#52 Ancestors 2023 Week 27 The Great Outdoors: The Chesapeake Watermen of the Jones Family

My grandchildren Henry and Harper are descended from a long line of Chesapeake watermen through their mother's Jones family. I would like to highlight some of that heritage here.

Old Trinity Church

As best as I can determine, the immigrant ancestor of this line was William Jones, born in Wales about 1738 and died in Dorchester County MD about 1779.  

William and his wife Ann had a son John Jones, born in 1761 and baptized at Old Trinity Church, built around 1675 and one of the oldest church buildings in America still in use.  

John Jones married Elizabeth Tregoe at Old Trinity in 1794 and had seven children with her, including George R. Jones, the 6X-great grandfather of my grandchildren, born in January 1803 in the little village of Tobacco Stick (now Madison).  

This little village was also the birthplace of Harriet Tubman a few years later in 1822.  The map below shows the location, a little west of the county seat of Cambridge. As you can see, Dorchester County is very much a waterfront community and it is easy to understand why so many of the Jones men became watermen, sailors, and oystermen. 

Jones Brothers

George Jones married Elizabeth Tyler in 1823 and had seven children with her: David (1825), Jackson (1827), William (1830), Abel Abraham (1831) 4X-great grandfather, Martin (1837), Samuel (1838), and Sarah (1842). 

The family included three captains of Chesapeake sailing boats: Captain David Jones, Captain Jackson Jones and Captain Martin Jones. Captain Martin is standing in the picture at the right.  His brother Samuel is seated at the right.  I'm not sure who the third brother is. I'm guessing this picture is from the 1870's.

The 1850 Census of Dorchester County shows oysterman George Jones, age 40, with his father John Jones, age 80, his wife Elizabeth, age 38, and sons William, 19, Martin, 13, and Samuel, 10, along with 8-year-old daughter, Sarah. 

In 1853, Abel Abraham Jones married Mary Caroline Winsor. They had two children: William Henry Pearce Jones (1853) and Abraham Christopher Columbus Jones (1855). 

In 1860, George and Elizabeth are living in Dorchester County with their widowed son Abraham (my grandchildren's 4X-great grandfather) and his two sons William (6) and Columbus (5). 

Abraham Jones died in 1861.  He was a farmer, but he must have spent time on the water also since his death was caused by drowning. 

About 1870, Captains David and Jackson Jones are credited with starting the oystering industry on Kent Island shown on the map above north of Dorchester County.  They both moved their families there. 

Using a two-masted schooner called a pungy, the brothers dredged for oysters and carried their catch directly to markets in Annapolis and Balitmore. The pungy was developed in the 1840's and was peculiar to the Chesapeake Bay. Its principal use was to haul freight like seafood and produce. 

William Henry Pearce Jones (3X-great grandfather) was also an oysterman as was his brother, Abraham. In 1874, William married Louisa Farland Cummings, the daughter of William  Cummings and Rebecca DeCourcy.  They had seven children: Milton (1874), William Albert (1876), Atlantic Rebecca (1880) Don't you love that name?, Lillian (1882), Cleveland Hendricks (1884), Spencer Cummings (1887) and Calvert Embert (1889) 2X-great-grandfather. 

The 1880 Census shows William Jones, age 26, oysterman, living on Kent Island with his wife Louisa, age 30, and children Milton (5), William (3), and baby Atlantic. 

By 1900, William and his family had moved to Baltimore where they lived on S. Charles Street.  William's occupation was listed as Sailor. Along with his wife Louisa, three sons--Cleveland (15), Spencer (13), and Calvin (10)--were in the household. 

In 1905, William was recommended to serve as a Councilman for the 15th ward of Baltimore, though he had not been active in public service before. His occupation then was listed as "the rubber business." However, he never got to serve in that office as he died of cancer in August 1905 at age 51. His death certificate lists his occupation as waterman. He is buried in the Jones Family Cemetery in Queen Anne's County MD. 

Louisa Cummings Jones died in Baltimore in 1927 from pneumonia at age 78. She is buried in Loudon Park Cemetery. 

The life of an oysterman was not for wimps.  While the big boats could use dredges and gather larger catches, most of the catching was done by hand tonging using a pair of metal rakes attached to long wooden poles. It was back-breaking work that required the oystermen to go out in all kinds of foul weather.  The customers wanted their oysters even in the winter. 

Of William's five sons, three of them followed him into careers on the water. Milton became the captain of a fishing boat. William worked in a shipyard, and Cleveland became the captain of a private yacht in Florida. Spencer operated a bakery and the youngest son, Calvin, my grandchildren's 2X-great grandfather, worked in a hat factory and later as a carpenter. The picture below shows William's children with Calvin on the far right.

At age 18, Calvin Embert Jones married Margaret Whittington in 1907. (I have written elsewhere about her heritage.)  The 1910 Census shows Calvin, age 20, Margaret, age 19, and two daughters: Evelyn and infant Margaret. Their son, my grandchildren's great grandfather, Calvin Embert Jones Jr., was born in Baltimore on the 29th of May 1911. 

Calvin Jones Sr. died in October 1918 at age 29 during the Spanish Flu epidemic.  His death certificate lists his occupation as carpenter. 

Maggie Whittington Jones died in Baltimore MD in 1972 of heart disease. She and Calvin are both buried in Loudon Park Cemetery.