East Tennessee Roots
Major
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
- Location
- Kingsport, Tennessee
Charles “Rockhouse” Jones (1760-1830) - Find a...
Rockhouse Charles Jones migrated to Sullivan County, Tennessee, sometime around 1795, when he purchased 200 acres of land from James Boyd. He constructed a house of local limestone, thus the nickname Rockhouse. He was a slaveowner, but his his will of 1826, he gave the slaves their freedom...
www.findagrave.com
William Jones (1784-1860) - Find a Grave Memorial
Son of Charles Rock House Jones and Susannah. Charles' nickname was due to his building a limestone two story home in Sullivan County. It was actually built by his slaves. William and Jennie Watkins were never married. He was the father of all her children, except the first born Andrew Andy...
www.findagrave.com
Charles William Jones (1826-1909) - Find a Grave...
Unmarked Grave. Charles Jones was a blacksmith in the Confederate Army, Marshall's Battery, captured by the Union Army on April 10, 1865, paroled at Salisbury, NC.
www.findagrave.com
One of our newest members, @Mountain Rebel, reminded me of oral Civil War history I heard as a boy from several older relatives in several branches of my family tree. They related the story of Charlie Jones and his "Rockhouse", located in Cox Hollow, Sullivan County, Tennessee. The former site of the old house was near my mom's homeplace. My maternal grandfather lost his life due to injuries in the Eastman Chemical explosion at Kingsport, Tennessee, Oct.4, 1960. Some years before, he had purchased land just below the ruins of the old Rockhouse and cemetery as a gift to my mom, with the hope she and dad could build a house there one day. They were able to do that with mom's share of her dad's insurance money.
The old Rockhouse collapsed shortly after 1910 according to the above Find-A-Grave article. I can recall well the old cemetery (especially at Halloween) where we local kids usually gathered to set off fireworks. Many of the graves were sunk-in real bad, you had to be careful in the dark, or you could fall in one! Faint traces of the old house's foundation (what little there was), one large grave-marker, long since overgrown, and several field-stones, no doubt marking the final resting place of Charlie's slaves. "Old-Timers" at the time, related to me how they were told as kids that an "Old Rebel" had lived there during and after the Civil War, and most of the un-marked graves were indeed probably those of his slaves, fascinating stuff to a barely teen-aged Civil War enthusiast!
Actually, the "Old Rebel" was Charles William (or C.W.) Jones, grandson of the original "Rockhouse Charlie". In the late 1700s, Two Revolutionary War Veterans and Indian fighters, Isaac Depew and James Boyd left the Shenandoah Valley and settled in what would become Sullivan County, in upper East Tennessee. Their families intermarried and became some of the first settlers in the area. Boyd bought 200 acres of land from another veteran Indian fighter, a Henry Clark, who was homesick and longed to return to his native, South Carolina. Boyd later sold the uncleared land to a Charlie Jones, who along with his slaves, built a house of solid limestone and he became the original "Rockhouse Charlie Jones".
On April 13, 1905, Charles William, (C.W.) Jones filed for a Confederate pension from the State of Tennessee. There he states he was born in Sullivan County, Tennessee in 1826. That he suffers from Rheumatism in his arms, shoulders, and back, contracted while in Confederate service, with Marshall's Battery, Confederate Artillery, the Army of Tennessee. That he enlisted "in the spring of 1863". That his command was "captured and disbanded" at Salisbury, NC, April 13, 1865. Interestingly, two of his witnesses, possibly brothers, and apparently Unionists from neighboring Greene County, Tennessee, Isaac and William McAmis stated, "We were captured by Confederate forces and taken to Salisbury, NC, and while prisoners for about 9 months, we saw the applicant, C.W. Jones with the Confederate Army all this time. He was detailed as a blacksmith". Another of his witnesses was a 3 x maternal great-uncle of mine, Charles Milburn Cox, a late-war Rebel conscript. On May 22, 1865, C.W. Jones reported to Greeneville, Tennessee as ordered, to formally surrender and take the Oath of Allegiance. He then returned in peace to live out his remaining few years in the "Rockhouse"
Marshall's Company, Tennessee Artillery (Steuben Artillery)
OVERVIEW: Jackson's-Carnes'-Marshall's Battery [also called The Steuben Artillery] was mustered into Confederate service at New Madrid, Missouri, in August 1861. The unit moved to Mississippi, then Kentucky where it was involved in the conflict at Perryville. Later it was assigned to R.Cobb's, J.Palmer's, and J.W.Johnston's Battalion of Artillery, Army of Tennessee. The battery participated in the campaigns of the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, moved with Hood into Tennessee, but was left as garrison at Columbia. Later it was refitted in Mississippi, reached Salisbury, North Carolina, on April 3, 1865, and was captured there ten days later. In May 1863, it contained 79 effectives, lost 7 killed, 16 wounded, and 17 captured at Chickamauga and totaled 60 men in December 1863, and 83 in April 1864. Its captains were William W. Carnes, William H. Jackson, and L.G. Marshall.
"Men often slipped off as quickly as they were gained. For example, in the summer of 1864, twenty-six East Tennesseans assigned to Marshall's Battery from the Conscript Bureau were supplied with clothing to the exclusion of the older members of the unit and were drilled until all were competent artillerymen. Unfortunately, 24 of the 26 deserted"........"Mountain Rebels" by W. Todd Groce.
Though he never mentions it in his pension application, I believe C.W. first served in the Sullivan County Reserves (Homeguard). they were organized in June 1863. He was probably detailed to the Marshall Battery in March 1864, instead of 1863. I believe this is probably his record with that unit.
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