Ethel Lavinia Jones Severance

My Grandmother

(1895 - 1924)

 

My maternal grandmother Ethel Lavinia Jones is the link by which I enter into the family of Jones. Grandmother Ethel, (shown in above photo holding my mother) the youngest of eleven children, was born to Allen and Malinda Jones the 6th of April 1895. She was born in the community of Hatch Bend (now and then, it is referred to as Hatch’s Bend) which is a small farming community located in Southeast Lafayette County, Florida. 

 

Ethel, shown here with her brother Albert, was six years old when her father passed away. Then only a short three years later, Ethel’s mother was taken ill and then she too passed away. It is little wonder that Ethel, from this day forward would have problems adjusting to her new life.

 

I have always considered my mother a beautiful woman and never did I give much thought as to where such beauty originated. That is, until I was given the two photos of Grandmother Ethel that appear on this page. Then, there was little doubt that such beauty came from my grandmother.

Before I continue with Grandmother Ethel’s story, I would like to pause a moment and introduce you to Ferris (Sam) Jones, and my three Jones cousins. All are the most genuine people you might ever have the pleasure of meeting. Sadly I must report that all but one of them have now passed away. Sam passed away the 17th of January, 2007.

 

To begin with, my genealogy research began when Sam and his wife Debbie Jones shared with me their fifteen years worth of names, and information on my Jones family. I will be forever grateful that they also shared a good deal of information on my mom’s Severance family. This was information that I had never before heard. Please remember that, as I stated in the preface, I never knew a grandparent maternal or paternal. I did not know their names, where they lived, from where they came, nor even how or when they died. Only that they had never lived in my lifetime.

 

Samuel Ferris Jones is the son of Grandmother Ethel’s brother, Albert Zonder Jones. For years, Sam lived in Branford and knew all of the members of the Jones family as well as most of the members of the Severance family. Sam and Debbie married in 1987 and spent the last fifteen years of their married life tracing family members.

 

Sam and Debbie, in their initial phone call (see "My Story" for details of the phone call) told me, that if I wanted more information on my mother, grandparents, and other members of the Jones family, I should contact three cousins living in Mayo, Florida (Mom’s birthplace was a few miles east of Mayo). I did visit Mayo some months later and, for the first time, met my cousins Johnnie and Ora Jones (Alice, another sister, was away visiting her daughter). Ora, Johnnie and Alice are children of Avner Oscar Jones, my grandmother’s older brother. Ora was living in Branford, about twenty miles east of Mayo, but happened to be visiting Johnnie when I called and asked to stop by for a visit. Now, thanks to three cousins (who were complete strangers to me six or seven years ago), I have come to know my grandparents almost as well as I would have known them if Mom were alive to tell me their stories.

Ora, Johnnie, and Alice have given me countless hours of stories about my mother, my grandparents, and other relatives that I am now able to pass on. Many of the stories will appear later in this chapter and others will appear throughout the book, along with the people to whom they refer. Never, until recently, did I realize just how much I missed not knowing my grandparents. 

With Ora, it was love at first sight. No, not that kind of love, since Ora was then a very active ninety-two years young. However, I can tell you that I have never met a more lovable, adorable family in my life. They have taken me into their home as someone that they have known and loved all of their lives. I feel very blessed having them in my life. Ora recently celebrated her one hundred first birthday.

The information that you will read here about Grandmother Ethel and others, are stories passed on to me by Ora, Johnnie and Alice that have been combined with findings of my research and the research passed-on to me by Sam and Debbie Jones.

 

Ethel was nine years old and Albert was 12 when their mother Malinda died. Because of their young age, they were made wards of their eldest brother James Theron Jones (called Uncle Jimmy by the cousins). Uncle Jimmy and his wife Molly lived in New Troy; a small community located about fifteen miles to the north of Hatch Bend.

                                                                                                                               

Unfortunately, Grandmother Ethel and Albert were unable to cope with the drinking habits of their brother James, and before long, moved into the home of another older brother Avner Oscar (who was married, and the father of Ora, Johnnie, and Alice). Ora does not remember exactly how long Ethel and Albert lived with them, but she said it was “a good while.”

 

Grandmother Ethel in 1912, and at the very young age of seventeen, married William Laurie Severance. They had three children. First, there was Uncle Steve, followed by Aunt Pearl, and last, but certainly not least, Mom (shown here in Grandmother Ethel’s lap).

                                                                                                                                

The family worked and enjoyed life together for the next seven years. Then suddenly without warning, Grandfather Laurie now twenty-seven became ill, and within a short time, passed away at home in bed with pneumonia. Mom (at the young age of one and a half), her mother Ethel, along with her brother and sister, moved in with Ora’s family staying only a short few months this time.

 

Soon after the death of Grandfather Laurie, Grandmother Ethel’s Aunt Amanda introduced her to George Hunter of Alachua County. That same year, Grandmother Ethel married Mr. Hunter, who had five children from a previous marriage. Two years after their marriage, the family of ten became a family of eleven and then twelve, with the births of Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Caris.

 

  Several years after her marriage to Mr. Hunter, Grandmother Ethel, now at age 27, became terribly sick with the measles. Her brother Avner, knowing that Mr. Hunter would be unable to care for her and the five children, insisted that Grandmother Ethel and her first three children move in with him and his family. Mr. Hunter would keep Aunt Caris and Aunt Dorothy, along with his other children, in Alachua and care for them.

                                                                                                                                

 

Ora, now a young woman of nineteen was home in bed, sick with the measles when Grandmother Ethel and her young family arrived. It was but a week or two later, that Ora heard strange sounds coming from Ethel’s bedroom and got out of her sickbed to see what might be wrong. She made her way to Ethel’s bedside to see if she could be of any help. Ora found Ethel struggling to breathe, and with all the strength she could muster, lifted Ethel’s head high to keep her from strangling. Then, within minutes, on 14 March in the year 1924, and one month before her twenty-eighth birthday, Grandmother Ethel passed away while being held in Ora’s arms.

 

In a recent phone conversation, Aunt Dorothy Hunter Daigle, Mom’s half-sister, has a different memory of her mother’s death. Although she was only two years old at the time of her mother’s death, her father told her the story many times. Aunt Dorothy told me that she and Ora talked about her mother’s illness a year or two ago, and Ora agreed with her version. The place of Grandmother’s death had been the only difference in the two stories.

Aunt Dorothy believes that possibly all ten of the children had measles at the same time. Grandmother Ethel, while trying to care for all ten, also contracted the measles. Mr. Hunter found that he could not take care of everyone himself and asked Ora’s father Avner, if Ora could come to Alachua and help him.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Within a week or so after arriving at the home of Mr. Hunter, Ora also contracted the measles. It was but a week or two later, that one day Ora heard strange sounds coming from Ethel’s bedroom and got out of her sickbed to see what might be wrong. She made her way to Ethel’s bedside to see if she could be of any help. Ora found Ethel struggling to breathe, and with all the strength she could muster, lifted Ethel’s head high to keep her from strangling. Then, within minutes, on 14 March in the year 1924, and one month before her twenty-eighth birthday, Grandmother Ethel passed away while being held in Ora’s arms.

Stories like this inspired me so much that I vowed to continue my research, so that I might pass all that I learned on to you. This story in particular is the reason that I wanted to introduce you to my cousins, so that you might see just how much they have enriched my life. By passing-on their stories, I hope that I can enrich the lives of you as much.

 

The Children of Allen and Malinda Jones

 

A. James Theron JONES was born on the 27th of December, 1871 at Lafayette County, Florida. He married Molley LANGSTON on the 24th of  June, 1894 at Lafayette County. He died on the 20th of June in 1918 at Lafayette County at the age of 46. He was buried at Maypop Cemetery, at Lafayette County.

B. S. Quincy JONES was born on the 19th of March in 1873 at Lafayette County, Florida. He died on the 20th of March in 1906 at Lafayette County at the age of 33. He married Middie CANNON. Quincy is buried at Hatch Bend Cemetery at Lafayette County.

C. Clancy EllaJONES was born circa 1874 at Hatch Bend, Lafayette County, Florida. She died circa 1880 at Hatch Bend.

D. Wary B. JONES was born on the 4th of February in 1876 at Lafayette County, Florida. He died on the 27th of February, at the age of 5 in 1881 at Lafayette County and is buried at McCrabb Cemetery, Dixie County, Florida.

E. Avner Oscar JONES was born on the 4th of February in 1878 at New Troy Florida. He married Viola G.GRINSTEAD, daughter of John Donald GRINSTEAD and Rose Ann HART, on the 11th of December, 1904 at Alachua County, Florida. He
died on the 5th of September, 1929 at Hatch Bend FL at the age of 51 and is buried at Hatch Bend Cemetery at Lafayette County, Florida.

F. Robert J. JONES was born on the 27th of February, 1879 at Lafayette County, Florida.  He married Mary O. BASS on the 29th of December, 1901 at Lafayette County. He died on the 4th of February, 1911 at Lafayette County at the age of 31 and is buried at Hatch Bend Cemetery at Lafayette County.

G. Sarah A. JONES was born on the 20th of March, 1881 at Lafayette County, Florida. She married Joseph BELL on the 11th of December, 1898 at Lafayette County, Florida. She died on  the 19th of  March in 1905 at Lafayette County at the age of 23 and is buried at Hatch Bend Cemetery at Lafayette County.
H. Eugene A. JONES was born on the 7th of September, 1890 at Lafayette County, Florida. He died on the 31st of October, 1893 at Lafayette County at the age of 3. He is buried at Hatch Bend Cemetery in Lafayette County.

I. Albert Zonder JONES was born on the 26th of October, 1892 at Hatch Bend, Lafayette County, Florida. He married Annie Jane TODD on the 23rd of December, 1923 at Hague, Alachua County, Florida. He died on the 28th of March, 1984 at Hatch Bend at the age of 91. He is buried at Hatch Bend Cemetery at Lafayette County.

J. Ethel Lavinia JONES was born on the 6th of April, 1895 at New Troy, Lafayette County, Florida. She married William Laurie SEVERANCE, son of Samuel Stephen SEVERANCE and Caroline Catherine KRIMMINGER, on the 11th of February, 1912 at Mayo, Lafayette County, Florida. She married George W. HUNTER on the 7th of August, 1920 at Alachua, County Florida, after the death of her husband Laurie.