My 3X-Great Grandfather Benjamin Jones

Benjamin Jones
b. 13 May 1775 Burlington, NJ
d. 10 June 1849 Jonestown, PA

Our earliest confirmed ancestor Benjamin was born in (probably) Northampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey in 1775. His parents were Hezekiah (1723-1806) and Margaret (Haines) Jones (about 1736-before 1806). It is relevant to place Benjamin's birth in 1775 at the beginning of the American War of Independence, which lasted until 1783, when the Treaty of Paris ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory.

Elizabeth Eldridge
b. 1774 Burlington, NJ d. 24 Nov 1806 Springfield, Burlington, NJ

Benjamin's first wife was Elizabeth Eldridge, daughter of Noah Eldridge. Members of the Society of Friends, their marriage was recorded in the Mt. Holly Meeting Minutes, Burlington County, New Jersey on 20 December 1804. Their only child Noah Eldridge Jones was born on 20 August 1805. Tragically this child died on 21 Nov 1805 and his mother Elizabeth died 3 days later. We can only speculate that their deaths were due to one of the highly contagious diseases at the time, such as cholera, diptheria, or influenza.

There seems to have been some animosity toward him from his deceased wife's family, as he was sued by the Eldridges in Burlington County Court in 1807-8 for "waste" (or: cutting down too many trees on his dead wife's property acquired by him through her dowry.) Plaintiffs were: Hannah Eldridge Scott and her husband John Scott, Margaret, Sarah and Mary Eldridge (Abigail's sisters). I'm suspecting that this is one of the mitigating factors in his desire to leave the area, as well as the fact that the church was "seeding" a new meeting in Fishing Creek.

The Eldridge family appears to have been highly litigious, as several suits brought by them are on record in Burlington County court records. Petty suits, such as collecting debts, trespassing, the above suit were common in the courts then. Guess there was a need for "Judge Judy" back then too!

Benjamin married Nancy Brown on 20 Dec 1808 in Mt. Holly also. Quite soon after this marriage, Benjamin and Nancy's father Richard Brown set out for new territory, Northumberland County (later Columbia) Pennsylvania. Both Benjamin and Richard Brown appear on the 1810 census. We know from family history that they settled in Fishing Creek, for Benjamin founded Jonestown in years to come.

Benjamin Jones' Land in New Jersey

The only clue that I have to the location of Benjamin Jones' land in New Jersey is a drawing drawing of a map of Cedar Swamp in Green Limb Branch found in Sheldon's historical records. It says it was copied from Book No. 2, p.270 of the minutes of the Orphans court of Burlington County, NJ. Benjamin's land was in Springfield Township. These are the notes: On May 24, 1882 James Lippincott, living nearby the land, accompanied Frank W. Jones, one of the grandsons of Benjamin Jones, on a survey expedition to ascertain the identity of said swamp. The original map/drawing was held by George G. Jones, son of Frank W. Jones copied by Sheldon Jones on 10/7/1940 neighbors with adjoining land: #11 Hezekiah Jones #12 Rebecca Woodward #13 Benjamin Jones #13 #14 John (Job?) Jones #14 #15 Margaret Leeds #16 Martha Burr #16 Mary Brown (the largest part) #18 William Bishop (now Lippincott was supposed to be near Rancocas Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River, in southwestern New Jersey. It was described as being near or in the Cedar Swamp. It drains a rural agricultural and forested area on the eastern edge of the Pinelands north and northeast of Camden and the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. It rises in several branches in the Pinelands National Reserve. The North Branch rises in northern Burlington County, in Mirror Lake, just south of Fort Dix. It flows WNW past Mount Holly.
The South Branch rises in central Burlington County near Chatsworth and flows generally northwest. It receives the short Southwest Branch from the south approximately 5 mi (8 km) south of Mount Holly. The North and South branches join near Rancocas State Park, approximately 3 mi (5 km) west of Mount Holly, near the crossing of the New Jersey Turnpike. The combined stream flows 5 mi (8 km) northwest past Willingboro and joins the Delaware from the east at Riverside, where it is crossed by the Riverside-Delanco Bridge. It is navigable for approximately 10 mi (16 km) upstream from its mouth on the Delaware.
The North Branch Rancocas Creek is a tributary of Rancocas Creek in southwestern New Jersey in the United States. The creek starts in the Pine Barrens of Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Fort Dix Military Reservation, near Browns Mills. From its confluence with Rancocas Creek, tidewater extends upstream to the upper end of Mount Holly.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_County%2C_New_Jersey; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancocas_River)

After the death of Benjamin Jones, James Jones became curious about the land in New Jersey that his father had left when he moved to Pennsylvania. Did it still belong to them? What was it like? Could they sell it and make some money? He took a trip back to Burlington

We also know from court records that Benjamin was being sued in November, 1807 by Elizabeth Eldridge's family: John and Hannah (nÈe Eldridge) Scott, Mary, Sarah, Margaret and Abigail Eldridge for "committing waste, spoil or destruction in houses, woods, lands or gardens." This suit was heard in the New Jersey Supreme Court. The land in question was described as 6 acres and one road of woodland and 10 acres of arable land situate in Springfield Township, Burlington County.

The land in question was, according to notes in my grandfather's history, located

It was perhaps this conflict with his ex-inlaws that motivated Benjamin to leave Burlington and move to Fishing Creek Township in then-Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. Fishing Creek was a satellite meeting for the Philadelphia Meeting (Quaker), and perhaps others from the meeting seeded this new meeting as the colonial settlers moved West to seek less populated land. Around 1808, Benjamin Jones and his new wife, Nancy Brown, her father Richard Brown and evidently his family, all packed up their possessions and moved to Pennsylvania, purchasing land from Abraham Dotterer in the area now known as Jonestown, northeast of Bloomsburg.

By 1809 R. Brown and B. Jones had built a sawmill, and by 1811, a grist mill. Benjamin took over the operation of both after Richard Brown (retired?) moved his family to Greenwood Township around 1820. In 1820 Benjamin Jones became the first postmaster of the newly established Jonestown Post Office, and held this post until he became Justice of the Peace. He certainly esbablished himself as the center of this new community in a short amount of time.

Benjamin and Nancy had a fruitful marriage for Nancy gave birth to 7 children, 5 of whom survived into adulthood.


Benjamin and Nancy Jones' Children
Child's Name Birth Date Death Date SPOUSE'S NAME
Mary Ann 14 Sept 1811 poss. bef. 1870 Silas Engle Seybert
Cyrus Fox?
James Newbold 17 Sept 1813 2 Jan 1891 Caroline Matilda Merrill
Richard B. (Brown?) 3 Sept 1815 13 July 1877 Sarah "Sallie" Ann Kline
Eliza Eldridge 7 Jan 1818 21 Sept 1889 Benjamin McHenry
Benjamin 23 Dec 1819 11 March 1820 died in infancy
Matilda Agnes? 10 June 1821 11 Feb 1896 Reuben Hess
William B. 19 Aug 1832 29 Sept 1832 died in infancy

U.S. Census Records

Some census notes of interest: