Stephen S. Jones
Sex: M
AKA: Stephen L. Jones 1
Individual Information
Birth: Aug 15, 1750 - St. Mary's County, Maryland
Death: 1835 - Kentucky
Burial: in Jones Property At Verdi 1
Events
• Alt. Birth 1, St. Mary's County, Maryland, Aug 15, 1750
• Alt. Death 1, Harlan County, Kentucky, 1836
Parents
Father: Ambrose Jones 1
Mother: Catherine Collins 1
Spouses and Children
1. *Mary Adams
Marriage:
Children:
1. John Jack Jones
2. Gabriel Jones
3. Mary Anna Jones
4. Elijah Jones
5. Zachariah Martin Jones
6. Stephen Jones Jr.
7. Hiram Jones
2. Unknown
Marriage:
Children:
1. John Jack Jones
Notes
General:
Page 33 from "A History of Harlan County", Stephen Jones, Revolutionary Soldier from Virginia, brought his family across the mountains to a place near what is now called Verda. They stumbled upon an Indian hunting party so they took refuge under a cliff by a creek which bears the names Jones Creek to this day. The family was too afraid to venture far from their shelter and for several days they ate buffalo scraps the Indians had left at their deserted campfire. The Indians were so intent on their feast that they left without molesting the Jones Family, although there is no doubt that the Indians were aware that the white people were there.
While residing in Granville County, North Carolina in 1779 Stephen Jones served three months as a Private in Capt. Richard Cook's Company, of Colonel William Moore's North Carolina Regiment. In 1780 he served about one month, names of the Officers not given. He moved to Surry County, North Carolina in 1781 and served three months in Captain John Nall's Company of Colonel Moore's Regiment. He was allowed a Pension on his application which was executed on April 16, 1834 when he lived on Clover Fork of the Cumberland River in Harlan County, Kentucky.
The name, Stephen Jones first appears in Fincastle County, Virginia in 1773. Some time after 1781 he moved to Lee County, Virginia where he lived until he moved to Harlan County, Kentucky around 1794. In 1794 he moved his family across the mountains from Virginia to Kentucky near a small Indian village which became the town of Verda, Kentucky. The creek he lived on became known as Jones' Creek in the present day Harlan County. Around 1838 Stephen Jones died. He is buried on a hill above Jones Creek behind the house of Joe and Polly Dean. He was approximately 90 years old when he died. No records show his wife's name but some old timers said he married an Indian.
According to stories handed down by generations of Kentuckians, Stephen Jones was the first white man to settle the area of Verda, Kentucky. On his first trip he encountered Indians who had killed a buffalo. The Indians had skinned the animal and were carving out the meat they wanted. Stephen hid until the Indians finished their talk and left, then he emerged and took some of the meat for himself. He stayed in the area for two or three days, camping under a cliff at night and scouting the area by day. He went back to Virginia and told his sons what he had found. Later he and his sons moved their belongings across the mountains by wagons and established their home at the head of Jones Creek in Harlan County. In 1940 the U. S. Government held a memorial service and erected a tombstone at the place believed to be his burial site.
See State of North Carolina, Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History. Revolutionary Army Accounts. Volume VI Page 35, Folio 3.
Stephen Jones was one of a party of 13 men led by Lt. Vincent Hobbs, of the Militia of Lee County, Virginia to pursue, capture and kill the half breed, Benge, after he and his band of frontier marauders attacked the home of Peter Livingston on April 6, 1794, tomahawked Peter's mother and captured Elizabeth and Susannah Livingston, wives of Peter and Henry Livingston.