Jonesville, Angelina County second county seat, Texas. (original) (raw)

The Town:

Jonesville was the second of Angelina County�s four county seats, sandwiched between Marion and Angelina (aka Homer). It served in this capacity from 1854-1858. Jonesville never grew and in its short reign as county seat the people never got around to building a courthouse. County offices were rented. The 1858 election that made Angelina the county seat spelled the end of Jonesville. Ballots were said to have been burned and the resulting vote was recorded as 221 to Angelina while Jonesville got a mere 130. Jonesville residents fought with an opposing group from Angelina and some 40-50 people were indicted for the fracas. After the election Jonesville started into a decline from which it never recovered.

See Lufkin, Texas - Angelina County Seat

The Life of Martin William �Gobbler� Jones

Founder of Angelina County�s Jonesville

Imagine the frustration of finding published errors about an ancestor and then trying six times without success to have that information corrected. Several renowned resources had dates, locations and even individuals misidentified in their histories of Mr. Jones and Jonesville. Upon hearing from Mr. Jones� great, great, great granddaughter and reading her detailed research, we have removed the previous history and replaced it with well-documented fact. The following is written by Betty Benton Lyle of Heraldton, Oklahoma. - Editor -

�Martin William �Gobbler� Jones was born in North Carolina on 4 Aug 1784 and married Rhoda Hodges in Jefferson County, Tennessee on 12 July 1804. They moved to Jackson Co., Alabama between 1824 and 1826, then moved to White County, Arkansas by May 1831 when their 11th child was born. He was the first State Representative from White Co., when Arkansas became a state. The family moved to Texas two or three months after the death of their daughter Phetna Mariah (Jones) Burks (died 18 Nov 1845).

Martin William "Gobbler" Jones was not the first person buried in Jonesville Cemetery, despite published accounts that he was. The first buried there was his great grandson, son of William Burks and Amanda Nite (the first woman on record to go up the Chisholm Trail and she was inducted into The Texas Trail Of Fame in October 2000). Martin's wife, Rhoda (Hodges) Jones died 11 April 1861�and was buried in Jonesville Cemetery. Martin William "Gobbler" Jones died at the age of 95 on 8 August 1879 and was buried beside his wife. Martin Jones has hundreds of descendants in and around Angelina Co.�

Betty Benton Lyle
Healdton, Oklahoma
Great, great, great granddaughter of Martin William �Gobbler� Jones

Jonesville Town Site Centennial Marker
On the south edge of present day Huntington
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2010

Jonesville Centennial Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2010

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