Peter Jones (abt. 1634 - abt. 1681)

Born about 1634 in Europe

Husband of Margaret (Unknown) Cocke — married 1 Jun 1655 in Richmond, Henrico County, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died about 1681 at about age 47 in Charles City County, Colony of Virginia

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Peter Jones resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Note: His parents, his birthplace, and the dates of his birth and death are not positively known.^[1][2]

Biography

Peter Jones was a Virginia colonist.

"Father of Petersburg" (see Virginia Peter Joneses).

Major Peter Jones^[1]
Peter Jones and William Jones were transported to Virginia in 1638 by Abraham Wood.^[3]

For protection from the Indians, Captain Peter Jones, in 1657, commanded a company under Colonel Abraham Wood, Esq. He continued in military service.^[3]

'Major Peter Jones was ordered to command Fort Henry in 1675, originally built in 1645, in order to defend against Indian unrest that subsequently fueled Bacon's Rebellion.'^[1]

'By 1675, Abraham Wood and his son-in-law Peter Jones owned and operated a major trading operation from this site. Fort Henry "became the center of a vast Indian trade with the hinterland."'^[4] Fort Henry had belonged to Peter's father-in-law Abraham Wood^[5] and later became the property of the Jones family. It became the town of Petersburg, Virginia.^[3]

Family

Peter married Margaret and had four sons who were named in Abraham Wood's 1682 will as his 'grandchildren-in-law'.^[6][7]

Children

• Mary (Jones) Wynne, married Joshua Wynne^[8]
• Abraham Wood Jones (died before April 1687), married Martha Batte (daughter of Thomas)^[9]
• Richard Jones^[10] died before 1718^[11]
• William Jones, died c1694/5^[12]
• Peter Jones died 1721; married Mary Batte (daughter of Thomas)

'In his will, Wood left most of his land holdings of several thousand acres to be divided equally among his four Jones grandsons.'^[1]

Research Notes

Estimated Dates:

• Born: about 1634 is an estimate based on 1655 marriage [NB 1655 marriage may not be his], assuming he was 21 when he married. At least one tree listed a specific date of 4 March 1634 (unsourced). Colonial Dames shows his birth as "1630/35": "Jones, Peter (1630/35-c87) Va.; m. Margaret Wood. Military Service; Landowner."^[13]
• Married: c1660 - was 1655 (unsourced). And "1 Jun 1655, Richmond, Henrico County" may be for a different Peter Jones. Kathryn Gearhart notes that 1 June 1655 is the "next record that we have for him", when he was "witness to an agreement signed by Abraham Wood".^[3] His wife's profile has her birth year as 1641, so a later marriage is more likely - say about 1661. The presumption for the four "grandchildren in law" named in Abraham's 1682 (Abraham, Richard, Peter, and William) is that Abraham was their guardian and that they were still underage - so born no earlier than 1662, which works well with a 1661 marriage date (currently, the profiles for Abraham Jones and Peter have 1662 and 1666, respectively,which would put Richard born between them & William born after Peter).^[14]

• Death: after 1675,^[4] 'thought to have died about 1681,'^[1] and before 1687 (Peter's widow was married to Thomas Cocke by 1687^[3]).
  

Locations:

Birth location is not known. Some say England, some say Wales.

Petersburg, Virginia is said to have been named after this Peter Jones.^[1] Today's Petersburg is an independent city, incorporated in 1850, within or adjacent to Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George Counties.^[15]

• Charles City County, Virginia: He was a resident of Charles City County in 1657 (as already noted). Some online trees state that he was born in Charles City County, but if he was transported to Virginia in 1638, he must not have been born in Virginia.
• Henrico County: Peter Jones was Deputy Clerk of Henrico County.^[3]
• Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia: Location given for marriage (unsourced). Comments include a statement that he married Margaret on "June 1, 1655, in Richmond City, Virginia". Today's Independent City of Richmond is bordered by Chesterfield County (to the South) and Henrico County.^[16]
• Henrico Parish, Henrico County: Margaret's 1718 will^[17][18]
  

Parents:

• Detached as parents the profiles for Abraham Jones and Margaret Ravenscroft (see comment posted on profile). Noland-165 09:10, 29 July 2016 (EDT)
• This Peter Jones was also not the son of Richard Jones by Lady Jeffries (shown as Jane Jeffreys by Jones researcher Kathryn Gearhart^[3]) and those profiles have been detached from this profile.

Note: The Jones/Jeffries couple (if they exist) are not the same family as the Peter Jones associated with Abraham Wood:^[3]

Richard Jones (1608-1681)

Ann (Jefferies) Jones (1612-1703)

- Cadwallander Jones

- Elizabeth Jones

- Richard Jones (1635-1674), m Margaret Llewellyn may also be their son.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} "Biography of Peter Jones", Historic Petersburg Foundation, Inc. (accessed 30 April 2020).
2. ↑ The many generations of Peter Joneses can get confusing. Please see Virginia Peter Joneses, which focuses on descendants of this Peter Jones and others of the name in colonial Virginia.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7} Allied Families: Early Virginia Jones Families by Kathryn Gearhart
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Peter Jones Trading Station", Historic Petersburg Foundation, Inc. (accessed 30 April 2020).
5. ↑ "Jones of Petersburg" The William and Mary Quarterly. Vol. 19, No. 4, Apr., 1911, pp 287-292
6. ↑ His wife's maiden name is not known. She is usually called Abraham Wood's step-daughter, probably because his will calls the Jones children his "grandchildren-in-law". Many online trees say her parents were James Crewes and Margaret Llewellyn, daughter of Daniel Llewellyn, but Margaret Llewellyn is named Margaret Crus in her father's 1664 will; James's 1676 will did not mention her or any children (his will was administered by a niece and nephew). See details on Margaret Llewellyn's profile.
7. ↑ Kathryn Gearhart also cites Abraham's will for Peter and Margaret's children: "Abraham Wood's 1682 will named 'grandchildren in law' Abraham Jones, Richard Jones, Peter Jones, and William Jones." (See Allied Families: Early Virginia Jones Families.)
8. ↑ Joshua Wynn and Wynn grandchildren are named in Margaret's 1718 will. There was also a note that she was left land by her father (from Kathryn Gearhart's research, but no source citation).
9. ↑ Martha (Batte) Jones, widow, had remarried by April 1687.
10. ↑ The profile Jones-8765 had been attached, with "d before 1704: m. Martha Llewellyn". The Richard who married Martha Llewellyn is Rev. Richard Jones-11505. His son Richard Jones-11503 married (1) Amy Batte, (2) Rachel Ragsdale.
11. ↑ Richard, son of Peter and Margaret, is presumed to have died unmarried/childless, as Margaret's 1718 will does not mention him or any children who might be his.
12. ↑ William is presumed to have died unmarried/childless, as his mother's 1718 will does not mention him or any children who might be his. The profile for William Jones-8768, which had been attached, noting he had married Martha Ledbiter, was moved to be son of William Jones-45000 who died in 1712 (and who named a son William in his will).
13. ↑ Hutton, Mary Louise M. Seventeenth Century Colonial Ancestors of Members of the National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century 1915-1975, Vol. I. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1991
14. ↑ Looking for clues of parents... if order of names in Abraham's will is their birth order, and "named after" convention followed was his father(s)/him/her father, then perhaps Peter's biological father was named Richard and Margaret's was William. But that is quite a stretch.
15. ↑ History of County Formations in Virginia 1617-1995 (accessed 2 May 2020). See also WikiTree's Category:Petersburg, Virginia.
16. ↑ See Category: Richmond, Virginia.
17. ↑ Benjamin B. Weisiger, III. Colonial Wills of Henrico County, Virginia, Part One, 1654-1737, privately published, ® 1976 by Benjamin B. Weisiger, III.
18. ↑ Abstract posted on WikiTree's Virginia Peter Joneses page, from information posted on Margaret's profile. Kathryn Gearhart's site has a transcription. Both accessed 1 May 2020

See also:

• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/a/r/r/Joe-L-Arrowood/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0090.html Relations of Joe L Arrowood
• Kathryn Gearhart. "Appendix: Allied Families in Henrico and Charles City - The Batte Family" (Source provided by: Maggie N.)
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/1919429 (Source provided by: Maggie N.)
• The William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 13, edited by Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Richard Lee Morton pg. 290. (Source provided by: Maggie N.)
• "Genealogies of Virginia Families", William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. III Heale-Muscoe
• Seventeenth Century Colonial Ancestors, Vol. I
• Foley, Louise Pledge Heath. Early Virginia Families Along the James River: Their Deep and Tangled Branches, Volume II (Charles City County-Prince George County, Virginia)
• Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (New York, NY, USA: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915).
• Barbara G. Clepper, Gonce and Wynne Genealogy (FHL #929.273 G586c)
• Charles H Hamlin, National Genealogical Society Quarterly, June 1967 (FHL #973 B2ng)
• Benjamin B Weisiger, Colonial Wills of Henrico CO., VA 1654-1787 (FHL #975.5453 S2w)
• Beverly Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts (FHL #975.5 H29f)
• Genealogies of Virginia Families (FHL @@975.5 D2gv, D2gw); Virginia Military Records (FHL #975.5 R2n); Lloyd D Bockstruck, Virginia's Colonial Soldiers (FHL #975.5 M2bl); Nell M Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers (FHL #975.5 R2n). Note: From Peter Jones and Richard Jones Genealogies, Augusta B Fothergill, Richmond, VA: Old Dominion Press, Inc, 1924, p 9-10:
  • Peter was living in Charles City County in June 11, 1657 when Capt Peter Jones was commanded to take over Coll. Abraham Wood's company (Charles City CO Records, 1655-66) In July 12, 1661 the Regiment was divided and Capt Peter Jones company to be from "Cittie Creeke to ye falls of Appamattox river on the South side, and from Powells Creeke to the said falls on the North side."
  • p 11 December 21, 1674 "att a Grand Assemblie held att James Cittie" an act was passed for the safeguard and defence of the country against the Indians. An army of 500 men were raised and placed at the heads of certain rivers and at certain forts. Among those to be raised were " 19 men out of Warwick County, 19 out of Elizabeth City County, 19 out of Charles City County to be garrisoned near the falls of Appamattuck River, att major generall Woods, or over against him at one ffort or defencable place att ffleets, of which ffort major Peter Jones be captain of chiefe commander."
• Source: Virginia Colonial Abstracts Vol XI, Charles City County Court Orders 1658-1661, abstracted by Beverley Fleet, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1961, p 100:
  • "At a meeting of the Militia att Westov'r July 12, 1661 It is ordered that the sev'all companies of this Regiment for the present be Divided proporconed and distinguished as foll vidzt:…6. Capt Peter Jones his companie to be from Citty Creeke to the falls of Appomattock riv'r on the south side, And from Powells Creeke to the sd falls on the North side."
• www.jones-dna.org Y-DNA pedigree site. Family Group: Unk#autosomal GedMatch kit: M761164.

See also - other family trees:

• Find A Grave: Memorial #77053902 for Maj. Peter Jones (1634-1674) (memorial only, no gravestone photo; unsourced).