Augustus Harris JONES Isham Green JONES Ann Roseanna RANDLE Mini tree diagram
Augustus Harris JONES

Augustus Harris JONES1,2,3,5,4

Sep 18501,2,3 - 7th Apr 19133,4

Life History

Sep 1850

Born in Gonzales, Gonzales, Texas.1,2,3

7th Apr 1913

Died in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas.3,4

Cerebral hemorrhage (apoplexy), a few moments;

9th Apr 1913

Buried in Mission Burial Park South, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.3

Notes

  • The really interesting Texas Jones descendants of Russell Sr. came down through Russell Jr., who married Sophia Harris and died suddenly of illness in San Felipe, Texas, in 1841. His son Augustus Harris [Jones], who arrived in Mexican Texas in 1835, escaped death at Goliad and the Alamo because he was off in the States raising money on Fannin's behalf for the Texian cause. Gus Jr., a cowman turn-of-the-century mayor of San Antonio, joined two other cattlemen to build the Saint Anthony, still a luxury hotel there. William Early Jones, a jurist who was hauled off to Mexico City in 1842 by General Woll while holding a commissioners court in San Antonio, became first editor of the San Antonio Express after distinguishing himself as an editor in Augusta, Georgia.
    --  James Jones, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, Aug 30, 2017

    Georgia mariage records report that Augustus Harris married Ann Roseanna Randle in 1839.  She was still reported as Gus' wife in the 1850 census, so any earlier children would disappear to be the children of Ann.  Some sources report that Gus Jr was the son of Minerva Lewis, another wife of Gus Sr.

    Georgia, Compiled Marriages, 1754-1850
    Augustus A [H] Jones
    Spouse Ann R Randle
    Marriage 8 Oct 1839 Jackson County, Georgia

    In the 1850 census, we learn that Augustus was born just one month before the census date, so in about Septmeber 1850.  His grandmother Sophia Harris Jones is also in his father's household.

    1850 Federal Census, Gonzales County, Texas, 2 November, Peach Creek, p 650, Hse/Fam #15
    Augustus H Jones 39 M (No Occup Reported) $4000 b Georgia [b abt 1811]
    Ann R Jones 26  F b Tennessee [b abt 1824]
    Wm Jones 9 M b Texas [b abt 1841]
    James Jones 5 M b Texas [b abt 1845]
    Sophia Jones 3 F b Texas [b abt 1847]
    Augustus Jones 1mo M b Texas [b abt Sept 1850]
    Sophia Jones 60 F b Georgia [b abt 1790]
    Barry G Anderson 5 M b Texas [b abt 1845]
    A J Berton 21 M b Texas [b abt 1829]
    Joshua Thredgill 42 M b South Carolina [b abt 1808]

    His obituary, posted on his memorial in Find a Grave, reports that he was to be buried in the Mission Burial Park, in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.  A photo of his gravestone is posted on the FAG memorial.  The birth date there is the year 1859.  But the 1850 census above shows he was 1 month old at census time in 1850.  The birth year must have been remembered incorrectly or misrecorded at some point.

    His mother is there reported as Minerva Lewis, but if he was born in 1850, his mother was Ann Roseanna Randle, enumerated as the wife of Augustus H Jones Sr.  Ann died in 1851.  Minerva was the second wife after that, marrying Gus Sr in 1856.  There is a discrepancy somewhere in the records.  The census surely is right that Gus Jr was born 1 month before census time in 1850.  But Gus' biological mother died when he was only one year old.  Though in blood relationship, Minerva was Gus Jr's stepmother, she was the only mother he would have remembered and who raised him.

    His death certificate has these errors concerning his mother and his birth date, as well as his age as 54, rather than 64.  I note that the informant is apparently his informant, Noa Spears.  In the 1910 directory, Gus' position is "prest" at Noa Spears Co.

    U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
    San Antonio, Texas, City Directory, 1910, p 670
    Jones Augustus H (Willie), prest Noa Spears Co, treasr Citizens Auto Co., r 415 W French pl. (2).  Sw. ph. 1454

    Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982
    Augustus H Jones
    Mayor of San Antonio
    Married, Age 54 yrs, 8 mos, 22 days
    Birth 16 Jul [1959] Gonzales County, Texas
    [1850 census reported him 1 month old;  if going by that date, he was born in Sept 1850.  Going by actual census date of 1 June, he was born in May 1850.]
    Father A H Jones, born Texas [other records say Georgia]
    Mother Minerva A Lewis, born Texas [other records say Mississippi; actually his stepmother, but his biological mother, Ann Randle, died when he was only 1.  Minerva was the only mother he knew.]
    Informant Noa Spears
    Death 7 Apr 1913 306 Travis, Ward 4, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, USA
    Cause of Death Cerebral hemorrhage (apoplexy), a few moments
    Burial 9 April 1913 Mission Burial Park, San Antonio
    Certificate 7717 filed 8 April 1913

    --------------------------
    Augustus Harris Jones, Jr
    BIRTH 1859 Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas, USA
    DEATH 7 Apr 1913 (aged 53-54) San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, USA
    BURIAL Mission Burial Park South, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

    Obituary

    Thousands of San Antonians paid final tribute to the memory of A. H. Jones, their late mayor and friend, as the body lay in state in the ballroom of the St. Anthony hotel this morning, before being taken to its resting place in the Mission Burial park. From 7:45 o'clock this morning until 10:20 o'clock, when the funeral service commenced, people passed in and out the room in a steady stream.

    The personnel of the sorrowing thousands who filed by the funeral bier for a last look at the man, who had been elevated to the highest office within power of the people to give, was a tribute to his personality and gave fitting indication of the position he occupied in the community and in the hearts of his fellow citizens.

    People of all walks in life were in the long line - bankers and street laborers, lawyers and clerks, merchants and mechanics all came to pay honor to the memory of the dead official. Women and children were there and policemen and firemen, heads uncovered and crepe on their badges, paid their last respects to their former chief.
    ... snip ...

    He was a man of robust honesty, one who hated hyprocrisy and sham. He believed in men and valued them for their worth as men.

    "Generosity was another of his sterling qualities. Never was a subscription list started for something worthy that his name could not be found there. In public life he did things worth while. He had a fair vision of a city with well paved streets and other improvements. It was his ambition to make that dream a reality and transform San Antonio into a lovely city. It may well be said that he expressed his mark of regal greatness in all activities of life.
    ... snip ...
    --  San Antonio Light, April 9, 1913

    Parents:
    Augustus Harris Jones 1812-1877
    Minerva Ann Lewis Jones 1828-1915

    Spouse Sue Willie Peck Jones 1864-1939

    Siblings:
    Zula Lee Jones 1863-1954
    Kate Lynch Jones 1865-1941
    Sue Lewis Jones Houston 1867-1951

    Half Siblings:
    William Early Jones 1842-1900
    James Cunningham Jones 1843-1882
    Sophie Jones Allen 1848-1936
    Charles Randle Jones 1851-1881

    Created by Joan 18 May 2010
    --  Find A Grave Memorial 52557844, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52557844/augustus-harris-jones
    --------------------------

Sources

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