Ethel Odell Jones

Ethel Odell Jones

Ethel Odell Jones, daughter of Benjamin Franklyn Jones and Susan Ann Palmer, was born in Georgia, most likely Walton County, on October 7, 1906. She was the second child of four—Troy C. Jones, Ethel Odell Jones, Cleo Idus Jones, and Edna Jones. Ethel would be my 3rd cousin, 1x removed. Our nearest common relatives are Henry P. Jones and Sarah Lightfoot Vickers.

On April 28, 1910, Ethel and her family lived in the Broken Arrow District of Walton County, Georgia. Her parents had been married for eight years and had two children, both of which were living. Her father was a farmer on a general farm. They lived next door to her uncle Sylvanus Jones and his wife Myrtle Estell (Whitley) Jones. Her paternal grandparents James Darlyn Jones and Josephine F. (Webb) Jones lived next door to Sylvanus.

On February 8, 1920, Ethel and her family lived at Grayson and New Hope Roads in the Bay Creek District of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Ethel could read and write. Her father was a farmer on a general farm and her brother Troy was a farm laborer on a home farm.

According to another Jones family researcher, Cleo remembers standing with Ethel near the creek in Monroe, Walton County, Georgia looking at Double Springs Church which they attended when she was 10 years old (about 1924). Ethel started crying and told Cleo she wanted to have the song “Lord, I’m Coming Home” sung at her funeral.

About 1925, Ethel married Madison (Matt) Fincher Moss, son of John William Harrison Moss and Mary Frances Shepherd. I haven’t been able to find a marriage record for Ethel and Madison but assume they were married in Walton or Gwinnett County. Together they had two children—Frances Odell Moss and William Julius Moss. Their daughter Frances was born about 1926 and son Julius was born on December 14, 1928.

Ethel Jones Moss, daughter Frances, and husband Madison Moss

Late December 1928, Ethel came down with pneumonia. She saw a doctor on December 30 but died at home in Monroe on New Year’s Day 1929. Ethel was buried on January 2 at New Hope United Methodist Church Cemetery in Between, Walton County, Georgia. The Jones family researcher that told me the story about the song Ethel wanted sung at her funeral also told me Cleo didn’t mention that conversation to family members when Ethel died. She didn’t think they would believe at child her age.

A young mother of two, one of them three weeks old, Ethel was just 23 years old at the time of her death. Ethel must have sensed that she was going to die. I’ve been told that during her brief illness, Ethel told her husband she wanted Cleo to raise her two children. Four years after her death, Madison married Ethel’s sister Cleo and they went on to have 11 children. Madison and Cleo raised Frances. Julius was raised by Ethel’s parents (his grandparents) Benjamin and Susan Jones. The census enumerator found Julius living with them in both 1930 and 1940.

The death date on Ethel’s tombstone reads December 29, 1928, not January 1, 1929 as recorded on her death certificate.

New Hope United Methodist Church Cemetery
Between, Walton County, Georgia

Wesley Buford Palmer

Today I remember a family member who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Wesley Buford Palmer, son of Benjamin Dewey Palmer and Sallie Addice Shields, was born in Georgia (most likely Whitfield County) on July 5, 1922. He was the second child of six—Robert Lee Palmer, Wesley Buford Palmer, Viola Marie Palmer, Winnie Lynn Zell Palmer, Marvin Kenneth Palmer, and Weldon Lamar Palmer. Wesley would be my 1st cousin, 2x removed.

By April 17, 1930, Wesley and his family had moved to Tennessee where they lived on Highway 58 in Civil District 2 of Meigs County. His father was a laborer in a saw mill. At age 30, his mother was unable to read or write. By 1935, Wesley’s family had moved back to Georgia, living in Whitfield County.

On April 19, 1940, Wesley and his family lived on Chatsworth Road in Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia. Wesley was a laborer on a farm. His father was a life insurance salesman, his mother and sister Viola were machine operators in a bedspread factory, and his brother Robert was a gas station attendant.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and America entered World War II. A year later (December 31, 1942), Wesley headed to Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia and enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army. His enlistment records show that he had a grammar school education and was semiskilled in the fabrication of textile products—not surprising since Whitfield County is known for its textile and carpet mills. Wesley, who was 5’6” and weighed 150 pounds, was married to a woman named Marie, last name unknown, at the time.

In 1943, the fighting continued in Europe with many battles being fought. Back home, Americans were rationing shoes, food, clothing, rubber, metal, and fuel. Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill began planning the Battle of Normandy, an invasion in France that Wesley would take part in with his unit, the 821st Tank Destroyer Battalion. The Invasion of Normandy was launched on June 6, 1944. Wesley survived the landing but was killed in action on July 31, 1944 during the engagement at Villebaudon, which is in the Manche, Normandy region, in the north of France.

At the request of his family, Wesley’s body was brought home to Georgia for burial at Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Dalton. His mother applied for a flat granite military headstone on June 14, 1949. The stone was transported to Kenemer Brothers Funeral Home who handled the arrangements for placement on his grave.

Application for Headstone

Wesley’s death came just five months after his paternal first cousin, John Billy Shields, was killed in Italy on February 26, 1944 as his landing barge came ashore in combat during the Battle of Anzio.

“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” 

                                                                       – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

Wesley's headstone photo by dreid2277 (Find A Grave #47339526).