Reference 1840 Census for Mercer Co. Kentucky
1840 KY Census Index Page 918

Contributed by Wayne Parrott
Email: wparrott@att.net
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Note:
From family notes: He was once captured by Indians. He was taught toshoot a bow and arrow. Was an expert at it.

Historical note: When Moses was 6 years old, Jacob (Moses's father) and family were on the expedition of John DONALDSON & Co., on their wayto Tenn. from Va. They were ambushed by the Chickasaw Indians, and most all of Moses' family was killed but him. He was captured again in 1780 and lived with them for nine years. He escaped by way of the Ky. River and landed at Warwick (now known as Oregon, Mercer Co. Ky). (fromRoselyne Watts Jones & other sources).

There are two oral traditions:
1. The reason I would hear from my family is that his life was spared while his brothers were killed is that Moses had red hair.

2. Others say the reason his life was spared while his brothers werekilled is that Moses had dark hair while the others were blonde.

Hi,

Since you seem to be interested in Moses Jones (my 5G grandfather), you
will probably be interested in this:

From, Moses Jones? from Virginia to Kentucky, Bluegrass ROOTS,
21(4):129-135, 1994. Ed by Melvin Hurst, compiled by Roselyne Jones,
Harrodsburg. The narrative portion comes from Col. Donaldson?s daily
journal, today at the Ramsey?s Annals of Tennessee.

Jacob Jones moves to Kentucky from Virginia in November 1799. ?The
Revolutionary War was proceeding and the Indian problem was at its peak on
the frontier, but many pioneers started the movement west against all
odds. One of the groups that was organized was headed by Col. John
Donaldson and his partner Col. James Robertson. The idea was that there
was safety in numbers and surely with the flotilla of boats that Col.
Donaldson had amassed the Indian problem would be lessened.
?This flotilla started on the Holston River near Fort Patrick Henry where
most of the boats were built for the journey west. The Donaldson?s boat
was called the Adventure, with a hull of squared logs and sides, well
bulwarked against ambush with a roof over most of the hull. It was
outfitted with bunks and a stone hearth for cooking.
?Col. James Robertson, the partner in the venture, left in early fallwith
a hand-picked group of men, some heads of families and considerable amount
of livestock. They traveled through the Cumberland Gap and along the
Kentucky Trace to ready a place for the rest of the party to arrive in the
spring.
?Donaldson, was to bring up the women, children, and about thirty
able-bodied men to handle and defend the boats. The part of the tripwas
to be longer, but was supposed to be safer and the boats could transport
the household goods, farming implements, tools slaves, building materials,
and seeds for planting as well as other supplies needed in Kentucky.
?They left Fort Patrick Henry three days before Christmas, but could go
only three miles the first day, to the Mouth of Rudy Creek, because ice was
already forming on the water. For the next two months they had to live on
the boats and tents ashore. By the end of February they started again, but
initially had trouble with the fully loaded boats clearing the shallows and
some fo the boats, including The Adventure got stuck on Poor Valley
Shoals. Many of the boats had to be unloaded through the icy water so the
could be floated through the shallows. Rachel Donaldson (later to become
Mrs. Andrew Jackson) was entrusted with the family silver by her mother
during this ordeal.
?The spring rains and melting snows of early March raised the water levels
and the flotilla proceeded down stream. In many places, the spring water
runoff created problems along the way and a Mr. Henry?s boat capsizedand a
rescue was made to save the children and what floating supplies that they
could collect as they passed by.
?When they passed the mouth of the Holston River, they found themselves in
hostile Indian territory. The flotilla had to make one stop at the mouth
of the Chickamauga Creek where Mrs Ephraim Peyton gave birth. The next day
the flotilla ran the gauntlet of the Chicamauga Indian towns along the
stream. A Mr. Payne was killed from ambush on Moccasin Bend.
?The boat of Thomas Stewart had an outbreak of smallpox, and was isolated
at adistance behind the rest. They were ambushed by the Indians, with all
28 people on board killed.
?As the boats approached the narrows of the river, they could see bands of
Indians following the boats. The Indians shot at Able Gower?s boat as it
neared the river bank with two men wounded, but a young girl named Nancy
Gower seized the rudder while the men fought off the attack. After the
skirmish, they found Nancy had been wounded in the thigh but had maintained
the boat.
?The Indians continued to harass the flotilla until it emerged from the
narrows and entered the great bend of the Tennessee, One of the boats,
Jonathan Jennings?s, went aground in the river and during the battle with
the Indians Mrs Peyton, while helping to unload the boat and pull it off
the sandbar, lost her newborn baby in the confusion.
?Finally clearing the present Indian trouble by getting to the main
Tennessee River, they were able to float over two hundred and fifty miles
to the junction of the Ohio River, site that is now Paducah. They poled
the boats up the uncharted Ohio River against the rapid current. Their
provisions were almost exhausted, most of the men were wounded or illand
the whole group discouraged without knowing how much was still left of the
journey. At the end of April, they reached French Lick and the blockhouse
that Col. Donaldson had built, with a loss of 33 people.
?Col. Donaldson moved his family eight miles further up the Cumberland and
two miles up Stone River to Clover Bottom. Their hardships were still not
over with. The first station consisted of tents while they put in their
crops of cotton. The river overflowed and wiped out the crops and the
Indians scarcely left them alone their first season in this new western land.
?Since many of the men were sick or wounded, Jacob Jones was probablyone
of those who were taken back to Fort Union to recuperate and so was not at
the Indian battle where his son James was killed and Moses captured.
?James and Thomas Jones and families and 4 negroes went up Red River 9
miles and settled on a bluff. Two of the men went to the spring for water,
and were tomahawked by the Indians. Near camp, James Jones was also
tomahawked and his brother Thomas Jones shot the Indian and escaped but
another party of Indians killed Amstead Miller, young John Johns and took
Moses Jones captive. Mrs Jones, wife of James, hid with two children,
three year old Shadrack and a baby until a rescue party arrived from
Nashville. They found the dead bodies of Anstead Miller, and Brisco,along
with 19 others. The raiding party was a band of 50 Chickasaw Indians.
?Again from Ramsey?s History of Tennessee, ?the 12th of April we cameto
the mouth of a little river running in on the north side, by Moses Renfro
and his company called Red River,? up which they intended to settle.From
Draper?s manuscripts Henry Ramsey was in a fight and fled with 10 others,
picking up a woman with two small children. This was the woman, a Mrs.
Jones, who would later marry a Mr. Berry.?

Will is dated 19 May 1780, in Fort Union on the Red River. Probated 15
March 1796 in Lincoln Co., Kentucky:

In the name of God, Amen-- I Jacob Jones of the foresaid fort, being weak
in body, but sound & in perfect memory, thanks to God for the same, knowing
that life is uncertain, I do make & ordain this my last will and
testament. Revoking all wills by me hereto made.

I give and bequeath unto my son Abram Jones, one shilling sterling, for his
part of my estate more than what he has had.

I give and bequeath unto my son Thomas Jones one shilling sterling, for his
part of my estate more than what he has had.

I give and bequeath unto my daughter Mary Knots one shilling sterlingfor
her part of my estate more than she has had.

I give and bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Jones one feather bed and
furniture and our flax wheel to be received when she separates from her
mother. Also, one half the property of my negroe wench Tayrer at my wife's
death or marriage to be received and not before.

I give and bequeath unto my daughter Sarah Jones one feather bed &
furniture and our flax wheel to be received when she separates from her
mother, also the other half of the property of my negro wench Tayrer,to be
by her received at my wifes death or marriage & not before.

I give unto my son Moses Jones my negroe boy Ben, one bed and furniture,
and all my working tools of all kinds, but nothing to be received by him
till my wife's death or marriage, accept her consent thereto.

All the rest of my personal estate, not yet given before my just debtis
paid, I desire my wife Elizabeth Jones may have the benefit of duringher
natural life or widowhood; and after her marriage or death, the same to be
equally divided between my three children, viz: Elizabeth Jones, Sarah
Jones, and Moses Jones.---

Lastly I constitute my loving wife Elizabeth Jones Executive of my last
will and testament. IN witness whereto I have sit my hand and seal this
19th May 1780.

Jacob Jones
Signed and acknowledged in presence of John Milner
his mark
Reuben (x) Harrison

Another Version with more details the Jones
From Armistead Miller of Lincoln Co., Ky
Born July 25th, 1768

Capt. John Miller joined Col. John Donelson and Company at the boat yard at the Long Island of Holston. Spent the hard winter in camps, strung for ten miles along the river, building boats?killed plenty of deer. The cattle drivers started in the fall?Josiah Ramsey?Winters?Lindsey?Solomon Turpin & others; the hard winter caused them to tarry in the cane, many died. (Many buffalo died of that hard winter & when spring opened, the freshes drowned many other buffaloes.)

There were 40 boats batteaux & canoes?started in spring, when the river opened. At Chiccamauga town, Indians came to John Donelson?s boat& ____ it was an _____to attack, & he landed them; they made professions of peace; but they parlayed only to gain time, & then commenced firing on all the boats, wounded James Jones through the thigh & others?took the two rear boats, had the smallpox & were kept behind. The Indians slipped in on them in their canoes & captured; one woman seeing they were let to be taken jumped overboard & was drowned. The Indians took the smallpox, took sweat (?) and jumped into the river and died.

The Indians followed the same day along the Suck, at which the Indians reached first & were ready to receive the whites, & fired on the boats as they passed. Here as at Chiccamauga they had to row at a fair rate; & at the Suck it was perilous, & had to keep close to one bank or the other to avoid the whirlpool. The Indians did no mischief after passing the Suck. No material accident over the Shoals, rapid work. At Mouth of Tennessee River held a council whether to go up or down. Some went to Natchez, allowing if they went up Cumberland they would all be destroyed. Going up Cumberland killed game & cooked herbs for greens. Each was saving a little bunch of corn and pumpkin seed for planting. A little above mouth of Red River Solomon Turpin shot abear in the river. James Renfroe, Jesse Renfroe & their families; Lewis Dewees & wife?Moses Renfroe & family; Isaac Renfroe; John Bangue (?) & family, Cartwright & wife and children; Crutchfield, wife, & several children; Johns & family; Jones & family; John White & wife--& Capt. John Miller & family?Solomon Turpin & family; ____ Turpin & family?James & Thomas Jones & families?making about sixteen families; making about eighty souls and four negroes. Went up Red River nine miles & settled on the bluff of the northern bank; sometime in April made a camp-fort of half faced camps?two rows from the river up; & the ends open. Cut off some of the bushes, planted some corn & pumpkins without fences. Moses Renfroe was the leading man of the settlement. He was afine gunsmith, & made many a rifle. A ?Renfroe Rifle? was a passportall over the west. Moses, Jesse & Isaac Renfroe were all Baptist preachers; Isaac Renfroe preached one Sundy at the station.

Turpin & Dewees went out one day hunting & when not exactly together,a panther sprang from a tree upon Turpin & stuck his claws into both shoulders; bit him on the head, & tore his clothes with his hind claws, & would have killed him but for Dewees running up and knocking off the unwelcome visitor, with the breech of his gun & killed him?fearingto shoot lest he should kill Turpin.

Young James Renfroe, a son of Moses, out a hunting, got lost & was 2 nights gone before he got in?it was feared he was the Indians had killed him.

Caught sturgeon (one six feet) & other fish, buffalo, elk, bear, deer, etc--& ducks & geese. John Lumsden came there from one of the other stations & one day in June while in a mulberry tree gathering fruitone Sunday evening with others at other trees?three Shawnees were seen stepping through the spice bushes & all fired & killed Lumsden, scalped him, & dodged off. The whites carried in his body and buried it. Next day, Solomon Turpin went out hunting & on his return was killed & scalped within three hundred yards of the station?his body was brought in & buried.

All was sore consternation?men were sent to Nashville, Eaton?s, Manscoe?s for aid to move to those stations. Several came with horses. Manscoe came with the others?carried a portion of the families and returned for a second load?Josiah Ramsey was along. Joseph Renfroe and negro came also. This took all people & nearly all the property; & started about daylight, travelled all day without anything to eat, crossed Sulpher Fork & then up Miller?s Creek, & camped a spring running into Sycamore Creek, tied up the horses. That night heard Indians howling like wolves, owls, etc?but it could not be told whether it really was an enemy or not. Between daylight & sun rise, Joseph Renfore and negro Jesse went to the spring to get water & were both shot down, & thendashed and fired upon the camp?one Indian ran up and tomahawked JamesJones then on a litter from his wound received coming down Tennessee--& his brother Thomas shot the Indian & Thomas then escaped. Josiah Ramsey took with him (my informant) Armistead Miller & young John Johns& ran off?Johns was overtaken & tomahawked; & took Moses Jones prisoner.

Old Mr. Jones (?) fought until he shivered his gun to pieces?but was finally killed together with his wife (& wd.(wounded?) son as stated)?Mr. Crutchfield, wife, & Harry Crutchfield; old Mr. Johns, wife & daughter (& grandson John Johns as already stated)?Cartwright & wife (& perhaps John White & wife, tho not certain had got the idea that 16 werekilled but perhaps that may have included Sol. Turpin and Lumsden. Mrs. Jones, the wife of James Jones with her two children, one a boy Shadrack some 3 years old, & a sucking child, she escaped, & at a littledistance hid under a shelving rock, & there remained until a party went next day to the defeated camp & brought her & her children in.

Beside young Miller, two of Mrs. Crutchfield?s sons, Thomas and John escaped, & Manscoe & others who came to aid. The heads of families, like Johns, remained with their families & fought & died in their defence. Young Miller & Ramsey & hid under a fallen tree within half a mileof the camp, & there remained till sun rise, hearing the firing & cries?then when all was still they slipped off.

When the relief party came to the defeated camp, found the dead bodies scattered around scalped & mangled?one horse killed accidentally?the camped plundered; the Indian shot by Thomas Jones was found laid beside a log, with some jerked venison, a pipe & tomahawk by his side.

The Indians were about 50 Chickasaws. Moses Jones was kept by the Chickasaws nine years, & died but a few years ago on Ky. River, near Warrack. About that same time they killed Ambrose Porter (probably Ambrose) near Eaton?s Station cutting down a cedar. This was in June, 1780.

The families were scattered among the three stations?French Lick, Manscoe?s, and Eaton?s.

When the Massacre took place at the Clover Bottom?a party of Moses Mauldin, Jonathan Looney, John Hamilton, & others pursued. Hamilton & Mauldin killed one & brought in his scalp to Manscoe?s Station. This Looney was a lazy fellow & at the station would steal the others wood,& sing of nights (after he had been charged with it) ?I?ll sing my song and sing it good. Let every one take care of his wood.? James Eain(?) bored a hole in a stick of wood & put in some powder & plugged itup & placed it within Looney?s reach who got it one evening, placed it under his kettle & blew it & broke it to pieces?a sad loss in thesetimes.

In March of ?81, Miller, Col. Donelson, the Henrys, Renfroes, Turpinsmoved to Ky. Col. Donelson lived at Logan?s a short time, at Whitley?s & then built a station in the neighborhood of Col. John Bowman?s; &in ?84 returned to Tennessee to Manscoe?s Station.

Col. Harrod was like Moses. Went out to view the promised land?he died, was buried in the vallie of Moab, and no one knew where his sepulchre was. See Deuteronomy 34th Chap. V. 6.

Harrodsburg?In the spring of probably ?82, one morning the cows goingout of the Station, came running back alarmed; The men went out in their rear, killed two of the Indians secreted behind the brush near a new clearing and drove off the others?Gen. Ray was one of the whites. He was out on the Wabash Campaign.

Blue Licks?Paul Humble of Mercer County had his thigh broken & escaped on a horse with his knee shattered & got off on three legs.

Walker Daniel with two others were killed on waters of Beargrass in 1783.

Cove Spring (first settled by Gabriel Madison?late in fall of ?82) {items in parenthesis were lined out}a party went out from Harrodsburg to the Cove Spring, on Harrod?s run, a mile from the Station, & shelling corn?Indians fell on them, shot at the whites in the crib?one Indian was killed & another wounded?one white killed & James McCulloch severely wounded. The Indians were driven off & reinforcements ran fromHarrodsburg to their relief ( vide p. 34?McCulloch Ensign in ?81) (vide Henry Wilson?s notes p. 73)

John Miller living on Rolling Fork, in the spring of ?93, fell upon him & family?self, wife & three children all tomahawked & scalped. Capt. Jeremiah Briscoe & nineteen others (Armistead Miller one) pursued &would have taken them on surprise but Joseph Ayre?s gun went off accidentally, alarmed the Indians, They lay down resting at a fire (the smoke of which was seen by the pursuers on a distant knob, divided to surround them) & the Indians broke?seven of them Cherokees--& the whites got but distant fires, wounded one Indian, overtook & killed him?got back the stolen plunder.

George Bright & 2 others were killed by a party under Watts on the Wilderness Road in the winter 1780?81. Took their horses & other property; only these three. Learned these facts from prisoners returned to whites.

Vannoy & family, Henry Houndeshall, Maxwell, & Rounsevale?James Ferris & family?all came down Tennessee with Donelson in ?80. Joseph Skidmore of Lincoln, Ky. says he was a soldier of Crockets regt. Composed of Capts. James Smith & James Barnett, about 100 men in all. Marched for Bottetourt & passed through Abingdon on New Years day 1781 and joined Gen. Campbell at Eaton?s Station near the Big Island--& there dismissed(?).

Joseph Skidmore?s uncle Capt. John Skidmore was wounded at ?The Point??shot through the leg, & another shot in his body.

========

Buried in Mercer, Co., Kentucky @ Jones & McMurry Graveyard, aka Moses
Jones cemetery, off Oregon Road.

From, Moses Jones? from Virginia to Kentucky, Bluegrass ROOTS,
21(4):129-135, 1994. Ed by Melvin Hurst, compiled by Roselyne Jones,
Harrodsburg.

At the end of April,1780, Moses and family reached French Lick. ?Since
many of the men were sick or wounded, Jacob Jones was probably one ofthose
who were taken back to Fort Union to recuperate. In the meantime, Moses,
along with ?James and Thomas Jones and families and 4 negroes went upRed
River 9 miles and settled on a bluff. Two of the men went to the spring
for water, and were tomahawked by the Indians. Near camp, James Jones was
also tomahawked and his brother Thomas Jones shot the Indian and escaped
but another party of Indians killed Amstead Miller, young John Johns and
took Moses Jones captive. Mrs Jones, wife of James, hid with two children,
three year old Shadrack and a baby until a rescue party arrived from
Nashville. They found the dead bodies of Anstead Miller, and Brisco,along
with 19 others. The raiding party was a band of 50 Chickasaw Indians.
?Moses made his escape in 1789, at the age of 16, by way of the Kentucky
River, leaving the river at Warwick. The first account of Moses after his
escape was in 1790, when he was appointed as a hand to attend David
Williams survey. This was usually a road detail and was appointed bythe
courts to keep the roads open and passable. There is no indication at this
time that he had found his family or they were in the region at this time.
?In 1794, he is listed in Kentucky, but has no land or livestock. In1795
he had 2 horses and there is a Jacob Jones in the same district in Mercer
Co., as was Moses. The will of Jacob Jones was probated on March 15,1796,
and for the first time Moses acquired land, most likely using some ofhis
inheritance. He bought 3/4 of an acre from Jacob Meyers for 10 pounds,
adjoining the town of Warwick.
?In 1799, Moses, age 26, acquired another 105 acres in Warwick. He still
had not married, but 2 years later on January 8th, 1801, he secured a
license to marry Mary Henderson, age 27. Mary?s parents have not been
determined, but Thomas Anderson signed the marriage bond and an Alexander
Henderson had land transactions with Moses Jones after the marriage that
would indicate possible kinship to Mary Henderson.
?Sometime during the period of 1809-1811, Moses Jones constructed hishome
at Warwick, made of brick in the Flemish bond style. The structure
contained 4 rooms, 2 large rooms downstairs each with a fireplace andtwo
smaller rooms upstairs each with its own enclosed stairway. An entrance to
a full basement was under one stairway, and a closet under the other. The
basement had a dirt floor and was used to keep the livestock during certain
states of affairs. The kitchen was located apart from the house, through a
side door from the parent?s room. In this period, the kitchen was usually
located apart from the house because of the fire hazard.
?A creek ran near the house to supply the water for the house, and for a
distillery whose foundation was still visible in 1964. The house is still
standing (as of 1994) and in the last few years was restored to its
original condition by Clay Lancaster, a noted authority in this type of
restoration. The house is now listed on the Register of Historical Homes
of Kentucky.
?Besides farming and running a distillery, records indicate Moses rana
ferry for at least 4 years- maybe longer? across the Kentucky River
connecting his property to the property of Hugh Garret in Woodford
County. The family now seemed settled and prosperous, with at least 7
children born to the union.
?Moses continued to buy land until 1814, amassing about 400 acres by the
time of his death on May 18, 1842, age 69 years and 4 months.? He is buried
in the ?old family cemetery, located a few hundred yards away from the
home. Moses did not leave a will, but he inventory of his estate (valued
at $4,361.50) indicates the prosperity that a young pioneer could amass in
the wilderness of the new western lands of Kentucky.?

• Married: 8 Jan 1801 in Harrodsburg, Mercer, Co. Kentucky
• Marriage Bann: 16 May 1995 in Bondsman: Thomas Anderson Certifies Brides Age As 21
• Change Date: 17 Jul 2008

1. Sarah JONES
2. Elizabeth JONES b: 25 May 1802 in Kentucky
3. William JONES b: 19 Aug 1805
4. Stephen JONES b: 1808
5. Willis JONES b: 15 Apr 1810
6. Lutillet JONES b: 24 Jun 1815
7. Hite Tinnel JONES b: 4 Nov 1818