From Matagorda County History & Genealogy page
Jones-Jackson Cemetery
Matagorda County, like most counties of the southern part of the United States was agrarian from its inception.
During the antebellum period, the county was dotted with plantations, especially along Caney Creek which ran through Wharton and Matagorda Counties.
Caney was the life blood for the plantations as it provided a way for supplies to be procured and crops to be shipped to market.
The 1850 census of Matagorda County listed 29 plantations along Caney Creek.
The community of Pledger was named because it grew up around the plantation of William Ellis Pledger (1785-1845). Numerous residents of the Pledger area in 2023 are descendants of those former slaves who toiled in the fields of the plantations in the Pledger area.
Atlas B. Jones (c1834-1885) was born in either North or South Carolina. Various records list his birth in both states and almost every source lists a different birth year.
The approximate birth year originates from his cemetery marker.
An exhaustive search was made to determine his parents and other family members, but no definitive answer could be found.
Jones served in the Confederate Army as a private in Company E, 35th Texas Cavalry, Brown’s Regiment.
He enlisted on May 1, 1862 in Columbia (Brazoria County) for the war by J. H. Davie.
The value of his horse was $150.00 and his equipment was $30.00. The number of miles to rendezvous was five miles. He appeared on the company muster rolls for July-Aug 1862, Nov-Dec 1862 (absent-sick), Jan-Feb 1863 (absent-sick), Mar-Apr 1863 (sick), Sep-Oct 1863 (present), Jan-Feb 1864 (Transferred to Mosby’s Battery Jan. 4 by general order).
He is not listed on the 1867 Voters’ Registration for Matagorda County, but he recorded cattle and hog brands in Matagorda County on February 6, 1873.
Jones purchased a parcel of property comprising 145 acres in the L. Ramey League in northeastern Matagorda County.
The first portion, Lots 14 and 15, was purchased from J. O. Perrow on December 3, 1875 and comprised 80 acres. On July 29, 1882, he purchased another 40 acres, Lot 16, from N. G. Floyd5 The last tract of 40 acres, Lot 10, was purchased from N. G. Floyd on January 29, 1884.
Attracted by abundance of water from Upper Caney Creek and the availability of land with rich soil, a lucrative farm was established. Soon extended family from other states and counties came to make this community their home also.
The Jones’ became very successful farmers and community leaders. Even after losing a small portion of the land as a right of way for what in 2023 is FM Road 1301, they flourished.
Jones was enumerated in the 1870 Federal Census for Matagorda County in Upper Caney. In his household was Susan Hines/Hynes (1837-1912), a freed slave, listed as his housekeeper.
Also listed were Ladonia Hines, female, age 11, black; White Hines, male, age 8, mulatto; and Elizabeth Hines, female, age 2, mulatto.
Atlas B. Jones and Susan Hines lived together as husband and wife, but they were unable to marry since interracial marriage was illegal in Texas from 1837 until 1969.
In Jones’ will, written December 21, 1885, he indicated that Susan had been with him for 19 years.
Susan and the girls were using the Hines name in 1870, but were using the Jones surname by 1880.
Atlas and Susan had four daughters, Betty Ann (1868-1954) married Smith Jackson February 20, 1892 in Wharton County, Texas; Eliza (1872-1961) married Pleas Johnson on December 29, 1888 in Wharton County, Texas; Mattie (1876-1958); and Susie (1880-1957) married Eddie McCoy. Susan also had a son, Richard Armstrong (c1864-1898), who was born into slavery and separated from his mother when he was sold.
He was living in Jones’ household in 1880 and assisted his mother in keeping the property in the family after the death of Jones.
On the 1880 Federal Census for Matagorda County, the family consisted of A. B Jones; Susan, servant, age 36, black; Richard, son, age 15, black; Betty A., daughter, age 9, mulatto; Eliza J., daughter, age 6, mulatto; Mattie, daughter, age 4, mulatto; Susie, granddaughter, age not listed, mulatto.
Jones died on December 23, 1885 and was buried in a cemetery on his property. In his will, written December 21, 1858, he left his property to Susan and their daughters.
A partition deed was filed on February 22, 1913 dividing the property equally between their four daughters.
In later years, FM 1301 was built through the property and some of the property was sacrificed for the road.
The earliest burial was Dennie Scurry who died in 1879.
She was likely the wife of Frank Scurry who was enumerated in the 1880 census as the household next to A. B. Jones.
As the Jones family populated the community that grew up around the original settlers, a cemetery was a necessity.
The land was passed down through the family and on March 3, 2004, an estate deed, dated February 24, 2004, was filed naming Jimmie Ahimsa Luthuli, Jimmie White and Jacqueline White as joint tenants with the right of survivorship.
African Americans and Caucasians are buried in the cemetery as determined through family history.
Many had a Christian heritage. Burials include two children and centenarian Andrew James Jackson (1890-1992) who was 102 years of age.
The cemetery is in a rural and agricultural setting with hay fields in proximity. The dimensions of the cemetery are 400 x 400 feet.
The northern border of the cemetery is Caney Creek and the family association erected a hurricane fence on the three remaining sides in April 2021.
Known burials, with death dates, in the cemetery include: Denny Scurry, (1879); Atlas B. Jones (23 Dec 1885); Richard Armstrong, Mar 1896; Susan Jones (wife of Atlas B. Jones), 25 Nov 1912; Isaack Spencer, 1927; Mary Scurry Spradley, 02 Nov 1927; Roy Jackson, 24 Oct 1931; Martha A. Scurry, 10 Jan 1934; Naomi Jackson, 1936; Milly Polly Rutherford Jackson, 01 Jul 1942; Smith Henry Jackson, 10 Aug 1945 (husband of Betty Jackson); Frank E. Scurry, 29 Sep 1953; Atlas B. Scurry, Sr., 22 Dec 1953; Betty Jackson, 17 May 1954 (daughter of Atlas B. & Susan Hines Jones); Whamon White, 28 May 1955; Bertha Jackson, 01 Apr 1956; Susie Jones McCoy (daughter of Atlas B. & Susan Hines Jones), 25 Nov 1957; Rubie Lee James, 12 May 1958; Mattie Jones, 01 Jul 1958 (daughter of Atlas B. & Susan Hines Jones); Creasey Brown, 24 Oct 1959; Eliza J. Simmons, 26 Jan 1961; Fred Jackson, 16 Jun 1962; James White, 06 Jun 1970; Ira Roper Jackson, 22 Aug 1970; T. W. James, 31 May 1973; Alma White, 09 Apr 1978; Willie Bell Jackson, 17 May 1982; McKinley Jackson, 04 Nov 1984; Lewis B. Jackson, 12 Apr 1991; Andrew James Jackson, 04 Nov 1992; Kenneth Ray James, 02 May 1998; and Sweetie B. Jackson, 18 June 2022.
Veteran burials include Atlas B. Jones, Civil War; James White Sr., World War I; T. W. James, Fred Jackson and Lewis B. Jackson, World War II; Waymon White, Korean War; and Kenneth James, Vietnam.
Through the years, the cemetery was maintained annually by family members on Memorial Day weekend.
The clean-up project continues by family members on a bi-monthly basis until further arrangements are made.
In 2020 a committee of 14 family members consisting of 4th, 5th and 6th generations to A. B. and Susan Jones was formed to update and preserve the cemetery. In addition to the 31 known graves, 33 unmarked graves were identified during the process.
The unmarked graces are marked with white wooden crosses. The cemetery borders were expanded to accommodate additional sites as living members have requested to be buried there.
The Jones-Jackson Cemetery, located at 1975 FM 1301, was dedicated and recorded as a Historic Texas Cemetery.
As of April 20, 2021, the Jones/Jackson Cemetery Inc., a Texas nonprofit corporation, owns the portion of the property (.1147 acres).
That portion of land was once owned by Jimmie White Lithuli, Jimmie Lithuli and Jackie White who donated the property.
Bylaws for the Jones/Jackson Cemetery Inc. were developed on February 26, 2022.
The cemetery committee started participating in Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and Wreaths Across America to pay special tribute to the veterans.
The first celebration occurred in May 2021 with a large dedication service and generational round-up to recognize this milestone occasion.
In May, 2022, the annual meeting was held to elect officers.
Decisions were made to keep the cemetery operational and promote interest with future generations. Family documents, photos, etc. were collected to add to the family’s history.
Meetings with Aunts still living in 2021, Essie Jackson Boyd, Doris Jackson Floyd and Odessa Jackson Rentie (4th generations from A.B. Jones) met via phone conference and in person on February 13, 2021 and June 1, 2021.
Jones-Jackson Cemetery is the only visible evidence of a pioneer family of Pledger.
It currently chronicles the history of the family for six generations.
It’s a story of the plantation era and the slaves who persevered during slavery and continued to thrive.