The Eastman Isham Jones Family

Eastman Isham Jones 

was born circa 1820 in Richmond, Virginia. 

On July 11, 1864 in Vicksburg, he enlisted in the Co J 3rd US Colored Calvary (USCT) as Isham Jones to fight in the Civil War. He was working as a farm hand at the time. The enlistment document records his age as 34. However, census records and the birth dates of his children suggest he would have been closer to 44.

The family eventually came to live in the Reservation community. It is possible that Isham moved to the area following the Civil War given that the government was redistributing land from abandoned plantations at the time.

Isham Jones' Civil War Enlistment records, 1864

Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan
Source: The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: 1st through 5th United States Colored Cavalry, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored). Accessed via: Ancestry.com

Isham Jones was married four times. 


His first wife was Margaret "Peggy" Parsons (b. circa 1833). According to family history compiled by Rosa Lee, Peggy Parsons, "was the daughter of Zizzy Parsons a free Black woman of Williamsburg who had some means. She lived in what is now the Richard Crump House in Williamsburg, Va. Her mother was brought to Williamsburg in 1770. She was listed as a free Black." 


Isham was later married to: Ella Jones (b. 1853), Winney/Winnie Jones, and Dilcy Jones (b. 1830).


Isham Jones had five known children: James Edward "Ned" Parsons (b 1840), Anna Jones (b 1841), Cyrus Jones (1852-July 14, 1930), Henry Jones, and Peyton Jones (born circa 1852-1855 - died August 8, 1921).

Eastman Isham Jones' Children

James Edward "Ned" Parsons

James Edward "Ned" Parsons was born to Isham Jones and Peggy Parsons circa 1940. He used his mother's surname throughout his life. 


Ned Parsons married Josephine Lightfoot on Februrary 18, 1868 in York County, VA. Josephine was born circa 1840 to William and Amelia Lightfoot in James City County, VA. 

Ned and Josephine Parsons had eleven children, five boys and six girls: 

Edward and Josephine (Lightfoot) Parsons Family Tree
Courtesy: Julia Wallace, daughter of Fannie Lee Dixon

Josephine Parsons and children recorded on the 1900 Federal Census
Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan
Source: Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Ned Parsons appears to have passed away before the turn of the century. On the 1900 Federal Census, Josephine is recorded as the head of the household alongside five of her children. She reported her occupation as a farmer.  

Anna Jones 

Anna Jones was the daughter of Isham Jones. She was born in 1841. Anna married twice, first to Joseph Fleming on Auguest 13, 1868 in Williamsburg VA, and later to a Mr. Dudley. 

Cyrus Jones

Cyrus Jones was born in 1852. He married Nellie Orange (born 1855) on October 22, 1875. The couple had one daughter together, Louisa Jones, who was born in 1894.


Upon hearing that the U.S. government planned to displace them from the Reservation, Cyrus Jones was the first person to sign the Prayer Petition, calling for more time to relocate.

Source: Roberts, John A., Moses Lee, Annie E. Roberts, Cyrus Jones, and L. Redcross. 1918. Petition submitted to Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, by residents of York County threatened with eviction by Presidential Proclamation #1492 dated November 15, 1918. General Correspondence, Records of the Bureau of Ordinance 1818-1967; Record Group 74; National Archives Building, Washington D.C.

Cyrus Jones further provided testimony to the U.S. Government's Board of Valuation on Commandeered property regarding the value of land that he had purchased in 1916. Below is an abstract of that testimony.

Source: Board of Valuation on Commandeered Property. 1920. Abstract of Testimony In Vols. 1 and 2 of Hearings Before Board On Valuation of Commandeered Property at Yorktown, VA. Box 42, Records of the Board on Valuation of Commandeered Property 1918-1922, Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Navy) 1799-1950, Record Group 125; National Archives Building, Washington D.C. 

Shortly after being displaced from the Reservation, the family experienced heartbreak. Their daughter, Louisa, died in 1925. Her father, Cyrus, passed away five years later on July 14, 1930.

Henry Jones

Henry Jones was the son of Isham Jones. He married Mary Harrond. They had one son, John Hartman Jones (1877-1942). John married Mary Sussie Bartlett (1881 - 1977) and together appear to have had 9 children.

Peyton Jones

Peyton Jones was born circa 1852-1855 to Isham and Winney Jones. 


Peyton Jones was married four times:

These records dated February 2, 1867 and February 7, 1867 suggest that Peyton Jones filed a grievance with the Freedmen's Bureau, requesting reimbursement for a stolen horse. This demonstrates that Peyton Jones had the ability to use the institutional mechanisms available to seek justice for wrongdoing, despite barriers to literacy and racist attitudes in these institutions that may have discouraged their use. 

Freedmen's Bureau Records discussing a horse stolen from Peyton Jones

Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan
Source: Freedmen's Bureau Records, Ancestry.com

Peyton and Sarah Jones family recorded on the 1900 Federal Census
Courtesy: Bernie Vaughan
Source: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Peyton was a farmer in the Reservation. According to 1900 and 1910 Federal Census records, Peyton had a mortgage on his farm in 1900 but by 1910 he had paid his mortgage and owned the property outright.

On the 1900 Census, Peyton and Sarah are listed as having eight children: 

Another daughter, Lucy, was born in 1888 and died at five years old in 1893. 

William, Eudora, Maggie, Cyrus, and Israel were attending school in 1900.

Peyton Jones died on August 8, 1921 from cardiovascular disease, just as families were being displaced from the Reservation by the U.S. government. 

Death Certificate for Peyton Jones
Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Two of Peyton's sons, Allen and Israel Jones, made a claim to the U.S. government regarding Peyton's land in the Reservation that was being commandeered.

Source: Board of Valuation on Commandeered Property. 1920. Abstract of Testimony In Vols. 1 and 2 of Hearings Before Board On Valuation of Commandeered Property at Yorktown, VA. Box 42, Records of the Board on Valuation of Commandeered Property 1918-1922, Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Navy) 1799-1950, Record Group 125; National Archives Building, Washington D.C. 

One of Peyton and Sarah's sons, Israel Jones, married Nannie Washington, daughter of Walter and Nannie Washington. Together, Israel and Nannie (Washington) Jones had five children:

Israel Jones, son of Peyton and Sarah Jones, with his wife, Nannie (Washington) Jones, and likely one of their children
Courtesy: The Lee Family

Another son of Peyton and Sarah, Cyrus Jones, married Pearl Cook (1898-1987). Cyrus worked as a laborer. He passed away on January 14, 1962.

Death Certificate for Cyrus Jones
Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Sources