Deerfield Community School Website

What We Have Learned About
Charles Jones From Primary Sources

This is Charles Jones' gravestone
in Deerfield's Tilton Cemetery:

According to the Federal Census, in 1850, Charles Jones
was six years old, living in Nottingham with his family.

Transcript:

Name	Age	Sex	Occupation
Jones, Hiram	36	M	Laborer
Lydia A.	38	F
Franklin B.	9	M
Charles H.	6	M
Aramana (?)	4	F

In 1860, just before the Civil War, Charles was 16 years old and still living at home. His mother, father and older brother were still there, but his younger sister was not. (Dead?)

By this time, his father seems to have bought a farm. Charles and his older brother were working as shoemakers. There was a new younger brother and a new younger sister.

Transcript:

Name	Age	Sex	Occupation
Hiram Jones	46	M	Farmer
Lydia A.	36	F
Franklin B.	19	M	Cordwainer
Charles H.	16	M	"
Horace	8	M
Jane E.	6	F
Sarah (?)	3	F

Here is a summary of Charles Jones' military record:

Transcript:

Jones, Charles H. Co.C; b. Nottingham; age 18; res. Deerfield, enl. Sept. 2, '61; must. in Sept. 9, '61, as Priv.; des. May 24, '63, Concord; appreh.;
disch. Aug. 23, '64, near Petersburg, Va. P.O. Ad., Groveland, Mass.

These are the battles that Jones' regiment, the 2nd NH Volunteers fought in during the Civil War. Jones' service record suggests that he was present for all battles from the Siege of Yorktown in May of 1862, to the battle of Port Walthall in June of 1864.

According to his military record, Charles Jones
caught malaria during the war. This is a letter written
by his Corporal describing how it happened:

Transcript of the letter:

Chills & fever by exposure in a malarial district:

"We were encamped on the battlefield where Gen. Casey was surprised May 1862. A great many dead horses were burned and buried, also the bodies of many men on this field, which was low and damp. The only water we had for drinking and cooking was surface water obtained by digging a hole two or three feet deep. The soldier had an attack of chills & fever at the above mentioned place and later during the seven days retreat and during the month of July at Harrison's Landing, Va. and the following month, August, 1862, when the Regt. marched from Harrison's Landing for Yorktown, Va. He was suffering severely with chills & fever. I know he continued to suffer with chills and fever up to about June 1863 while I was with the co. I was then detailed as a color guard and was not with the co. and cannot remember much of his condition after that date. I have not seen this soldier but once since his discharge in 1864 and that was in June, 1884."

Signed, John H. Coles
(See picture below)

Corporal John H. Coles

This is a record of times Jones was on
sick-call in the Army during the War:

According to the 1870 Federal Census, in 1870, Charles Jones was living in New Market, NH and working in a cotton mill. He was married to a woman named Delina [?]

Transcript:

Name	Age	Sex	Occupation
Jones, Charles H.	26	M	Works in Cotton Mill
- Delina A. (?)	24	F	Keeping House

Marriages - From the Deerfield Town Record, 1877

Charles H. Jones

Res – Deerfield

Pl. of Marriage – Deerfield

Date of M. – Dec. 6, 1877

Age 24 [34]

Color – White

Occupation – Painter

Condition – Divorced / 2nd

Birthplace – Nottingham

Officiating Clergyman – H.O. Walker of Deerfield

Names of Parents – Hiram Jones, Lydia A. Jones

Birthplace of Parents – Nottingham

Residence of Parents – Dead (father), Nottingham

Occupation of Parents – X, housework

Color of Parents - W

To:

Maggie E. Knight of Deerfield

Age – 18

Color – White

Occupation – seamstress

Condition – Divorced / 2nd

Birthplace – Strafford

Names of Parents – John Knight, Sophroma P. Knight

Birthplace of Parents – Northwood (F), Strafford (M)

Residence of Parents – Deerfield

Occupation of Parents – Shoemaker, Housework

Color of Parents - White

It is interesting to not that not only was this Jones' second marriage,
but a second marriage for his new wife Maggie, who was only 18!

Births - From Deerfield Town Record, 1879

Name – None

Birthplace – Deerfield

D. Of Birth – Oct. 14th, 1879

Sex – Male

Condition – Living

Color – White

Names of Parents – Chas. H. Jones, Maggie Jones

Residence of Parents – Deerfield

Occupation of Parents – Shoemaker, housewife

Birthplace of Parents – Deerfield [Nottingham], Northwood

Color of Parents - White

According to the Federal Census, in 1880, Charles and Maggie Jones were living in Deerfield and had one son named Lewis. Chales was working as a farm laborer:

Transcript:

Name	Color	Sex	Age	Relationship	Occupation
Jones, Charles	W	M	35		Farm Laborer
- Margaret E.	W	F	21	Wife	Keeping House
- Lewis H.	W	M	1	Son

After the Civil War, Charles Jones applied for a disability pension from the government. From his pension paperwork, we know that he was 5'4" tall, had a fair complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. He complained that he was still suffering from the effects of the malaria he had caught in Virginia in 1862:

A description of 35-year old Charles Jones

In order to get a pension from the government, Jones had to submit affidavits from neighbors in Deerfield who could verify that his malaria affected his ability to earn a living.
Here is a transcripts of one set of affidavits:

State of New Hampshire

County of Rockingham

In the matter of the Pension Claim of Charles H. Jones.

Personally came before me a Justice [of] the peace in and for the aforesaid County and State, Charles E. Tilton and E. Warren Tilton both of Deerfield, County of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, Persons of lawful age, who, being duly sworn, declare in relation to the aforesaid case as follows:

That they have personally known said Jones since 1865 – that said Jones from that time up to now has suffered from chills and fever. That the symptoms are that when at work, he will be taken in a shivering condition so as to be obliged to leave work and he would be abed for a few days. They can not speak for the [illegible] as to each year but they well remember that he has never been well since his return from the War. They consider him not able to do more than half a man’s work on an average. They have obtained their knowledge of him from having lived as near neighbors to him in Deerfield since 1865 and having worked with him at farming.

They further declare that they have no interest in said case and are not concerned in its prosecution..

Signature of Affiant or of each Affiant – Charles E. Tilton, E Warren Tilton

After leaving the Army in 1864, Jones received a disability pension of $2 per month. In 1892, that was raised to $6 per month.

Births - From Deerfield Town Record, 1880

Name – None

Birthplace – Deerfield

D. Of Birth – Nov. 21, 1880

Sex – Male

Condition – Living

Color – White

Names of Parents – Chas. H. Jones, Maggie Jones

Residence of Parents – Deerfield

Occupation of Parents – Laborer

Birthplace of Parents – Nottingham, Northwood

Color of Parents - White

Births - From Deerfield Town Record, 1883

Name – Frank Edward Jones

Certificate of Mother [?] Shown

D. Of Birth – March 2, 1883

Sex – Male

Condition – Living

Color – White

Names of Parents – Chas. H. Jones, Maggie Jones

Residence of Parents – Deerfield

Occupation of Parents – Farmer

Births - From Deerfield Town Record, 1883

W.A.F. Knight

B.P – Deerfield

D. Of B. – Oct. 29, 1883

Male

Living

White

John Knight / Sophromia Knight of Deerfield

Shoemaker

B.P. of Parents – Northwood, Strafford

C. of Parents - W

This is interesting because it shows that Jones' inlaws,
the Knights, were still having children.

Births - From Deerfield Town Record, 1884

Name – None

Birthplace – Deerfield

D. Of Birth – March 9, 1884

Sex – Male

Condition – Living

Color – White

Names of Parents – Chas. H. Jones, Maggie Jones

Occupation of Parents – Shoemaker

As you can see, Jones was bouncing around from job to job a lot.

Births - From Deerfield Town Record, 1884

Name – None

Birthplace – Deerfield

D. Of Birth – Feb. 7, 1885

Sex – Male

Condition – Living

Color – White

Names of Parents – Chas. H. Jones, Maggie Jones

Occupation of Parents – Shoemaker
Color of Parents - White

(This is son #5, if you are keeping track.)

These next two records are very interesting - as much for what they do not tell us as for what they do:

Deaths - From Deerfield Town Records, 1883

Name – Alvin Jones

Years - 2

Months - 10

Days -

Sex - M

Color - W

Condition - S

P. Of Birth – Deerfield

P. Of Death – Deerfield

Date of Death – Sept. 18th, 1883

Disease or Cause of Death – Convulsions

Names of Parents – Charles H Jones, Maggie Knight

Residence - Deerfield

Deaths - From Deerfield Town Records, 1883

Name – W.A.F. Knight

Years - 1

Months - 1

Days - 19

Sex - Male

Color - White

Condition - Single

P. Of Birth – Deerfield

P. Of Death – Deerfield

Date of Death – Dec. 17th, 1883

Disease or Cause of Death – Convulsions

Names of Parents – John Knight, Sophronia Knight

Residence - Deerfield

In 1892, Charles and Maggie Jones got divorced. According to the divorce decreee, Maggie had no idea where Charles was at the time; he is discribed as "formerly of Deerfield, now of parts unknown". (According to the Revised Register of the Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion: 1861-1866, published in 1895 though, he was living in Groveland, Massachussetts.)

In 1907, Jones' pension was raised again - this time to $12 per month.

Jones died in 1910 of heart failure and alcoholism.

According to paperwork that Jones' son filled out after his death,
Jones was found dead on his floor of a heart attack and "drink".
All his worldly goods were then sold off for about $20.

Because Charles Jones died in poverty, his son applied to the government to pay some of his final expenses:

Here are his funeral expenses:

Charles Jones left some unpaid bills, including firewood:

A pair of pants:

And rent (this should probably read seven dollars, not seven hundred).

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