Finding Your Folks: Jones, Entrekins in the mailbag

There is one more Jones family I want to mention before we move on to another series of families, and that is one I did quite some time ago when we did the stories about the families buried at Bethany Methodist Church in Fayette County. That would be Enoch George Jones and his family. He was the one who survived a load of buckshot pumped into him by his (second) wife one hot summer evening, lived to tell about it, and later divorced her. Several articles appeared in the Atlanta Constitution about the incident and were relayed to me by Deanne Barr, a descendant.

Recapping Enoch's family of 14, who were all children of his first wife, Elizabeth Travis, we find: (1) Columbus Franklin Jones (1853-1896), m. Palisteen Renfroe in 1873; (2) John Thomas Jones (1855-1897), buried at Bethany; (3) Ida Celestia Jones (1856-1945), m. Jesse George Posey, both buried at County Line Christian Church cemetery in south Fayette; (4) Lovic Jefferson Jones (1858-1928), m. Frances (Fannie) Elizabeth Lester, both buried at Bethany; (5) Benjamin Howard Jones (1860-1863); (6) Seaborn Bartow Jones (1862-1922), m. Gena Lee Bridges, both buried at Bethany; (7) Sarah Elizabeth (Sallie) Jones (1864-1943), m. Elbert C. Martin; (8) Martha Frances (Mattie) Jones (1867-1941), m. William Hugh Boyd Jr., both buried at Bethany; (9) William Arthur Jones (1869-1935), m. Eulett P. Wyatt, both buried at Bethany; (10) Enoch Walter Jones (1870-1946), a Methodist minister; (11) James Edgar Jones (b. 1874); (12) Mary Mintora (Minnie) Jones (1876-1963), m. Ed Simmons Harris, both buried at Bethany; (13) Felton Jones, Minnie's twin (1876-1925), m. Cora Belle McElroy, buried at Bethany; and (14) Luther C. Jones (1880-1969), m. Mattie Sue Milam, daughter of Clarke Middleton Milam and Carrie Payne. All are buried at Bethany.

The update this week concerns the family of child number six, Seaborn Bartow Jones who married Gena Lee Bridges. Both Seaborn and Gena are buried at Bethany but they didn't live in the Bethany area as it would appear. Seaborn and Gena moved all the way over to Vinegar Vend, Ala. (Washington County), where they had nine children and ran one of the largest sawmill operations in the south, according to descendant Seaborn Bartow Jones III (Bart), who wrote to me several weeks ago. Bart lives in Florida.

If the 1910 Washington County census is correct, it would appear that Seaborn and Gena moved to Alabama between 1888 and 1890 (Seaborn appears with his parents in the Hopeful District of Fayette County in 1880), to Arkansas between 1892 and 1894, back to Georgia between 1899 and 1902, and back to Alabama between 1902 and 1905. S.B. Jones occupation is given as a saw filer at a sawmill. His sons' occupations are: Samuel, sawyer at a shingle mill; Grady, fireman for the railroad; and Fred, laborer at a log camp. Bart's father, S.B., born about 1902, is one of the younger children but has two younger sisters, Mabel born in 1905 and Myrtle born in 1908.

I did a quick search on Ancestry.com in the censuses but couldn't find them after that. I did find Bart's father, Seaborn Bartow Jones Jr., and his wife, Ada Agnes Simmons (daughter of John Simmons and Helen Dunn of Manchester, England and Connecticut), in Lake County, Fla., in 1930.

Bart said that Seaborn and Gena had expressed to their children that they wanted to go "home" when they died. So, when his grandmother died, he says the whole family headed for Georgia and he (then age 13) was left to tend the general store and post office in Vinegar Bend. Seaborn and Gena were both buried at Bethany and, to someone who didn't know, it would appear they had been in that community all their lives. And now you know the rest of the story.

If you'd like to correspond with Bart about his Jones family, you may email him at bart@bartjones.com.

The other family mentioned above, Entrekin, also is connected to Enoch Jones through his son, William Arthur Jones who married Eulett P. Wyatt. I was not aware of it, but after Eulett's death, Arthur married a second time to Margarette Entrekin.

Victoria Jones Mabry, daughter of James Donald Jones and granddaughter of William Arthur Jones and his second wife, is interested in finding out more about her Entrekin family. Victoria says that when her dad was eight years old, William died and her dad was raised by Margarette and her sister, Mamie Entrekin, who never married.

Victoria says, "Mamie was the librarian in the old Fairburn library for many years and her portrait hangs in the new(er) library, although I have never been there to see it.

"I am trying to find some information about the Entrekin family and I was wondering if you had ever researched their line. My grandmother, whom everyone just called "Miss Margarette," is buried in an old cemetery in Fairburn, but I don't know the name of it. I think all of my older relatives are buried there. The younger generation is mostly buried in Holly Hills, if they still lived in the area. My great-great-grandfather was Amanuel Mangram Entrekin.

"If you have any information about the Entrekins, I would greatly appreciate your pointing me in the right direction. If you need any information that I might have, I would be happy to share it with you. Victoria Jones Mabry, (victoria@swoutfitters.com) or (llamamom@gmail.com).

I pointed Victoria toward good ol' Rootsweb to see if anyone had already researched her Entrekins and promised her I would mention them in the column. If you have information on this branch of the Entrekins, please contact Victoria at either of the above email addresses.

Family histories about your ancestors who lived on Atlanta's south side are always welcome. Send them to jkilgore@thecitizen.com or JodieK444@aol.com. Mail to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214. All letters and e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.