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No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the T. L. Jones Journal #1862-1869, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Cooper's Old Book Store, 119 E. Main St., Richmond, Va., in March 1955.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Jill Snider, July 1991

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Agriculture--Virginia--History--19th century.
• Albemarle County (Va.)--Social life and customs.
• Charlottesville (Va.)--Social life and customs.
• Diaries (Blank-books)
• Families--Virginia--Social life and customs.
• Farmers--Religious life--Virginia.
• Farmers--Virginia--Economic conditions.
• Howardsville (Va.)--Description and travel.
• Jones family.
• Jones, T. L., b. 1814.
• Lynchburg (Va.)--Description and travel.
• Pear Point Farm (Albemarle County, Va.)
• Scottsville (Va.)--Description and travel.
• Tobacco farmers--Virginia--History--19th century.

T. L. Jones, born 22 September 1814, was a farmer in southern Albemarle County, Virginia. He lived with his wife, C. Jones, and family on his farm, Pear Point, during and just after the Civil War. Jones had at least six children: Huckstess, George, Willie, Knox, Biddie, and Millie (d. 1863). He may also have had a daughter named Maria. Huckstess and Knox served briefly in the Civil War in late 1864 and early 1865. After June 1867, the Joneses raised Lizzie Coke, the daughter of Thomas Coke, following the death of her mother.

Jones cultivated mostly wheat, oats, corn, fodder, tobacco, and vegetables, and raised hogs and sheep. He also kept bees, had an apple orchard, and sold timber off his land. A frequent churchgoer, he most often attended Mt. Zion, Sharon, and Centenary churches in Albemarle County.

The 245-page journal Jones kept between 1862 and 1869 at Pear Point contains mostly information on farm work done, crops, and the weather. Documentation of his and his family's church attendance and visits to and from his friends and relatives appears, but almost no details are given. There is very little description of his family life or of Civil War activities. The journal is useful for identifying births, marriages, and deaths in Albemarle County. It also documents preachers who were active at several area churches.

Journal, 1862-1869, for T. L. Jones's Albemarle County, Virginia, farm, Pear Point. Jones began the book on 1 January 1862 and continued it through 30 December 1869. Kept daily, the journal records mostly farm work done, crops, and the weather. During the war, Jones mentioned planting and harvesting wheat, oats, corn, fodder, timothy, and a variety of vegetables. He described as well tending bees, working in his apple orchard, and hauling timber from his land to a local sawmill. Starting in 1868, he also cultivated tobacco, which he sold through Tyler & Sons. In addition to farm activities, Jones recorded his and his family's church attendance; trips to town on business; visits to friends and relatives and visitors received; his children's school arrangements; estate sales he attended; and local births, marriages, illnesses, and deaths. The Joneses most often attended services and Sunday School at Mt. Zion, Sharon, and Centenary churches. They also, on occasion, attended Mt. Alto, Wesley Chapel, Bledsoe Chapel, and B. M. Church. On occasion, the Mt. Zion church held baptisms in a pond on Jones's land. Preachers mentioned with some frequency include Anderson, Booker, Clarke, Crowder, Davis, Fortune, Wingfield, and Williams.

Jones often went into Charlottesville by train to pay his taxes, fulfill jury duties, attend elections, and conduct business with merchants. Other towns he and his sons visited often were Howardsville, Lynchburg, Scottsville, Warren, and Rockfish Depot. Neighbors, relatives, and friends appearing in the daybook with some frequency are R. M. Elsom, William G. Clarke, John M. and Meleena Pace, R. M. Childress, J. C. Childress, Sally Simper, W. Johnson, James Taylor, James A. Elliott, and Charles C. Huckstess.

Entries of special interest are those for 25 February 1863, mentioning the death of Jones's daughter, Millie; 16 May 1864, noting that he and his son Huckstess had reported for military service; 1 August and 8 September 1864, reporting his release from military obligation; 17 January 1865, mentioning his son Knox's leaving for the army; and 9 September 1867, telling of 80 conversions at the B. M. Church made by Bro. Vanderslice. Information in the journal on the Civil War is limited to mentions of high prices, his sons' visits on furlough, and the presence of troops in the area.

Also appearing in the volume are a list of quantities of meal used per month for the period between 1862 and 1869 (at front of volume) and a list of crops made in 1868 (page 198). One enclosure, dated January 1864, is a note from I. I. Hopkins of Howardsville, concerning the army foraging through the county and his having no work for his pressmen. Hopkins apparently was a printer. On the back of the note is an account for H. W. Jones with T. L. Jones for meal and flour, also dated 1864.

• Oversize volume (SV-3113/1)
• Microfilm (M-3113/1-2)