Saturday, May 28, 2016

Nebraska 1867


It was just after the close of the American Civil War that folks moved their wagons past Chimney Rock to settle in this new territory called Nebraska.  The name meaning 'water-valley', it was form out of the Louisiana and Nebraska territories.  The 1860 Census list at least 45 households that registered an individual with the surname JONES. [Jones Journeys, Vol. 15, 1987 - 1988, pp. 1395-1397.]  There were folks from all over the map, including a fair number from Wales, England, and Ireland.  There were farmers, clerks, carpenters, druggist, servants, teamsters, postmasters, domestics, land agents, millwights, miners, traders, and wagon makers.  There were folks from NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IA, IL, MO, and VT. [Mostly Northern ]  There were a few from VA, and MO [southern states] , and several from KY and MD [neutral states].  What a mixture it was.

Douglas Co. Marriage records reveal an Anney Jones (age 18) to have married Nelson Brown on 12 Apr 1857.  A James A. Jones marries a Margrata Sheldon on 2 Sept 1857. [Jones Journeys, Vol. 18, 1990-1991, p. 1783.]  These Jones were active in Nebraska Territory a decade before it became a State in the Union.