Benjamin JONES R5699, Elizabeth JONES, widow, claim rejected 25 Feb. 1840 Coffee County, Tenn. Elizabeth JONES, aged 88, states she is the widow of Benjamin JONES who was a private among the first drafted men who went out from Orange County, Va. He was under Capt. TERRILL, who was later a Major, and Col. BARBOUR. On his first tour he went over the Blue Ridge to guard guns and ammunition and was gone for three months. He was home no more than one day and one night before he was gone again, and did not return until about six months before the end of the war except for brief visits three to six months apart. He came home finally because he was attacked with rheumatism, which confined him at home for 18 months. Deponent recalls that when WASHINGTON was at White Plains, LAFAYETTE was encamped in half of her house at Orange County. He was there for two weeks or more. The soldiers came every morning to get milk; they were not allowed to come into the house but came to the yard and she gave them what she could spare. Deponent had one child before he husband entered the service and four when he returned home sick, so she is certain he served at least five years. they were married 12 May 1773 or 1774. He died 27 Dec. 1820 and she remained a widow. Morton JONES, aged about 92, states he and his brother Benjamin who was 2 1/2 years younger than himself, were raised together in Orange County, Va. Benjamin married Elizabeth whose maiden name was FOSTER, two or three years before the war. They were married in Orange county by a minister named WINGATE, at the glebe, as the residence of the person was then called. They had one or perhaps two children before the war. Benjamin JONES entered the service under Capt. Edmund TERRILL and they marched from Orange to Culpepper County, probably to join the deponent’s regiment. The wagon and team of Benjamin JONES were pressed into service shortly after he enlisted. Although the brothers were not in the same regiment they were once at Fredricksburg, where Benjamin was hauling cannon balls and lead, and had a long conversation. Deponent well remembers when his brother came home sick; deponent was called to service again and left his brother at home. Benjamin died in North Carolina in 1820. His widow resides about 12 miles from deponent in Coffee county.
27 April 1840 Washington Pension Office to Rep. H.M. WATTERSON. The claim of Elizabeth JONES must be rejected because it appears that Benjamin JONES served as a waggoner under a civil contract, and not in a military capacity.
1934 Inquiry of W. C. KENNAMER of Yonkers, N.Y.