Welcome to Jones County History and Genealogy Presented by Mississippi Genealogy Trails a part of Genealogy Trails Volunteers Dedicated to Free Genealogy Your state host is Gene Phillips Please send any data submissions to me. I will upload them as soon as possible. This Site is Available for Adoption Our goal is to help you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and historical data for the free use of all researchers. We're looking for folks who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be as successful as it can be. If you are interested in joining Genealogy Trails, view our Volunteer Page for further information and then contact Kim. (Enough knowledge to make a basic webpage and a desire to transcribe data is required) We regret that we are unable to perform personal research for folks. All data we come across will be added to this site. We thank you for visiting and hope you'll come back again to view the updates we make to this site. If you would like to be kept informed of our state and county website updates, subscribe to any or all of our mailing lists Mississippi is covered under our "Southern" States mailing list. Jones County was established in 1826 and was named for John Paul Jones. There are other counties named Jones, but it appears that this is the only one named for John Paul Jones. Ellisville, the county seat, was named for Powhatan Ellis, a member of the Mississippi Legislature who claimed to be a direct descendant of Pocahontas. During the economic hard times in the 1830s and 1840s, there was an exodus of population from South Mississippi, principally to Texas, and the slogan "GTT" ("Gone to Texas") came into currency. The situation was especially acute in Jones County, which became so depopulated that it acquired the derisive nickname "The Free State of Jones". During the War of 1861-1865, Jones County and neighboring counties, especially Covington County to its west, became a haven for Confederate deserters. A group of deserters led by Newt Knight engaged in sporadic battles with State and Confederate units sent to arrest them for desertion. The notoriety of Newt Knight's "rebellion" led to the fabrication of elaborate stories alleging Jones County's "secession" from the Confederacy and the establishment of an entity called "The Free State of Jones". There was no such "State", but the legend gained strength from the fact that Jones County already had been widely known as "The Free State of Jones". After the War, the Mississippi Legislature punished Jones County's disloyalty to the "Cause" by changing its name to Davis (for Jefferson Davis) and the name of its county seat to Leesburg (for Robert E. Lee). The Reconstruction Constitution of 1869 repealed these acts and restored the names of Jones County and Ellisville. The county was divided into judicial districts in 1906, with seats of justice at Ellisville (First District) and Laurel (Second District). Towns & Cities of Jones Co MS Ellisville -- Laurel -- Sandersville -- Soso Online Data BIRTHS CEMETERIES W. P. A. Cemetery Listing Cemeteries Transcriptions DEATHS  Obituaries 1860 Mortality Schedule Family Bibles Marriages Military Data News Articles    Jones County Old Photos  Census Data Biographies Churches Website Updates: 25 Jan 2012 Updated County Line Baptist Church Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Creel Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Jordan Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Lake Congregational Methodist Church Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Lancaster Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Matthews Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Mt Vernon Cemetery Transcription 25 Jan 2012 Updated Pleasant Ridge Road Baptist Church Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Brown Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Fairchild Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Goodwill Baptist Church Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Herrington Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Jackson Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Lake Congregational Methodist Church Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Lake Park Hills Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Martin-Mohon Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Added Matthews Cemetery Transcription 26 Sep 2011 Updated Bethel Cemetery Transcription 25 Sep 2011 Added Added obits for Anderson, Booth, Bradshaw, Brewster, Bruce, Bunch, Byrd, Carter, Conner, Cooley, Ducksworth, Gavin, Harrison, Malone, McCormick, Moffett, Nixon & Thigpen. 05 Sep 2011 Added Lancaster Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Added Mount Vernon Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Added Nora Davis Memorial Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Added Shady Grove Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Added Tucker Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Added Union Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Added Union Line Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Updated Good Hope Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Updated Mill Creek Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Updated Oakland Grove Cemetery Transcription 05 Sep 2011 Updated Sunset Gardens Cemetery Transcription 25 Aug 2011 Added Mount Olive Methodist Church Cemetery Transcription 25 Aug 2011 Added Sunset Gardens Cemetery Transcription 25 Aug 2011 Added Centerville Cemetery Transcription 25 Aug 2011 Updated Ellisville Cemetery Transcription 25 Aug 2011 Updated Hickory Grove Cemetery Transcription 25 Aug 2011 Updated Jordan Cemetery Transcription 17 Apr 2011 Updated Ellisville Cemetery Transcription 21 Nov 2010 Added Antioch UMC Cemetery Transcription 21 Nov 2010 Added Blackledge Cemetery Transcription 21 Nov 2010 Added Dennis Blackledge Cemetery Transcription 21 Nov 2010 Added Oakland Grove Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Clark Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Edmonson Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Ellisville Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Good Hope Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Hickory Grove Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Indian Springs Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Lake Park Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Palestine Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Old Palestine Cemetery Transcription 18 Dec 2009 Added Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery Transcription 21 Oct 2009 Added Hayes Chapel Cemetery Transcription 30 Aug 2009 Added Ellzey Cemetery Transcription 30 Aug 2009 Added Fairview Cemetery Transcription 30 Aug 2009 Added Jordan Cemetery Transcription 30 Aug 2009 Added McGill Cemetery Transcription 27 Aug 2009 Added Anderson-Minter Cemetery Transcription 27 Aug 2009 Added Bynum Cemetery Transcription 27 Aug 2009 Added Creel Family Cemetery Transcription 27 Aug 2009 Added Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery Transcription 9 Aug 2009 Added Burrus Memorial Cemetery Transcription 9 Aug 2009 Added Old Ferguson Cemetery Transcription 9 Aug 2009 Added Welch Graham Cemetery Transcription 9 Aug 2009 Added Countyline Missionary Baptist Cemetery Transcription SURROUNDING COUNTIES Covington Forrest Jasper Perry Smith Wayne Visit our MS State Site Visit our National Site     This page last updated on -- 25 Sep 2011 Copyright © Genealogy Trails All data on this website is Copyright by Genealogy Trails with full rights reserved for original submitters.