I’m looking for feedback on my research thus far. I’m attempting to identify the Civil War unit of my great, great grandfather, James Edward Jones. Needless to say, hundreds of Jones’ served in the Civil War, and a lot of them were some combination of James, Edward, J E, J Edward, etc. I can go into more detail in e-mail of what records I have found and what has proved fruitless. Here is the “short” version.
James Edward Jones was born in Shelby County, Tennessee, on 22 Aug 1838. I have him identified in the 1850 and 1860 census records with his parents and siblings in Shelby County. His wife, Laura P Wair, was born 15 March 1848 in Davidson County, Tennessee, near the line with Rutherford County. They married 24 December 1867 in Shelby County. Some of Laura’s sisters moved to Shelby County after the war with their husbands. Most likely Laura followed along which is how she came to be in Shelby county and meet James. They are recorded in the 1870 census with both of James’ parents in Shelby County.
At some point, James and Laura moved away. Family history maintains that they went to Texas where James worked as an engineer building bridges. Laura died 28 May 1878. Laura’s niece, Anne Laura Carter, came to Texas to help with the children. James and Anne married at some point. James died around 1884, probably in Texas. Out of five children, two daughters survived into adulthood. A Son died as a young adult, probably after Anne brought the family back to Davidson County.
As a starting point for finding James’ regiment, I looked at all listings for Confederate or Union soldiers using the NPS Civil War soldier and sailor database that had some variation of James Edward Jones. I started researching what counties had supplied soldiers to the regiments that had a possible match. I immediately eliminated the counties in middle and east Tennessee. I was skeptical that he would have travelled across the state to enlist when there were opportunities closer to home. I have not reviewed the compiled service record for each soldier, but that could eliminate a few more possibilities by identifying soldiers who did not survive the war. One record stood out as a very strong match: Captain Tobin’s Tennessee Light Artillery (Memphis Battery). His compiled service record records the soldier as James E Jones. He enlisted 31 Aug 1861 in Memphis, in Shelby County. He survived the war. The compiled service record doesn’t mention his age or where he lived before or after the war. This person’s record ends shortly after his capture and parole at the fall of Vicksburg in 1863.
I’ve not spent much time looking for possible matches in Mississippi or Arkansas regiments, though there is a James E Jones in a cavalry unit that enlisted in May 1864 in Tupelo, Mississippi. Tupelo is reasonably close to Shelby County, TN. It doesn’t look like there’s a pension record for my James E Jones in either Tennessee or Texas. Tobin’s First Light Artillery doesn’t have much written about it, such as a regimental history. What else can be researched to determine if one, both, or neither of these soldiers is my ancestor? Or am I ready to say that at least the Memphis Battery soldier is my ancestor?