Friday, February 22, 2019

Henry Clayborn Jones Sr. Family Reunion Photo

I’ve blogged about this reunion photo before but with “family photo” being the 52 Ancestors theme this week, I thought it made sense to post it again since there are still people that need to be identified. This photo was taken circa 1908 at the Henry Clayborn Jones Sr. family reunion held in Between, Walton County, Georgia. Henry Jones Sr. (1) and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Tuck Jones (2) are my 2nd great grandparents.

click to enlarge

Henry and Sarah’s daughter Elizabeth Jones (4) is my great grandmother; Elizabeth’s husband, Thomas Terrell Burnette (3), is my great grandfather; and Elizabeth and Thomas’ daughter Floria Mae Burnette (17) is my grandma. The rest of their children are Henry T. Burnette (5), twins Claudia Burnette (14) and Maudie Burnette (15) (or vice versa), Prince Albert Burnette (16), Eva Drucilla Burnette (18), Luther Terrell Burnette (19), and Willie Lloyd Burnette (20). Claudia and Maudie could be reversed since I’m not sure which little girl is which. Elizabeth had three more children after this photo was taken—Eleanor Estelle Burnette, Samuel A. Burnette, and Julia Virginia Burnette. She had another set of twins born January 1899. One twin died before 1900 but the other twin, a boy named Jesse, survived until at least June 26, 1900 when the federal census was taken. My grandma Floria would have been about 11 years old when this photo was taken.

I don’t know what month in 1908 the reunion photo was taken but I’m inclined to believe it was November. If you look at the photo, all of the men are wearing jackets and the women and children are wearing long sleeves. Henry Jones was born on November 19. My Lankford family used to have a family reunion every September, the month my grandpa, Carroll Harvey Lankford, was born. Had the Jones family gathered to celebrate their patriarch’s birthday and brought in a photographer to document the event?

Of the 70 Jones family members in the photo, I’ve identified (or believe I have) 38 people. I could use some help with identifying the others! I know there are people out there that have this photo. In 2006, descendants of Henry and Sarah Jones gathered to dedicate the newly restored Jones Family Cemetery. After the dedication ceremony, everyone went to a nearby church for a Jones family reunion. This group photo was passed around at the event. Individual family photos were taken that day in 1908, at least my Burnette family posed for a photo so I’m assuming other families did as well.

Thomas Terrell Burnette family, ca. 1908

If other descendants have an individual family photo taken that day, it would help with identification. If you’re reading this and can help identify someone in the photo, I’d love to hear from you.

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