Emanuel Jones

Emanuel Jones was born in 1714 and died in Onslow County in 1788. Very little is known of his early life. Clues indicate that he may have been a brother of Robert (Robin ap) Jones Jr, who was born in 1718 in Surry County, Va. Robert’s father was James Jones [Jr.] borne in 1671 and James Jr’s father was James Jones Sr., who migrated from Wales about 1742 [1642] and settled in Charles City County, Va (now Prince George County, Va).

If this theory is correct, Emmanuel Jones, my great-great-great-grandfather, was an uncle of Allen Jones born in 1739 and Willie Jones born in 1741 (the sons of Robert Jones Sr.). In 1775 John Paul visited in the homes of Allen and Willie Jones at Halifax, N.C. While there, he came down with typhoid fever and was nursed back to health by the wife of Allen Jones. Later, when John Paul was ready to depart, he asked the Jones brothers for one more favor—the honor of adding “Jones” to his name. Willie and Allen Jones agreed and proudly said “Goodbye” to John Paul Jones. In 1778, Jones County was named in honor of Willie Jones. I well remember hearing my father talk about his grandmother, Sarah Starkey Jones, saying that Jones County was named in honor of her cousin, Willie Jones. My grandmother also told my father that one of Willie’s children, Sally Welch, came to their home at Mt. Pleasant, and that she had a copy of her father’s will.
Emanuel Jones appeared in Onslow County in 1739 and received two large land grants on Queens Creek. In 1742 Emanuel had a bastard child by Sarah Spooner and had to pay her father, Jabez Spooner, 25 pounds to support the child. Emanuel provided importation rights for two whites and three blacks, one of theses was most probably his first wife, Ann [Jones]. In 1743, Ann accused Emanuel of assault, of which he was later cleared. In 1746, Ann ran away and Emanuel petitioned the court in 1746 the no one shall deal with, entertain, or harbor his wife. The next court in January, 1747, Ann swore the place against him. Ann died some time later and was buried at a graveyard on Webb’s Creek, near Swansboro.
Emanuel Jones married the second time to Keziah Hunter, who bore his children. They built their home on a 280-acre plantation that he bought from Ross Bell on October 9, 1746. This plantation on the White Oak River lied on a high bluff overlooking the town of Swansboro. Its name was Mt. Pleasant. In 1917, my parents and I spent the night there while visiting two old ladies. I was six years old.

Later in 1765, Emanuel received two more land grants of 300 acres each. In 1766, Emanuel Jones obtained a license to keep an [?] near Bogue Inlet. He also kept a tavern until 1771. In 1770 he built a gristmill near [?]lling Springs. In 1773, Emanuel bought a number of lots in New Town (now Swansboro).

Emanuel Jones died in 1788 at age 74. His will was proved in Onslow County Court in January, 1789 by Alexander Grant. Emanuel Jones and his second wife, Keziah Hunter Jones, had the following children: Samuel, Richard Wallas, Kilby, and his youngest son William, my great-grandfather, who married in 1793 to Sarah Starkey. --Flavius B. Hall

Sources: Onslow County Records; Fitzhuge Lee Morris; Sara Starkey Jones Source::Ancestry.com/OurJonesAncestry and Ancestry.com/slotzmby11