|
Wayne County, NC to Salt Lake City, Utah 
Matthew M. and Susan Marinda Potts Jones Susan was the daughter of Newman and Susan Marinda Lewis Potts and Matthew Mile was the son of Matthew and Harriet McLemore Jones of Brogden Township, Wayne County, NC. She was born May 23, 1852, he was born May 8, 1845.
"My father was a soldier in the Civil War, his company was sationed at Bentonville NC. When the soldiers were given their release and told to go home, Bentonville was about thirty miles from our home and my father walked home". Julia Jones King, daughter of Matthew and Susan.
"Matthew was wearing his uniform of gray when he and Susan first met, at the close of the surrender. His old musket gun is still in the family. They bought a farm a few miles distant, known as the Searls place and sold it, bought another which had springs and a stream of water, where he put in a dam and built a grist mill to grind corn. Later he added a cotton gin and saw mill. In the fall of 1882 the mill burned and it was a terrible blow to him. He sold the place and rented a farm with a cotton gin on it, known as the Cobb place. We lived there two years and grandfather and grandmother Potts died during this time and we moved to their old home. It was a large well built house, in a big oak grove". Sophronia Jones Bywater daughter of Matthew and Susan.
"My grandfather joined the Confederate Army April 1, 1864 and was in Regiment 66, Company H. He was rated as a sharpshooter and was never wounded or taken prisoner while on duty. At the Battle of Seven Pines a musket ball came so close it left a pencil-like mark across his forehead, showing how near he came to being a war casualty and he carried it reminder of his life. It was but a few years later that Matthew Jones began to ride by the Newman Potts plantation stopping to chat with the Potts boys, William and Newman, either going or coming from Dudley or Everettsville. Susan began to join the conversation and the courtship led to their marriage on January 13, 1870 five years after the end of the War Between the States". Kathleen King Weiss granddaughter of Matthew and Susan.
Their children were:
William P. born April 7, 1871
"My father did his own blacksmith work, he was like the 'villey Smithey', had his shop under a spreading hickory tree that stood at the south west corner of our yard. I used to enjoy watching him work and see the sparks fly. He was a mill wright and a builder and had built his first mill and operated it himself before I was born". Julia Jones King, daughter of Matthew and Susan.
Foot Steps in the Sand by Jennie Jones King Jones Family Biography by Julia Jones King Jones Family Biography by Sophronia Jones Rintoul Bywater George Ross & Jennie Jones King Family in Idaho 1906 - Susan Potts Jones Letter to Sister Mary Potts Jones
1900 Wayne County, NC Census
Wayne County, NC Register of Deeds Matthew and Susan M. (Potts) Jones to Joel S. Fields Being a portion of the Newman Potts home place adjoining the lands of Catherine and Addison Fields being a part of Lot No 2 conveyed to Minnie C. Potts daughter of Newman Potts in the division of the lands of Newman Potts among his children described as follows: Beginning at a stake Susan M Jones corner, at the association line, and runs N 9 W 30 8/11 poles to a stake and runs N 65 3/4 E 138 poles to a stake in a private path and runs thence S 13 1/2 E 34 4/11 poles to a stake an old field then S 67 1/2 W 139 to the beginning containing 27 acres 2nd tract - The entire lot being Lot No 4 assigned to Susan M Jones the daughter of Newman Potts in the division of the lands of Newman Potts among his children said division being recorded in box 54 page 44 Registers Office in Wayne County containing 56 3/4 acres (deed registered same day – on same day Joel sold this property to Newman Potts and it was registered three days later) 3rd Tract - Containing 6 acres being Lot No 8 in division of Julia E Potts among her brothers and sisters said division being recorded in box No 63 page 187 Reg. office of Wayne Co
"My father was on a job in Goldsboro and he met a Mormon who gave him some literature to take home and read and when my parents read it they were impressed with it. The more they read the more they could see it was what the bible taught. Mother was soon converted and she wanted to become a member. Mother and Frona were baptized October 8, 1889. Our supervising Elder organized a branch and they held meetings in our home. My oldest brother Willie was appointed the superintendant of the Sunday School". Julia Jones King, daughter of Matthew and Susan.
"It is said that our departure from North Carolina was the object of a lot of attention, and some adverse comments, when after we'd left, the Goldsboro news papers came out with the sensational story that a train load of the fairest daughters of old North Carolina had left Goldsboro bound for Utah, accompanied by a half dozen Morman Elders. Mother, her four daughters, four sons and Luther Coats, mother's convert, must have made quite an impression on the ticket agent. The trip to Utah was almost indescribable. We younger children had never been on a train before, and to me it was almost too thrilling; every time it rounded a curve, it seemed to me it nearly left the track. I clung to the arms of my seat to keep from being flung in the isle. The creaking of the cars was frightening. After the first day or two, I began to enjoy the scenery more. I still remember how I admired the hills and cliffs of Tennessee, and the green fields of Kentucky, with the white houses in the distance and the white fences everywhere. We arrived in Salt Lake City, after our long and extremely tiresome journey, on a cold slushy day in March 1901". Jennie Jones King, daughter of Matthew and Susan.
"In 1913 my father decided he wanted to go back to North Carolina for the winter. He had been out here with us for five years. When we would ask him when he would be coming back he would say as soon as he had a good visit with his family and friends. He was at a friend's home building them some new steps for their back door and told them he was not feeling well and would like to lay down for a while. They had him go in and lay down on a bed. In about twenty minutes his friend checked on him and he had passed away. Redic went back to NC to take care of the funeral". Julia Jones King daughter of Matthew and Susan.
 (L-R) Cylde Potts O'Berry daughhter of William and Willie Potts, Frances Potts granddaughter of William and Willie Potts both of Wayne County, NC visiting the Hattie Jones Fairbanks family in Salt Lake, Utah.
 Photo caption: In Gardens - Spending an afternoon at the E. H. Fairbanks' residence, are Mrs. J. F. King Sr., left, Mrs. John O'Berry, Miss Frances Potts, Mrs. Fairbanks and Mrs. George King. Mrs. O'Berry and Miss Potts are Salt Lake visitors. Click here for enlargement.
 Utah cousins visiting cousins in Wayne County, NC.
Back L-R: Talitha Fields McCauley, Jasper Potts, Cuzzy Potts Southerland
Matthew Jones and sons, Jesse Sadler and Mathew M., are buried in Potts Cemetery located off Potts Road on Willard Drive.
|
