Ridgeway and that she was Norris Hare's sister. she asked why we hadn't visited her while we were there. We told her Norris had not said anything about her. Martha said she had a twin sister named Mary. She also had a daughter Jessie Lee Pendleton who lives in Baltimore. Martha also has a sister Nancy who lives in Baltimore. She gave me their telephone numbers. Martha said she didn't know much about her aunts, but that her Aunt Lavinia's great granddaughter Barbara Ann, was doing the family history research. She said Jessie Lee knew Barbara's telephone number. We promised to go back to Ridgeway to visit her.
The next day we received a call from Nancy who said she couldn't wait to meet us. She told me Barbara Ann was not the person to talk to but that "Plummie's" daughte, Cecilia Kelly in Philadelphia knew more about the family than anyone.
Prior to talking to Cecilia, I called another Hare. She told me that some of the older family members would likely try to mislead me. She said her great grandfather had as many children out of wedlock as he had in.
We have scheduled a trip to Baltimore on June 27, 28, 1994 to meet Jessie Lee, Nancy, Mary and Beatrice. We will also go to Philadelphia to see Cecilia Kelly. After meeting and talking to each one we will schedule another trip to South Carolina.
On June 27 we drove to Baltimore to see Nancy and Jessie Lee. We had also made arrangements to go to Philadelphia to see Cecilia. While at the motel, we received a call from Jessie Lee's brother, James, who said he really wanted to meet us. We called Nancy to tell her that we had made arrangements to go to Jessie Lee's house that evening. She told us she couldn't talk, that she had just been informed that her son had just been killed. We then called Jessie Lee back to tell her we thought that we had come at a bad time, but she said we should come see her anyway.
We spent two hours with her. We showd her all of our family pictures. She showed us pictures of her family. She also gave us a picture of Cecilia Kelly, Ella's (Plummie) daughter. Cecilia's picture looked somewhat like my mothers. Jessie Lee told us that her great grandmother, Eliza Norris, was a full blooded Indian and that she thought she came from Sweetwater, Florida. Sweetwater is near the Siminole Indian Reservation. We will schedule another trip to South Carolina to try and track down further information on that aspect and attempt to learn more about Mr. Jones.
On August 5, 1994, my wife Elizabeth and I went backto Columbia, South Carolina with two goals in mind. Goal number one was to meet with Sarah Hares relatives in teh area and gather as much information as well as share more information aobut the Jones/Greenway families. Goal number two was to research my theory about James Jones.
On Saturday, Auust 6, we were picked up at our motel by Lauretta Hareand Norris's sister, Ruth Davis. They took us to a house once owned by Della Hare where a relative still lives. We met with Norris Hare, his wife Buelah, and their children. We also met Martha, Norris's sister and a whole flock of relatives. They had prepared a very fabulous dinner. We all ate, visited and exchanged family information. On Friday we had researched the archives in the afternoon and evening upon our arrival. I spent another six hours researching the archives on Saturday prior to meeting with the Hare's. We found Norris and Eliza Hare in the 1880, 1910 and 1920 census. (I have liosted this information, along with the 1900 census information to enable a reader to follow the Hare family progress.) There were so many things going on that it boggles the mind.
Cecilia Kelly (Ella Hare's daughter) and Martha Miller (James Hare's daughter) both swear that Sarah Hare had married a man names Bosie Lee who took her off to some distant place to live. This Bosie LEe supposedly abused Sarah so badly that she became mentally unbalanced. Her sister Lavinia spposedly retrieved her from some place called Greenbrier and brought her to live with her sister Della, in Columbia where she died in teh 1920's and was buried in the graveyard in Simpson, SC. Cecilia told me that she remembered going to the funeral.
Other members of the family remembered all of the other aunts listed <in Chart A>, but none of them recognized the name Sarah. Celilia's mother Ella was the first to leave home. Ruth went to Tennessee where she accumulated wealth and property. Family members were notified of her death and went to Tennessee to retrieve the body and return it to Simpson for burial. However, no one claimedher property. I need to research this further. Essie Hare went to Florida to live. Both she and Ruth returned home periodically to visit and bring the younger children presents. The stories I was told reminded me of Bill Jones in the 30's. He was always passing through with a different "aunt" (Smile).
During these years children were born but not always tracked. In fact, I found that life was extremely difficult for black people during the 1800's. Prior to emancipation most blacks were listed as property and counted by sex and age, listed by slave owner. Some free blacks were listed by name in court records when they bought slaves, property or sued whites in couirt for payment for goods and services owed.
For the most part, slaves assumed the surname of their first owner, no matter how many times they were sold. Some were bred at random, hence there were a large number of half-brothers and half-sisters as well as cousins. Families were sold as individuals and groups. Some families contained three and four different surnames. The first time blacks were listed as families was during the 1870 census. Names were spelled phonetically by the individual census taker, thus the mixture of spellings. Some gave actual age and some listed year of birth. Some slaves gave approximate birtdate information and some changed with each census. Genealogical experts gave me the following advice: "keep an open mind, pursue all avenues of information, and accept the information received during research."
I did find that people were listed/identified by color. "W" for white, "B" for black, "MU" for mulatta. the census identified a number of familes where the head of the household (Farmer/sharecropper) was listed as "W", his wife listed as "B" and the children listed as "M", Mulatta. I never saw it the other way though.(Smile)
This is a story about Sara Hare and James Jones, my great grandparents.
this story has been told to me in bits and pieces over my life time by my mother and my grandmother. I am always drawn back to it each year as the families and descendants of Sara and James gather together for the family reunion each August. Maybe you can help me fill in some of the blanks and unravel the mystery in the story.
James was born on or about December, 1864 in the South or North Carolina. She was reportedly born to full blooded Cherokee Indian parents.
One day James, who we believe was married to a woman other than Sara, tried to run off with his 3 sons by this woman. The two older boys were able to get away and stay with their mother, but James grabbed the baby (my great uncle known to us as "J"). James, Sara, and J Fled to Atlanta, Georgia where Sara gave birth to my great aunt Bertha.
James, Sara and the children suspected that they were being followed and they continued to run and move and cover their tracks. (The last name of JONES may be incorrect). They settled finally in the San Joaquin Valley area known today as Lemoore, California. They had a total of 15 children. One of whom is my grandmother, Mary Violet.
James died in August of 1941 and Sarah died December 24, 1961 without ever sharing the details of why they ran and the mystery of who they left behind. They reportedly did, however, keep a bible strangely disappeared on the day Sara died.
James and Sara have three surviving children and numerous grand and great-grandchildren. Somewhere out there someone, that may have a similar story told to them, plese contact me. My grandmother has also since passed away and as time has continued to pass, we are grasping at straws to put the pieces of this mystery together. Please help!
Here are some helpful hints:
1. Sara had some contact with her sisters. We believe she had 5 or 6 sisters.
2. James was a sharecopper. We believe the man he worked for before he fled was a doctor of some kind.
3. Sara never denied or changed her maiden name of "HARE".
4. The cities they spoke of were "Riley" and "Newberry" in either South or North Carolina.
(Note, parts were cut off during printing & every effort has gone into reconstructing it)
The history as we know it is that Sarah Hare was 16 years old and James Jones was approximately 38 when she became pregnant with their first child...... was kept a secret from her father who was supposed to be very protective of her. Sarah left the house supposedly on her way to school when she ...... with james. James already had a wife and three sons. He had planned .....all three children and take them with them. However, when he approched the house, his wife was hanging out the clothes and the three children were in the yard. When he tried to get the two older ones, they ran to their mother crying. He was then only able to get the younger child, John Paul,..... near two years old and was not yet walking very well.
There is some discrepancy as to why, however the story goes that the sheriff was looking for James (from either Sarah's father or James' wife) .. is said that he hid in a tree all night. No mention is made as to ...... and the child at this time.
In talking to Mary Jones, wife of Willie David Jones, she states that ..... her that they were running from the law for several states and did not relax until they got to California. This trip had to have taken more ..... years, as they did not reach California until approximately 1903. ...... reported that they had land here in Los Angeles but I have not been able to find any record of such. They moved to The Island in approximaely ...... they bought some property. Mention has been made that they had to ..... boat to go out and inspect it.
Background on Sarah from Mary Jones states that she was the oldest .... or three sisters. Her mother had died when she was quite young and ..... remarried. There is no mention of the fact that she made contact with ... them after she left home.