Author Name: mike-white
Our founding ancestors’ parents, Dr. Alfred Jones and Jane Poindexter Clingman, early Arkansas frontier pioneers, were extraordinary people of high moral character, valuing family love, compassion and education. The imprint on the character of their children was a permanent bond and solidarity that resulted in Jones Valley. Alfred and Jane began their married life in Mt. Ida, subsequently moved to what is now Caddo Gap, and then spent their final years in Amity.
Their children were raised in strong faith-based family love, taught to be self reliant, and to seek as much education as possible. We talk about the “11” but two children were born who did not survive, Delia Clingman Jones b. 21 Jun 1880, d. 16 Aug 1881, and Robert Alexander Jones, b. 11 Mar 1866, d. 1872 (age 6).
Dr. Alfred Jones
Alfred Jones, son of Robert Jones and Mary Ewing, was born near Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee on December 24, 1827. In 1840 his family moved to Arkansas. As a youth he was described by his brother John Newton Jones as “one of the most moral boys I ever saw. His great aim was to do right and learn all he could. He got every book on history he could and idled no time. Many a load of pine knots have I helped him carry for him to study by, while the rest of us were fooling our time away. I often wished I was as good a man as he, and had the same control over my temper and had that forgiving spirit.1
When grown Alfred went to work under contract for Dr. Alexander B. Clingman in Mt. Ida, Arkansas. Alfred was to be paid $140 annually and to make up all time lost. During this time Alfred studied medicine under Dr. Clingman, and became a physician. In time, Alfred married Dr. Clingman’s daughter, Jane Poindexter Clingman, at the Clingman home in Amity, Arkansas.
Alfred Jones, physician, farmer, Confederate soldier, civic leader, state legislator, loving husband and father, died in Amity, Arkansas December 18, 1981.
Jane Poindexter Clingman
Jane Poindexter Clingman, was born to Dr. Alexander Brandon Clingman and Ann Martha Clingman, on February 7, 1837 in Amity Arkansas. Dr. Clingman was a noted physician and Christian minister. Later the family moved to Mt. Ida, Arkansas.
Jane grew up in a strong, religious, forward thinking and educated family. She maintained contact with her Clingman family and was very proud of her Poindexter heritage which could be traced back to the Revolutionary War to Captain Thomas Poindexter of Virginia.
Jane married Alfred Jones on the first day of January 1854 at the Clingman home in Amity, Arkansas. Subsequently they began their new married life in Mt. Ida, Arkansas. Jane faced all the challenges of being a frontier pioneer homemaker, raising eleven children through good and bad, including managing the household while her husband was absent during the Civil war and serving in the state legislature. Later being widowed, launching a successful millinery business.
Her strong faith based character was rich in virtues and tested by many challenges. Always forward thinking, at 85 years of age, after closing her business, she had bought and was having improved a fig farm. Up to the time of her passing she was planning ahead with as much hope and relish as a young woman. At her death from pneumonia on November 8, 1913 she was well known and admired in the area.
Jane Poindexter Clingman Jones: devoted wife and mother, homemaker, businesswoman, and disciple of Christ. From pioneer to fashion, a remarkable life lived, of which I think she would be most proud of her children and their accomplishments.
To better understand Jane’s story I recommend reading both Fannie Highsmith’s memoir and Melinda Cubage’s personal account of the Civil War.
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Some links
Alfred’s father Robert Jones and his mother, Malinda Ann Ewing
Alfred Jones tree on another site.
A Ewing family tree showing the parents of A.B. Jones as well as his children
5 Melinda Ann EWING, B: May 10 1806, Smith Co., TN, M: Apr 05 1827, D: Jan 02 1850, Admitted to Bethel Missionary Church, Pike Co.
+ Robert JONES, B: 1808, S.C., M: Apr 05 1827, D: May 1860, Point Cedar, Cedar TWP, Clark Co., AR6 Alfred JONES, B: Dec 24 1827, Hardeman Co., TN, M: Jan 01 1854, D: Dec 17 1891, Amity, Clark Co., AR
+ Jane Poindexter CLINGMAN, B: Feb 07 1837, East of Amity, Clark Co., AR, M: Jan 01 1854, D: Nov 08 1913, Amity, Clark Co., AR7 Malinda Ann JONES, B: Oct 19 1854, D: Feb 04 1948
7 Frances Arvazena “Fannie” JONES, B: Sep 03 1856, D: 1953
7 Mary Ladussa JONES, B: Feb 28 1859, D: 1949
7 Granville Whittington JONES, B: Apr 22 1861, D: Nov 02 1929
7 Isaac Jarratt JONES, B: Nov 23 1863, D: Dec 28 1932
7 Robert Alexander JONES, B: Mar 11 1866, D: 1872
7 Lee Julia JONES, B: Mar 15 1868, D: Oct 19 1959
7 “Mattie” Martha Ida Jane JONES, B: Jul 18 1870, D: 1956
7 Alfred Willis Arthur JONES, B: Jul 18 1870, D: Jan 01 1935
7 Clauselle Lanier JONES, B: Aug 17 1872, D: 1954
7 Minnie Grace JONES, B: Nov 02 1874
7 Guilford Lavender JONES, B: Nov 25 1877, D: 1969
7 Delia Clingman JONES, B: Jun 21 1880, D: Aug 16 1881
From http://home.swbell.net/jimmya/ewing.htm (July 14, 2005) (NOTE: this site is no longer reachable on the internet. (Gil Jones 17JUN2017))
Dr. A.B. Clingman
Father of Jane Poindexter Clingman.
OK, it’s confusing. We have two “A.B.’s” in the chain. Dr. Alexander Brandon Clingman was the father of Jane Poindexter Clingman, the Clingman in “Clingman-Jones.” Here is a write-up about him, some of which is not exactly accurate but has good detail otherwise.
Alexander Brandon CLINGMAN
Jones Valley Cemetery
Montgomery County, Arkansas
Note: the comment “land belonging at one time to his daughter Jane and son-in-law Dr. Alfred Jones” is not accurate. The land has always belonged to their descendants via individual trustees (not a trust per se) until it was conveyed into a non-profit unincorporated association under Arkansas statute in 2015, to thereafter continue to be held for the benefit of the same Clingman-Jones descendants. (Gil Jones, 17JUN2017)
Founded Antioch Church of Christ
Antioch Church of Christ · Delight · Arkansas
Church Record.
State of Arkansas, County (of) Pike.
Antioch Congregation, the Church of Christ,
first Lord’s day in February, 1868.This day the congregation being in session, Bro. A.B. Clingman, being
presented to the official station of Evangelist (or minister of the gospel)
by the imposition of hands, whereupon, pursuant the aforesaid appointment
and presentation, ordination in due form was administered to A.B. Clingman
by Elder William Kelley, a regular ordained Evangelist chosen for that
purpose. Assisted by Wesley Kelley, Evangelist.The foregoing is a true copy of the record of the congregation of the Church
of Christ, at Antioch. Signed this 3d day of Feb. 1868.Elder Wm. Kelley
Elder Elijah Kelley, Sr.,
Elder – CC pr(otem)
— “Antioch Church of Christ · Delight · Arkansas – Church Record 1833-1884.” Antioch Church of Christ. The Pike County Archives and History Society (http://www.pcahs.org), n.d. Web. 18 June 2017. <http://www.pcahs.org/pcaolr/church01/church02.htm>.
Some Poindexter history
From http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/c/Clingman_and_Puryear_Family (July 14, 2005)
(by Gil Jones) NOTE: this site is no longer reachable. The following was captured in 2005. You will see many familiar names indicating that Jane’s side of the family was a great source of the names of some of our 11 ancestors and their children.
Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel HillSOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#2661
CLINGMAN AND PURYEAR FAMILY PAPERS
InventoryAbstract: Family, political, and business papers of several prominent western North Carolinians. Included is
correspondence of Jane Poindexter Clingman 2 of
Huntsville, Surry (later Yadkin) County with
Poindexter relatives in Hardin County, Tenn., and others in Mississippi and New Mexico; her son-in-law, Richard Clauselle Puryear (1801-1867), Yadkin County planter, Whig U.S. representative, 1853-1857, and
member of the Confederate Congress; and her son,
Thomas Lanier Clingman (1812-1897), U.S. senator and Confederate general. Richard Clauselle Puryear’s
papers include bills, receipts, accounts, letters
written from Washington, D.C., letters written and
received at Richmond, Va., during the Civil War, and
an account book for blacksmith and wagon-body work.Thomas Lanier Clingman’s papers, 1828-1890, chiefly
concern his mining and mineral interests, including
gold mines in Georgia, the Chestatee Hydraulic Company of New York and Georgia, the Yahoola River and Cane Creek Hydraulic Hose Mining Company of Boston, and lands and minerals in western North Carolina. Also
included is political correspondence relating to
1830s-1850s national and North Carolina politics,
including an 1831 letter from Henry Clay about his
reluctance to return to Congress. There is also an
account of General George Stoneman’s April 1865 raid on the Puryear family home in Yadkin County.
Online Catalog Terms:
Blacksmithing–North Carolina–History–19th century.
Carriage industry–North Carolina–History–19th century.
Clay, Henry 1777-1852.
Clingman family.
Clingman, Jane Poindexter, fl. 1810-1864.
Clingman, T. L. (Thomas Lanier), 1812-1897.
Chestatee Hydraulic Company.
Confederate States of America–Politics and government.
Family–North Carolina–Social life and customs–19th century.
Gold mines and mining–Georgia–History–19th century.
Mines and mineral industries–Georgia–History–19th century.
Mines and mineral industries–North Carolina–History–19th century.
North Carolina–Politics and government–1775-1865.
Puryear family.
Puryear, R. C. (Richard Clauselle), 1801-1867.
Stoneman’s Raid, 1865.
Yadkin County (N.C.)–History–19th century.
Yahoola River and Cane Creek Hydraulic Hose Mining Company.Size: About 400 items (0.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Elizabeth Gibson in 1944, Mrs. Cameron MacRae in 1958, Mrs. Isaac Thomas Avery in 1975, J. Bruce Jarratt in 1979 and 1980, and purchased from Walter R. Benjamin in 1986.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: 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.Related Collections: Thomas Lanier Clingman Papers (#157);
Isaac Jarratt Papers (#3514);
Isaac Jarratt Papers and Tyre Glenn
Papers, Manuscripts Department, Duke
University.Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Jane Poindexter Clingman was the wife of Jacob Clingman, planter of Huntsville, Surry, later Yadkin, County, N.C. Their daughter Rose married Richard Clauselle Puryear (1801-1867), who
was born in Mecklenburg County, Va., but later lived in Surry County, N.C. Richard was a planter; colonel in the militia;
North Carolina legislator, 1838, 1844, 1846, and 1852; and Whig member of Congress, 1853-1857. He was also a member of the Confederate Provisional Congress at Richmond in 1861 and a delegate to the Peace Convention at Philadelphia after the Civil War. He died at Shallow Ford, his plantation in Yadkin County.One of Jacob and Jane Poindexter Clingman’s sons was Thomas Lanier Clingman (1812-1897). Jacob died when Thomas was about four years old, and the boy’s early training was directed by his uncle Francis Alexander Poindexter. Thomas was graduated from
the University of North Carolina in 1832, studied law under
William A. Graham, represented Surry County in the North Carolina legislature in 1835, moved to Buncombe County, and represented that county in the legislature in 1840.
Thomas served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1843-1845 and 1847-1858, and in the Senate from 1858 to 1861. He began his political career as a Whig, began to doubt the northern Whigs around 1849, and officially became a Democrat in 1852, taking his district with him. He was a delegate to the Confederate States
convention in Montgomery in 1861 and served in the army of the Confederate States of America as a brigadier general. After the war, he tried unsuccessfully to regain his seat in the U.S. Senate. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1868 and to the North Carolina Constitutional Convention in 1875.
In addition to his political activities, Thomas Lanier
Clingman was heavily involved in mining enterprises in Georgia and western North Carolina.SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Loose Papers
1810-1908. About 400 items.
Arrangement: chronological.Correspondence, financial and legal papers, and other items of Jane Poindexter Clingman, Richard Clauselle Puryear, Thomas Lanier Clingman, and other members of the Poindexter, Clingman, and Puryear families.
Early correspondence relates chiefly to family and household matters, with a few business letters about selling cotton and whiskey and other plantation activities. Some early letters also mention politics and issues leading up to the Civil War.
Included is an 1831 letter from Henry Clay about his reluctance to return to Congress. Most letters were written from North Carolina, but there are also some from Richard Clauselle Puryear while he served in the U.S. Congress and from Poindexter relatives in Hardin County, Tenn., and other family members in Mississippi and New Mexico. Jane Poindexter Clingman’s papers are chiefly letters to and from family members. Also included is a letter to her, dated 17 January 1845, about Thomas Lanier
Poindexter’s duel with W. L. Yancey. There is also a letter from Thomas Ruffin, dated 21 July 1832, to H. P. Poindexter declining to tutor Thomas Lanier Clingman in law.
Papers relating to Richard Clauselle Puryear begin around 1841 and include business communications about cotton sales, notes and credits, dog and horse sales, and a contract for carrying mail.
Thomas Lanier Clingman papers beginning around 1839 relate chiefly to politics. After 1856, most items relate to Thomas’s mineral and mining interests in Georgia and western North Carolina. The few items from the Civil War and postbellum eras are chiefly about mining interests and family matters. A letter of 23 May 1874 is from Jennie P. Kerr to Charles c. Jones, answering his questions about Richard Clauselle Puryear’s service as a North Carolina member of the Confederate Provisional Congress.
Other items include an account, 13 pp., written in 1926 by
Bettie Pattillo Puryear Gibson (d. 1927), daughter of Richard Clauselle and Rose Clingman Puryear, about General George Stoneman’s raid on Shallow Ford, the family home in Yadkin County, in April 1865.
There are few items after 1868. Letters dated 1890 are
chiefly to Thomas Lanier Clingman from business associates.Folder 1 1810-1832
2 1834-1844
3 1845-1849
4 1850-1853
5 1854-1857
6 1858-1859
7 1860
8 1861
9 1862-1867
10 1868-1887; 1890; 1926
11 UndatedSeries 2. Volumes
1835-1848. 2 items.Folder 12 Volume 1: Ledger, ca. 107 pp., containing
accounts, 1835, for blacksmith work and wagon
body-work (pp. 1-73) and accounts for provisions,
1837-1841, pp. 74-107. “R. C. Puryear, Jr.”
appears on the flyleaf.Folder 13 Volume 2: Account book, ca. 54 pp., 1844-1848, of John Francis Locke, whose relation to the Clingman and Puryear families is unclear.
Series 3. Pictures
1861-1940 and undated. 7 items.P-2661/1 Photograph of Thomas Lanier Clingman in
Confederate Army general’s uniform, ca. 1861-1865.
Verso: “From photographic negative in Brady’s
National Portrait Gallery.”P-2661/2 Photograph of Thomas Lanier Clingman in civilian dress, ca. 1865-1870. Verso: “Brady’s National
Photographic Portrait Galleries.”P-2661/3-6 Photographs of unidentified family member
(probably Thomas Lanier Clingman in later life).P-2661/7 Photographic negative of handwritten family tree, dated 1940. Location of original unknown.
Shelf List
Box 1 (only)
Items separated:
P-2661/1-7
Footnotes
- Jones, John N (Alfred’s Brother)- Story ↩
- This is not OUR Jane Poindexter Clingman ↩
Alexander Brandon Clingman has two gravestones at Jones Valley Cemetery near Caddo Gap, on land belonging at one time to his daughter Jane and son-in-law Dr. Alfred Jones. The one stone, which is probably the original, lies flat on the ground. Surmounted by a Masonic emblem, it gives his name as Rev A B Clingman. The primitive engraving reads exactly like the one pictured except that he is titled “Rev” This second stone, which matches that of his wife and is decorated with an open Bible, reads,
“Dr A B Clingman born in Surry Co, NC Nov 22, 1806. Married in 1829, and moved to Tennessee thence to Arkansas in 1835. Joined the church of Christ in 1833. died a consistent member thereof on Sept. 18, 1881. Unfortunately, his death year cannot be seen in the photo. There are also footstones engraved with Dr and Mrs Clingmans’ initials, A B C and A M C
Jones Valley is just less than a mile from the Indian monument in Caddo Gap. Driving southeast toward Glenwood on Highway 8, take the left turn onto Jones Valley Road. Once on Jones Valley Road, take the right fork and you will pass the cemetery, which is on the left and uphill from the road.
The Clingmans are not buried in the cemetery where their gravestones have been installed. Some descendants, fearing that the old Old Bethel Cemetery near Glenwood where the Clingmans are buried would be bulldozed, moved the Clingman stones to Jones Valley, the cemetery and land around it being owned by family members.
The actual burial place is on land owned (1997) by Mrs Polly Sorrels of Amity, in the Northeast ¼ of the Northeast ¼ of Section 17, Township 5 south, Range 23 West in Pike County, an area that was once part of Colbath Township in Clark County. Across the road is land owned (1997) by a couple named Sloan. Although the cemetery is overgrown and its old woven-wire fence has fallen down, one can see that there are depressions where graves are located and some plants that are obviously not native. A couple of large fieldstones remain, and I wonder whose graves they mark. (In addition to this old Old Bethel Cemetery there is an Old Bethel Cemetery, and a Bethel Cemetery that is called ‘new’)
— Garnet, Lila. “Alexander Brandon CLINGMAN.” View Gravestone Photos from across Arkansas. Arkansas Gravestones, 11 Nov. 2007. Web. 17 June 2017. <http://arkansasgravestones.org/view.php?id=2363>.