William Smith Jones Civil War File

Scott County Arkansas
Civil War Pension Applications
WILLIAM SMITH JONES
Contributed by Barbara Hale Reynolds

Application for Pension

The Honorable County Court of Scott County,
Sitting as a Pension Board:
The undersigned, as an ex-Confederate soldier, hereby applies for a pension under the provisions of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, entitled "An Act for the Relief of Certain Soldiers of the War between the States," approved April 1, 1891, upon the following grounds:
That he is a bona fide citizen of the State of Arkansas, and has resided within this State for more than twelve months next before the filing of this application;
That he enlisted as a soldier in the State of Arkansas during the war between the States in Company I of the 2nd Regiment of Ark Infantry Volunteers.
That while in the discharge of his duty as a soldier of said company and regiment in the service of the State of Arkansas, or of the Confederate States of America, he received a wound, from the effects of which he lost his leg.
That by reason of said wound and disability he is now indigent and incapacitated for manual labor;
That he is not receiving any aid from this State or from the United States, for such injuries, under any other state, and that therefore he makes application for relief under the act aforesaid.
Signed: W.S. Jones
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of September 1891
Signed: G.W. Cornelius J.P.

STATE OF ARKANSAS
County of Scott
Personally came before me W.G. Hall and L.A. Oller, two credible witnesses who make oath and say that they verily believe the applicant to be the identical person named in the application, and that the facts stated in the application are true.
Signed: W.G. Hall and L.A. Oller
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of Sept. 1891

Application for Pension

State of Arkansas, County of Scott
The Honorable County Court of Scott County
The undersigned applicant for a pension under an act of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, approved April 1st, 1891, and amendments thereto, being duly sworn, states that his name is W.S. Jones, his age is 60 years, that he has resided in this state for 47 years, that he is not receiving aid from the State of Arkansas or any other State or government for injuries received in the war between the States.<
That he enlisted at Van Buren, Arkansas on or about the 16th day of March 1861 in Company I, commanded by Capt. Wm Patterson in the 2nd Regiment of Ark Infantry Vols commanded by McIntosh in Conferderate State Service. Afterwards re-enlisted in Company I in the 2nd Regiment of Ark Infantry Vols commanded by M.N. Hickman in same service. That while a member of said Company in said service and while in the line of duty at Murfreesboro, in the State of Tennessee, on or about the 21st day of December 1862, he received a gun shot wound in the left leg below the knee from the effects of which was his said left leg was immediately amputated about 8 inches below the knee and also was wounded in right hip by muney ball which still remains in his hip.
My means of support are about as follows:
Rent off my farm, which amounts to about one hundred dollars per year. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of June 1894
Signed: W.S. Jones

State of Arkansas
County of Scott
We, E.D. Yandall, Judge of the County Court of Scott County, S.P. Fuller, Sheriff and T.M. Duncan, Clerk sitting as a Pension Board for Scott County, do certify that we have examined the application of the within named W.S. Jones for pension, under act of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, as approved April 1, 1891, and amendments thereto, and the proof in support of same, and find that said applicant is a wounded Confederat soldier, is in indigent circumstances, and partially incapacitated for manual labor, and that his claim is just and that he should be allowed $75 pension.
Signed: E.D. Yandall, County Judge
[seal]

EVIDENCE OF PHYSICIAN

State of Arkansas
County of Scott
I, X a duly registered and practicing physician in Scott County, Arkansas, do hereby certify that I am personally well acquainted with W.S. Jones of Nebraska, Arkansas, who is an applicant for a pension under the Statutes of Arkansas. That at his request I have made an examination of his wound and find:
State description and character of wound:
the applicant is minus his left leg by being amputated at the middle third of the femur leg and that he is incapacitated by muney ball in his right hip joint (my note: difficult to read - BHR).
Physical condition and to what cause is his incapacity for manual labor attributable: His incapacity for manual labor is attributable to his having only one leg.
Financial condition: unreadable
Means of support: His farm and the proceeds there from which is not very lucrative.
Extent of disability: I think that as far as manual labor is . . . (unreadable)

Additional Application of W.S. Jones #1940
Nebraska P.O., Scott County.
Examined and auditor authorized to draw warrant for same.
(written over that line is:) Not approved by County Board not indigent.
This 28th day of August, 1894
A.B. Mills, Auditor
(Note: also signed by Governor or his representative. Cannot read the signature).

William Smith Jones, the ninth and youngest child of John William Jones and Elizabeth Eddy, was born on an unknown date between 1841 - 1848 in Alabama (my note: pension application would have his birth year at 1831). In 1860 we find him in the Scott County census at Lafave Twp., PO Cedar Creek living with his mother and two brothers, B.L. and Martin V. Also living with them is his widowed sister, Matilda A. Welch and her two young sons. William is recorded as being a farmer, and it also indicates he has attended school during the past year.
William S. Jones enlisted as a Private in the 2nd Arkansas Mounted Infantry of the Confederate Army about 1862. He served in Company I, and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. On December 31, 1862 he was badly wounded in the left leg in Tennessee. His left leg was amputated January 2, 1863 at the Temporary Field Hospital at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He evidently resided at "Gravel Hill (Gravelly, I believe) in Yell County at one point, as that is where he was living when he made application for an artificial limb. This application was signed May 2, 186_. The year is illegible.
In the 1870 Scott County census, we find him in LaFave Twp #6/6. He is recorded as being 27 years old. He is living with his mother, who is 70 years old. His sister, Matilda Welch, and her children are also in the household. He married Sarah E. (Sallie) Franklin between 1870 and 1880. William S. Jones homesteaded land in Scott County. The secretary of the President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, signed the final document July 1, 1875. This land was described as the West half of the Southeast quarter of Section 26 of Township 3 North of Range 26 West in the district of lands subject to sale at Dardenelle, Arkansas, containing 80 acres.
We find him in the 1880 Scott County Census, Lafave Twp #207 at age 38 with his wife, Sarah who is 27 years old. Also living in the household is a Dock Jennings. There are no children listed. Sarah E. (Sallie) Franklin was born about 1853 in Arkansas.
At some point after 1880, William Smith Jones and his wife moved to Polk County. I believe that he moved there before 1900, as he does not appear in the 1900 Scott County Census.
- Notes courtesy of Charlene Holland 1999
Additional note: According to information from another researcher and descendant of William Smith Jones, Sallie died about 1907. William married Lucinda Emmeline Standford on December 19, 1909 in Scott County, Arkansas. He died in 1914 and is buried in Pine Crest Cemetery, Mena, Arkansas. Lucinda then married William Jesse Oller after William Smith’s death.