Finding the parents of Jane M. Jones

Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi · 7 July 2024

NE OF THE more difficult-to-place ancestors on my tree is my 3rd great grandmother Jane M. Jones (1819-1890), the paternal grandmother of Rosemary Ruth Threlfall, my great grandmother who lived until I was 14 and I knew as Nana. Jane M. Jones was married to Peter Threlfall, and was the mother of Nana's father J.P. Threlfall who owned a general store in Mayfield, Kansas in the late 1800s. While Jane’s indistinct name is a genealogical challenge, enough documents exist to show who her parents were.

The records begin with Peter Threlfall and Jane Jones’ marriage on 25 January 1841:

This record shows that Jane’s maiden name was Jones. The witnesses were P Roberts who turned out to be a “Daniel Preston Roberts” and Elisha Seymoure. Both can be found living in or near Kaskaskia, Illinois in roughly the same area in 1840. On various Ancestry.com trees, the Immaculate Conception Chapel, which (against the odds as it turns out) still stands today in Kaskaskia, Illinois is cited as their place of marriage. I don’t see a specific document saying this, but it could certainly be correct.

A search using FamilySearch's “full text” feature of Randolph County, Illinois records for the name Jane Jones turns up quite a bit, including several referring to a “Jane Jones formerly Jane Rippy.”

The record above is a land deed from 1845 showing a transfer from “Jane Jones formerly Jane Rippy” to a Jacob Feaman. The land is in Township 6 South, Range 7 West, which is near the present day town of Ellis Grove, IL, and close to the locations associated with the names of the witnesses above. Jacob Feaman is also found in the same vicinity on the censuses from 1840 and 1850.

The name Rippy/Rippey is much more distinctive than Jones, allowing easier investigation. A search of the name in Randolph County showed a James F. Rippey, and eventually led to the key document in revealing Jane M. Jones’s family, the will of a Mary Ann Hughes, who died in 1844 in Kaskaskia, Illinois. As a historical aside, in this same year, 1844, there was a huge flood in Kaskaskia, which is on the banks of the Mississippi River. Buildings were washed away. The town persisted, but eventually in the 1880s, an even bigger flood changed the course of the Mississippi River, eliminating much of what was the town of Kaskaskia; the chapel survived but only because the entire building was moved to its current location. From 1809-1818, Kaskaskia was even the capital of Illinois; it was an important area at the time (more on its history), but its propensity to flood among other factors caused the capital to be moved elsewhere. (Also see the excellent book Kaskaskia: The Lost Capital of Illinois.)

Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1841.

The will of Mary Ann Hughes reveals that she has two siblings, whom she names (and to whom she bequeaths various items): her brother Findley Rippey and her sister Jane Threlfall, wife of Peter Threlfall. She also names Peter as executor and “trusty friend” along with Jacob Feaman. Corroborating this connection, we have a DNA match with at least one individual with the surname Rippey who is a descendant of James Findley Rippey. The connection among these siblings is of course “Jane Jones formerly Jane Rippey,” their mother. Further investigation showed that the elder Jane’s maiden name was Jane Finley and that she had initially been married to a Samuel Armstrong Rippey. Records on Samuel Armstrong Rippey are sparse, but I believe he died around 1815, at which point Jane moved to Kaskaskia, or perhaps he came with her and died there. Jane’s sister Isabela was living in Kaskaskia and married to James Gilbreath, an associate of prominent local citizen Michael Jones. Both were members of the local Freemasons chapter. Michael Jones and Jane Rippey were then married, probably around 1816 or 1817. Here is a land transfer record from 1817 where Jane transfers something to her now husband, Michael Jones:

This brings us to Michael Jones, who we must conclude is Jane M. Jones’ father via Michael’s marriage to “Jane Jones formerly Rippy” who we know (from Mary Ann Hughes’ will) has children of the last names both Threlfall (née Jones) and Rippey. Many other details line up as well such as Jane M. Threlfall’s 1880 census record indicating that both her parents were born in Pennsylvania. The prominent Michael Jones was known to have come from Pennsylvania; and the Finley family was from Chambersburg, PA, with the Rippeys nearby in Shippensburg; the presence of a Jane Jones living with James F. Rippey in the 1850 census; and James’ name itself (the F. revealed on a few documents to be “Findley”) being the same as Jane Finley’s father, James Finley, spelled interchangeably as Findley. It was a common practice at the time to give a maiden name from the family as a middle name to a child.

Jones is a common name and we can imagine there may have been another Michael Jones, and in fact there was even another prominent Michael Jones in Illinois at the time, and an entire article was written in 1916 to help disentangle the legacies of these “Two Michael Joneses.” However, the Michael Jones of Kaskaskia’s known association with James Gilbreath, both being Freemasons--

--and whose wife, Isabela Finley Gilbreath, was Jane Finley’s sister, makes it very likely that it is him. There is also no evidence of more than one Michael Jones in Kaskaskia in the relevant period of 1800-1820, and he does appear on several census records at the time, including the 1820 census just before he died. There are also many historical records of his work and actions in the town of Kaskaskia that form a cluster of individuals many of which lived nearby both him and the witnesses on Jane Jones’ marriage record. And one last fun piece is that in his occupation, he signed his name a lot, had a nice signature, and it’s consistent between records of his official business and his private landholdings that mentioned Jane:

Land deed: 27 November 1820. This is the older Jane Jones (formerly Rippey), Michael’s wife, the mother of Jane M. Jones.

A signature in 1821 to the State Bank of Illinois. I believe there are many other letters in archives out there with his signature, and the characteristics of the signature itself are even described in the “Two Michael Joneses” article.

Michael Jones’ place in our family tree now established, we can examine Michael Jones’ noteworthy place in the history of Kaskaskia and Illinois. His occupation was “register” at the land office, appointed by the president of the United States, which would have been Thomas Jefferson at this time in 1804. The land office was important and active at the time, giving away or selling pieces of the frontier to settlers.

Snippets from the National Intelligencer, Washington, District of Columbia, Friday, October 12, 1804.

As part of this job, Michael Jones dealt with fraudulent or otherwise underhanded land claims and in doing so made some enemies including one of the governors of Illinois (Edwards). There was even a duel and subsequent murder he was somehow involved with, though it seemed he was more involved in the reasons behind it than the duel itself. He appears to have been controversial, but rather than being of suspect character, it seemed more like he was a political operator, naturally helping some factions in his post as land register at the expense of others. One account from 1852 described him as “a sprightly man, of plausable [sic] and pleasing address. He possessed a good English education, and was, in his younger days, well qualified for business, if he had been clear of excitement. His temperament was very excitable, and rather irritable. His mind was above the ordinary range; but his passion at times swept over it like a tornado.”

I was also able to establish the identities of his parents, Samuel Jones and Sarah Brecht, who came from the area near Jonestown, PA, where I believe Samuel was from the family for which the town was named, though the exact family structure has been elusive. A newspaper article recounting some of this history stated: "Welsh Episcopalians of excellent character purchased 40,000 acres from William Penn … In 1698 others arrived, among whom was William Jones." William Jones is thought to be the founder of Jonestown. I believe it is likely that Samuel is William's son or grandson, but I have not been able to confirm this.

Samuel and Sarah Jones then spent the second half of their lives in Pittsburgh where Samuel moved to take a job as the first register and recorder for the newly formed Allegheny County. This history in Pittsburgh is consistent with Michael being listed in the Kaskaskia Freemasons' notes as having been associated with Lodge No. 45 in Pittsburgh. Registering and recording were the family business, and from what I understand, legal professions at that time were passed through apprenticeships, and thus it is likely that Michael gained his skills from apprenticing with his father. Samuel, like Michael, is mentioned in many regional history books and was a prominent and respected citizen in Pittsburgh, which probably helped Michael in receiving his presidential appointment as land register in the frontier town of Kaskaskia.

A 1795 document from Pittsburgh with signatures of both Michael, matching his later signatures, and his father and mentor, Samuel Jones. Esq.

There is one other event in relation to the political disputes in Illinois in which Michael Jones was embroiled that is of relevance to this family history. On Jan 9, 1818, a group of citizens appointed Michael Jones to be their attorney to help handle a dispute with some legislative actions that had been taken. On December 8, 1818. Michael had in turn found an attorney, “John G. Comyges” [probably Comegys], from Baltimore, Maryland. Jane M. Jones’ census records consistently marked her as being born in Maryland, with the 1850 census specifically stating Baltimore. I believe Michael Jones was probably back and forth lobbying and dealing with legal matters in Baltimore and/or D.C. at that time which coincided with the governorship of his associate Shadrach Bond. This is why I hence believe that Jane M. Jones was born in Baltimore on what her obituary indicated was March 10, 1819.

Towards the end of his life, Michael Jones ran for elector in the electoral college (I believe he won this), and he narrowly lost a bid to become one of Illinois’ first senators. He died relatively young in 1822, probably around the age of 50, though I don’t know his precise birth year. His death is documented by a letter quoted in the “Two Michael Joneses” article. He was succeeded in his post at the land office by none other than the first governor of the new state of Illinois, Shadrach Bond, who had by then completed his term.

Announcement of new land register on 8 March 1823.

At the time of Michael Jones’ death, his daughter Jane M. Jones was only 3 years old, so she probably had no memory of him. Her mother Jane Jones appears on her own in Randolph County in the 1825 and 1840 censuses as head of household, which is consistent with her second widowhood. Samuel Jones’ death date is not entirely certain, but there is one source stating 1820, which would be just before Michael died. There is a book entitled Pittsburgh in the year 1826 written by an S Jones and published that same year, with many attributing it to him, but there is some debate about whether in fact he was the author, given that he may have been deceased by 1820. It would be an interesting side mystery to solve. Jane’s father-in-law, William Threlfall and his son Peter emigrated from Lancashire, England in 1819, first landing in Kaskaskia, and very possibly interacting with the land office register before settling near Hecker, Illinois. Exactly why the Threlfalls were down in Kaskaskia often enough for Peter and Jane to meet would be fascinating to know.

Finally, in Kaskaskia: The Lost Capital of Illinois, one intriguing detail the authors convey is that when Kaskaskia was destroyed by the Mississippi River in the 1800s, there was a Freemasons' graveyard that was buried by river sediments. Apparently now and again a headstone is revealed due to ongoing fluvial processes. The grave of Shadrach Bond was known to have been moved from its original location and can still be seen today. Given that Michael Jones was a close associate of Bond and was a well known citizen in Kaskaskia, I was puzzled as to why his grave was nowhere to be found. However, he was a Freemason, and I believe it is likely that his grave was buried by the river. The authors, McDonald and Waters, state that the site could theoretically be archaeologically excavated some day. If it were, perhaps my ancestor's headstone would be revealed.

Addendum

One would think we are not related to James Findley Rippey’s father, Samuel Armstrong Rippey, as he was Jane Finley’s first husband and not the father of Jane Jones. And while he is not a direct ancestor in our lineage, Samuel Armstrong Rippey was not only Jane’s first husband but also her first cousin (this is consistent with records and also pointed out in several secondary sources), not to mention being about ~15-30 years her senior. Jane’s age is uncertain and I believe she is listed as younger than she is on several later censuses. Samuel Armstrong Rippey’s father Samuel Rippey Jr. and Jane’s mother Jane/Jean Rippey were siblings. So, we have Rippey ancestry as well through Jean Rippey. To make the inbreeding even more pronounced, Samuel Rippey Jr.’s wife was Mary Finley, James’ sister. If the trees I worked on are correct, James Findley Rippey has only 4 great grandparents. I had to learn and fact-check the whole Rippey tree to figure out where Samuel Armstrong fit into it; interestingly the immigration to Shippensburg, PA began with a Hugh Rippey born in 1699 in Maguiresbridge, Co. Fermanagh, very near where another of my ancestors, Patrick Maguire, is from.