Robert Lee Jones
THE BOUND BOY
by Julia Jaynalee Jones Lay
*transcribed by Cena Martin, great niece of the author.
As the story goes related by my Father, Robert Lee Jones, two lonely boys
landed somewhere on the coast of Virginia around the year 1760 or 1770.
These two boys had left their homeland, Scotland, with their parents to start a
new life in the new country, "America". The parents and the boys
were very excited over the idea of the voyage and starting a new life in
America. While in route to America the boys parents became ill and died.
This was very sad for them. Both parents were buried at sea.
As their ship reached America the joy and excitement was gone from them.
They were scared and wondered what life held for them in the new country.
In those early days there were no orphanages here in America. Children
without parents were bound out. This meant that some person or persons
would take the children and rear them. In return the child was supposed to
stay with whoever took him until he was 21 years of age and pay for his care by
working for him. These two brothers were bound out by different families in
different places. Due to the fact that travel was poor and that there was no
mail, the two brothers lost each other. They went thru life searching for
each other but never found each other.
One of these boys was my Great, Great Grand Father Jones.
For generations the Jones family was still searching for the lost brother and
his descendants. Just a short while before Papa died someone told him that
Sam Jones, the great evangelist, had told the same story from the pulpit. Papa
planned to contact Sam Jones and see if he was a descendent of the lost brother.
He died before he got to do it. Cousin Maggie DeJarnatt of Murfrusboro (i
am sure this is Murfreesboro, TN) told me that her husband John W. Jones was
converted in one of Sam Jones revivals.
About ten or fifteen years ago, Molly *(the authors older
sister, my grandmother) became interested in this too. She went to the
public library in Atlanta and read every thing she could about Sam Jones.
She could never find enough information to decide whether he was one of the lost
brothers descendants. She felt that he was because he had features very
much like the Joneses'. Also a marked likeness. Whether he was or
was not we will never know as it has been too long. Our great Grand Father
being a Methodist Minister makes it seem likely that he might be a descendant of
the lost brother.
As the story goes a good, kind man and woman took my Great,
Great Grand Father. They were very kind to him. When he was 18 years
of age he paid them a sum of money to release him. Whom he married or how
many children he had I do not know. I do know tho that my Great
Grandfather John W. Jones was his son.
It seems strange that I can go back 200 years in four or five
generations. The reason tho is because I'm the eighth child of our family.
My Grand Father Jones was the fourth child in his family. If any of these
fought in the Revolution or Civil War I do not know. How I wish I had
found out more before Mama died.
*note, I tried to transcribe this just as it was written, punctuation and all..
at the bottom of the copy I have, it says (over)...but have nothing more. I am
not sure if (over) meant to be continued or not....I estimate this was written
in the late 1960's.
This is about Mrs. Lay's father's family. He was Robert Lee Jones born in
Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, TN on April 15, 1868 and died in
Cleveland, Bradley County, TN on May 19th 1924.
The author's mother was Cenyth (Cena) Isabella Lewis, (my namesake) daughter of
Dr. Manuel Jackson Lewis of Chattanooga, TN.
Her father Owned and Operated a Grocery Store, a Butcher, in Cleveland, TN
Submitted
by Cena Martin
cenamartin@earthlink.net