[Mrs. Laura Jones]

Hamilton, Mabel M., Jones, Mrs. Laura

Palestine, United States, Anderson County, Texas

3

wpalh002428

daily lifenarratives

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Mebel M. Hamilton dederal eriterei Project
Anderson County LIetrict
Pioneer Peleetine, Texas
Page 1
Mr. Laura Jones, 701 est Main et.,Paleetineaexae
elle born in liewm n. Georgie June 17th,1847. ihen I was about 11
years or age ee moved to illiaeis and six mol4the later ee ioved to i3uffelo
City, Are., e lived there for teo years td my father practiced medicine
at the time. ee had a eeuesboat built and moved from there to Teeneesee. There
eue 31 p..;:opit,' oe the boat sled our deer. e care to a )lioe on the rjver
and ran on a snag where 7 ateamboute had sunk. ep jelled to a man who 041310
along ea a canoe ad Le got ua out -ail except the deer. They finally saved
tee deer by pulling the boat to tee aide of the oeeoe. Then ee got on a eteaMe
boat later a,ad they took us to Memphis. hen we left there ee eent to Lafayette
and the Civil -ar had juet begun. They eot to fightleg so and Ete up everythin,
ee had so they gave us a one t.,; go out 7 mil -a and Le juet kept on going. We
left our cattle and everything exoept %ht ee just had to have. ,e teak the
train iron Aberdeen. to obile ,Alabama, iod frem there we took the steamboat
to Montgomery, Alabama. My sister tnd took typho• d fever and ehe died whin
we reached Montgomery. u etonoed there and fateer and my to brothers eoreed
in the Arsenal mukine guns to fight eith. ene brother joined the iifth Georgia
eegieent and went to eer. he 1,ved to be eretty old -around 70 and died Red is
buried in :Little Rock. My ther moved our family to Opelika, Alabama aed ee
lived teen; until the end of the eer.
My maiden name eas Laura Eurriw. 1 eae married in Opelika,AIebama,Auguat
31,186e to eir. :7renk Jones ,11() eae a eounded soldier, he eau shot at Baker*
Creck, the bullet going through h a eheulder weile loing the cannon. He vas
in -addell'e Artillery. I have a letter weioeI have had eremed and prize
very highly from ey husbands Major,J.e.eaddell, written at eeale,Rueeell CO.,
Aletame, iebruary 23,1892 ellen he was on his sick bed wbioh reads as follows
te Mx. Jones:
TO 4hom T mAY COlai.R14:

Mebell e. Hamilton eritere' Project
Anderson Oounty Dietr;ot
Pioneer Palestine, Texas
Page 2
"This ,s to oertify that the bearer Yrank M. Jonee served undcr me
in thc lutc war, et the "Battle Creek" r a the other elide call it "Champion
Hell". he dangerously ehot et my Tide, the beet among 4 mem I could hold
to eork the gun on the advanoing enemy.
He ens a true eoldier and mey be by all received as each.
(.%.ened) Waddell
Major of v'eiddellle Artillery
Battellion
Lat6r we moved back to 1oeco. Tennessee and then he WIA 01113Cd to elebania
adLi brother peeed away. Icy ?Ineband wate fireman for Montgomery and set
Point aa lroad for about 3 yearn before ee clew to Texas. Later We ent to
vieit me- fether in Enterpriee, Mieeiezipei, and we deolded to ooee to :Iv:mhos,
Trees, ,e lived there for abow: a year aud itnt to UoLade, we treveled in
our •egone .ith oxene ere! ),hen 1:40 got to the TrIni:y 'elver we could not oroes
the r.ver N d dee ded to stay thcre, eo ferned for 3 years, then ee one to
Pel(4etine and ey hueband eent to work on the first mule drawn street oars.
The truck ran from the Jection Houee of tii Iroud to the eocrthutioe. Later
on the 1.ne eat, moved to Dallas. In later years they tried to get a. other
etre t oar line, but automobiles oame ;r1 et, -le about that time and the idea
Auu 31ven uo. T!. -en ey euebex oterte-d eoreiug 'Jr the .ia,lroed,in the shoes,
,hen ee one to .euleet,es it wee teiokly eett:ed."/Pve killed meny a squirrel;
I used to shoot a gun ee good ae the rric.n. So, 1 ncwr ll.d;. deer, bp4 my
hueband has killed many a one". Mr. Jones Aorked for the ru road 52 years
and eas retired frem the service', and died pril 30, l6 at the age of 90.
,e uever d d oave any children, but aleays had goes of our relatives children
Jr so *one living with us. is renred several o-ilaren our lifetime. 1 uee to
1.ive a dremsmeking shop ehere the Humble Triangle Jtat on is now located. I
still have my old chart I used in thoee days to out my material.
oectimes

lebel M. Hamilton
Lnderaon County
Pioneer
Pederal %,,itere' project
Dietriot .8
kaleatine, Pxu
Page 3
I charged au high us 010.'30 for making a drese. My eyesight is etill good
enough to read the daily paper.
I live here with my great neice Knd her hueband and they look after
me. Of oourse the home belongs to me, but I receive a pension from the Civil
,ar and have a email inoo!ni, from real estate and savings invested, but I need
some one to be ith me se I am getting pretty feeble, aid can hardly get about
in the hoLtie.