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Jester Families eXchange issue 1

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Profile manager: Lynette Jester private message [send private message]
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After several years of not even looking at the genealogy, I am back into all this with force. It is still my hope and dream to put out a Jester newsletter. But, I’ll need your help.

First, you must excuse my poor typing and my ratty old typewriter. The next major purchase will be a word processor. That will be a while when they go on sale. I didn’t feel I was articulate enough to put out a newsletter, but I could spell. I have a tendency to write like I speak, in circles or rabbit trails.

Second, I realized I could not do the research, do the newsletter and work my job all at the same time. Especially lately as we were working ten hours a day, seven days a week. Something had to change. I could not do what I wanted and work all the time. When I caught another cold, my third this year, I realized I had to slow down. So I cut out the overtime.

I will be needing help from you to keep our newsletter going. Several of you have sent me a lot of information and I can put that in. Would you be willing to do some research? Like going to the courthouse and looking at old records; mainly those of you living near the county seat. Clip your newspaper for marriages and deaths of Jesters in your area. Also birth announcements. This way we can keep up with modern day Jesters.

I will want pedigree charts from everyone. Even if you don't know your grandparents names, someone else might. I was a teenager before I knew Jester grandparents names. They had died when Dad was young and he was raised by his grandmother from his mother’s side. My mother started asking questions and doing some of the research and got me started. When I finally did get with it, I called Dad's sister and told her the names of her grandfather and great grandfather. She never knew their names. It was too late to tell Dad; he had passed away before I started working on the line. I guess that was my motivation. He would have wanted know.

What I had found only made me want to know more. There were several Jesters in the D/FW phone books. I started calling them. Then I met Donna Jester and she gave me the Beatrice Baily mailing list. That's how I contacted most of you. The mailing list was made from utility companies. I was able to date it because it had Dad listed at his last address and he was gone already. My brother Ben was in it too. It was about four years old then.

Donna was a long lost cousin. Her 3rd g.grandparents and my 2nd g.grandparents were brothers who married sisters. Now I had three possible brothers in 1850, their families and some of the descendents. My family was growing.


I kept looking for someone who might have been doing research also and might be connected with Donna and me in some way. She had a lot more info than I did, but she had been working on it longer. That's when we decided to do the mailing. Someone out there had to know something more than we did, and we had too much on other Jester's not to start on them.

There were a lot of Jester's on the East Coast in 1790. One of them had to be our line. But which one? If you've done genealogy then you know what I mean. I had Burgess so fast I just could not understand why I couldn't find his father. Someone had to know something. And all the letters and phone calls were more than I could handle. If I were going to be writing letters, why not a form letter to everyone? The response was really good.

But I was too young then to realize what I was in for. Overtime came in and I was working it so no real time for library work. Trying to digest the info that came in to see how it fit. Then I got laid off and had to find another job and all my capital went with it. It was my intention to do this at nominal cost to myself and everyone else concerned.

After a year of not working, I moved to California to live with Mother. Ridgecrest Ca. Is so small, so isolated, no wonder the U.S. Navy is the only one that will have it. The government does a lot of weapons testing there. I remember growing up with sonic booms and earthquakes. Sometimes when the windows rattled it was head to tell if it was a jet breaking the sound barrier or a quake. Ridgecrest is 80 miles north of Edwards AFB where they land the spaceshuttle. Mom has lived there for about 33 years now. She loves it. I've always been a southern girl at heart and made the Dallas area home almost eleven years ago. Except the year I spent at Mom's.

When LTV called me back to work in 1983, I was ready. Almost three years out of a real job. But too many other things kept getting in the way of the genealogy and it was put on the back burner. Nothing Donna could say could make me interested. She wasn't interested in it anymore either. While I was in California she found out she was adopted. She was the natural daughter of her “mother's” brother. All she could say was, “All that work. Three years of research for nothing.”

When my sister Jerri came to live with me, she tried to get me involved again. Jerri is working on Dad's mothers' side. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, she gave me a newspaper clipping of the Dallas Morning News Family Tree. It told of an Alford Family Reunion in Houston. I had an address for the Alford Newsletter for some time but didn't do anything with it. So this particular week I called Missouri and spoke with Gil Alford. It was strange. I told him about a couple of Jester's marrying Alford's. But the names didn't really register. Then something clicked. He was making notes on the back of an envelope he had just gotten the morning of my call. The letter was from B. J. Alford in Jacksonville, Tx. about a dairy of Burgess Alford. Burgess Alford's mother, Tabitha, was the sister to g.grandpa Levi Jester.


B. J.’s great Aunt Malinda Alford had married Levi’s brother John. He told me about Harold in Longview and about the dairy and gave me Harold's number. Then I called Harold. He had just the thing for me. Something I had been searching for for ten years. My third and fourth set of great-grandparents. I knew someone had the information!! Then I called everyone else. I guess I'm the Martha Mitchell of the genealogy set.

As you probably noticed, I've kind of left Donna out of the last part of this. Donna was killed in a triple ax slaying in 1986. Her Mother and a boarder were the other victims. Her mother was blind and bedridden, but she knew his name. David Martin Long. He and the boarder were lovers and he was on drugs at the time. He and Donna had gotten into a violent argument and he killed her first, then Lorene. Before he could leave, the boarder came home so he had to kill her too. Donna kept a diary and the police put an APB on Long. He was picked up in another area San Antonio, I think, for something else, and police found the APB open. I don't know how long he was sentenced for.

Now I've told almost my whole life story and it's time to get back to the plans for the newsletter. I have set up a whole Table of Contents that I feel will cover almost everything. Your feedback and input will tell me what else we will need.

Last, but not least, cost. It is still my intention that this be kept to a minimum. I don't know exactly how much this is going to cost, how many subscribers, or much of anything else. I feel that at present, donations would be gladly accepted to help defray the cost. I will leave the amount up to you. I will have a treasury report in later issues.

REMEMBER, for this to be a success for all of us, I NEED YOUR INPUT. Send in your info.

Lynette

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????

WHO WAS THE CIRCUIT RIDER PREACHER?
WHO SERVED IN THE REVOLUTIONARY NAVY?
HOW DID JESTER, OK., AND JESTERVILLE, MD. GET THEIR NAMES?
DID YOU KNOW A RALPH JESTER WON AN OSCAR FOR SET DESIGN FOR BEN HUR?

ANY MORE JESTER TRIVIA?


FAMILY STORIES---FAMILY HISTORIES---FAMILY HER-STORIES

Clarence and Doyle, sons of Jarose Jester (Uncle Rosie) told me that at one time their Daddy had to go to Jefferson, Tx. from Lafayette Co., Ark. It took him three weeks to make the trip and return. I had been in the area and when I left Arkansas, I went back to Texas that way. It took my about two hours at 68 mph. The Highway Patrol took ten minutes to write the ticket. Uncle Rosie made the trip by ox cart.

Of course the story on most peoples mind is about who came here first? Are we all related? Where did they come from? I have heard two or three brothers from England. Brothers from Scotland. The Mormon Library has some group sheets on Jesters from Germany, and Ireland. The ones from Germany could pronounce the name Yester or Hester.

If we are all related, I believe would depend on which set we belonged to. What little Dad knew they came over from Scotland into Georgia in the penal colony. There is nothing so far to substantiate this claim. It may be out there, but I haven't found it.

One newspaper clipping from Mrs. Lila Randall of Jacksonville, Fl. Said there were three brothers from England. One went north, one stayed on the East Coast, and one went south. There is some truth to this also. In the 1790 censuses you can see the common names and track them around in 1800 and later years. For people who couldn't get speeding tickets they sure move around a lot. The real problem would be to find the passenger list on the ship they came on. The year they came over also.

With the help of Mrs. Ruth Mildred Jester Bell, I was able to find a Richard Jester paying tithing tax in Virginia in 1666. She related me to about three brothers, Francis, Samuel, and Thomas working 500 acres between them on the Quit Rents list in Virginia in 1794. They came from London, England.

In the newspaper clipping mentioned above from the Greenwood, S.C. Index dated 6 Sep. 1928, was taken from the “Town Topics” of the Winston-Salem Sentinal about a Jester family reunion 29 Jul 1928. It mentions “Over 200 years ago, three sturdy boys from England William, Maxwell, and Jacob. William traveled from Va. To S.C. to Ga. Maxwell settled in Guilford Co. NC Jacob settled in Yadkin Co. NC It also mentions Rev. J.N Jester.

In a letter from Dr. William L. Jester of Louisville, Ky. To me dated 6 APR 1981, he mentions the first Jester he met outside his own immediate family was a Dr. John R. Jester on graduation from Southern Seminary in 1927. Dr. John told Dr. William there were two brothers from Dover, England and that all the American Jesters were descended from them. One stayed east and one went west.

Also there is a Jester coat of arms and most important in 1417, Phillip Crul, court Jester to Henry V of England, petitioned the court to change his name to Jester in Leam County, Derby. (This is yet unproven Jester-173 13:00, 5 March 2017 (EST))

If anyone has any British contacts, this would be worth checking out.

There will soon be another Dr. Jester. Brother Ben will be going back to college for his Ph.D. in Anthropology. Ben's speciality is Socio-Cultural anthropology. When I need to know something about history I call him. He has been looking for passenger lists and almost came to the conclusion the Jesters came in illegally. I am almost ready to believe him.

Most ships leaving the British Isles for the New World left from Dover, and all emigrants were supposed to register. There was a period of about 25 years when the port changed. The bad part is I don't remember the dates. It could be the wrong time frame.

Another point to remember for the Scottish branch. In 1668 or abouts, there was a rip in the House of Stuart. This would be the children or grandchildren of Mary of Scotland, fighting with their English cousins. Some Jesters could have been deported from Britain and put on penal colonies in what is now Georgia, and from there went to Virginia, to work Quit-Rents or earn parole. This was same way England colonized Australia. So many years as a convict then some land to call your own. (**Dates are wrong Jester-173 13:00, 5 March 2017 (EST))

Let's not forget the indentured servant plan. When the new Americans sponsored people to come over, they got almost slave labor for about four years and more land..

Some came to the new world just for the sake of the adventure. Which category do we fit in?

Tell me your Family Stories. It will be here in the next issue. Then half of my work will be done. I'll just have to copy it down and give my brain a rest. Remember, this is YOUR newsletter and will work only if I have YOUR input. Feel free to tell me where I'm wrong or to correct my grammar or spelling or history. I'm doing the best I can typing. Some times my brain works faster than my fingers and I don't always know where the keys are. I would hate to write this out in long hand.

WHAT'S IN A NAME and WHERE DID THEY GET SOME OF THEM?

A good rule of thumb on some if these christian names:

1st son after the fathers' father
2nd son after the mothers' father
3rd son after the father
1st daughter after the mothers' mother
2nd daughter after the fathers' mother
3rd daughter after the mother

Other children could be named after any other favorite relative, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, army captian, president, statesman. Such as: Geo. W. Jester; Benjamin F. Jester; Boaz Jester; Manlove Jester. Boaz Manlove was a captain in the Revolution and a Jester served under him. Don't forget Mom's maiden name.


ORANGE BLOSSOMS AND BROOM STICK JUMPINGS

On my last trip to Arkansas, I was able to go to the courthouse at Lewisville. Dianne Fletcher, the County Clerk is a cousin. I went through the marriage book and photocopied those that pertained to my line. I'm still looking for the marriage record of Levi and Ana Liza Teague, my g.gps. I think they jumped the broom stick.

JESTER

Abner to Anjuline Foster Sept 26, 1838 Butts Co. Ga.
Henry to Mary Ann Lindsey Jun 15, 1842 Butts Co. Ga.
John to Sarah Ann Powell Aug 15, 1831 Coweta. Co. Ga.
Burgess to (1) Mary A. Hay Sept 17, 1827 Newton Co. Ga.
(2) Nancy Teague Jan 17, 1861 Union Co. Ark.
James to Elizabeth Weaver Jul 2, 1831 Newton Co. Ga.
John to Malinda M. Alford Feb 27, 1866 Union Co. Ark.
John H (25) to Elizabeth Jester (18) Mar 18, 1866 Union Co. Ark.
Oliver W. to Mary Francis Teague Feb 18, 1866 Union co. Ark.
A. J. to Herty Alford Dec 18, 1864 Union Co. Ark.
Sarah Ann to Anderson Teague Mar 18, 1856 Union Co. Ark.
Tabitha to Christerfer Alford Dec 30, 1858 (ed. Note. Orig had 1958) Union Co. Ark.
Wm. Riley to Nancy Jane Watson (ages 29 and 16) Mar 26, 1856 Indiana
Wm. Albert to Beatrice Call Nov 6, 1893 Miller Co. Ark.
Rebecca to Wm. J. Bodenhamer Feb 8, 1828 Guilford Co. N.C.
Elenor to Elijah J. Charles Nov 21, 1815 Guilford Co. N.C.
Margaret to Benj. Elder Jan 3, 1831 Guilford Co. N.C.
Ebenezer to Rebacak Blanend Nov 10, 1813 Guilford Co. N.C.
Jacob to Spence mar 17, 1798 Guilford Co. N.C.
James to Jency Williams Jul 23, 1803 Guilford Co. N.C.
*John B. to Peggy Hayworth Nov 1, 1827 Guilford Co. N.C.
Meskell to Margrit Brasselton ----1801 Guilford Co. N.C.
*Meskell to Rachel Haworth Oct 13, 1839 Guilford Co. N.C.
*Thomas to Jememah Sweet Jun 9 1790 Guilford Co. N.C.

*The Hayworths and Jemimah Sweet were Quakers who were disowned for marrying out of unity.


THE DEAR DEPARTED Cemetary Records Obituary Notices Wills

OLD STATE LINE CEMETARY at Walkers Creek, Layfayette Co. Ark. (**Misnamed, this is State Line, not Old State Line Jester-173 20:33, 4 March 2017 (EST))
Mary Francis Teague b. Feb 9, 1843 d. Jun 15, 1922
Oliver W. Jester b. Aug 11, 1835 d. Feb 18, 1904
B. C. Jester b. Apr 14, 1885 d. Oct. 29, 1914
E. J. Jester b. Feb 7, 1878 d. Jul 1, 1948
Ruble Jester b. Apr 22, 1910 (my record is off I have b. & d. same)
Ardie May Jester b. Jan 25, 1909 d. Dec 2, 1927
Joe Allen b. Dec 27, 1853 d. Jan 7, 1939
Cynthia A. Allen b. 1876 d. 1951
W. M. Allen b. Mar 14, 1877 d. May 18, 1951
Mary Jane Teague b. Sep 14, 1852 d. Jun 30, 1940
Lener May Cross b. Nov 11, 1889 d. May 17, 1940 (Jester)
John T. Cross b. Sep 12, 1880 d. May 22, 1961

(I included several people who are not Jesters in this because they are related In some way to the Jesters. The name for State Line should be changed to Jester-Teague). State Line will be continued next issue.

1850 Mortality Schedules

Elizabeth Jester age 55 female b. S.C. d. Apr. 1859 Widow.

I wonder if this is the same E. Jester in Butts Co. Ga. In 1840 with six (6) slaves.

James married an Elizabeth Weaver in 1831. From Marriage and Death Notices from the Southern Christian Advocate -- Mrs. Eliza B. Jester, wife of James, daughter of Rev. John C. and Mary Weaver, was born May 16, 1813 and died in Clay Co. Ga. Oct. 12, 1857. Dates don't match up. Also is this James the son of Levi the Rev. War Soldier? The Will of James s of Levi does not mention a wife. I can't find Clay Co. but I can find Clayton Co. It's N.W. of center near Henry Co. Are there any Georgia contacts out there?

Marriage and Death Notices of Southern Advocate was written by D. Crenshaw. I hope I don't get in trouble with copyrights.

AFTER WORD Hopefully by next issue, I will have a word processor and printer and be better organized. My desk is six inches deep in paper.

I have added pedigree charts and family group sheets. Please fill them (any one of them) out and mail them back to me. If you know someone who might know something about the families or be interested in the newsletter give them my address and a chart.

In later issues I would like to put the names and addresses of everyone on my mailing list in the issue. You might find some long lost cousin like I have. If you do not want your address printed, tell me.

Future issues will have pedigrees listed and/or family group sheets. I have included Donna's and mine in this issue. The best place to start any genealogy is with yourself.

So many people have said they would be interested in the newsletter if it pertained to their line. Well, if we can get all this together it might just be your line. After all, these people moved around quite a bit and when they got tired of one place, they moved on. Some stayed. And they all had children; lots of children and they were all named the same. From one good old Burgess, there are at least six after him. And who knows how many Johns and Williams.

I would like to see a Jester Family Association. Maybe someone has started one already. Maybe its something to think about if there isn't one. I hope someone will carry on this work if, God Forbid, I can't. Even though I set this aside for some time, I never threw it away. I carried this box around with me for years. And when I couldn't Donna kept it for me. I'm glad Donna had given me most of her work before she was killed. There was a lot I didn't get and now I don't know where it is. I hope her survivors have given it to a library.

There is another reason for the newsletter. In case something happened to me or the house should burn, someone else will have the info. I have to do it in spurts. It would cost too much to send it out all at once.

I have met some very terrific people over the phone and in letters and some in person. YOU! ALL OF YOU! You have given me a lot of something valuable to me your time and something of yourselves.

I hope this newsletter grows into something we can all be proud of. I know it isn't very professional right now. I will de better with the next one.

Thanks a lot and let me hear from you. (s) Lynette


These were pedigree charts in the original Newsletters. We have converted them to Ahnentafel Charts for reproduction here since the vertical lines will not print. We have also changed the names and dates to conform to accepted genealogical format.


Pedigree Chart of Donna Jester, 1010 Bayport, Lancaster, TX dated April 1978:

1. Donna Sue JESTER b. 12 Nov 1948 Dallas, Dallas Co., TX, d. Sep 1986 Lancaster, TX murdered
2. William Earl JESTER, Jr., b. 6 Mar 1919 Idabel, OK, m. 30 Oct 1937, 6 May 1940
3. Dalpha Lorene SANDERS, b. 24 Oct 1921 Burkburnett, TX, d. Sep 1986 Lancaster, TX (Sept 1986, murdered)
4. Wm. Earl JESTER, b. 18 Nov 1890 Little Rock, AR, m. 19 May 1918, d. 15 Dec 1934 Ft. Worth, TX
5. Nellie Mae HILBORN, b. 25 Dec 1892 Oganow, AR, d. 24 Feb 1964 Dallas, TX
6. James Wm. SANDERS, b. 21 Aug 1882 Clinton, AR, m. 16 Oct 1916, d. 2 Apr 1952 Dallas, TX
7. Rebecca Palestine HORTON, b. 29 Sep 1895 AL, d. 20 Aug 1976 Dallas, TX
8. Wm. Albert JESTER, b. 4 Aug 1868 TN, m. 2 May 1893 (2nd), d. 14 Jan 1931 Texarkana, AR
9. Beatrice CALL
10. John Ervin HILBORN, b. 24 Mar 1867 Kalamazoo, MI, d. 19 Aug 1923 Dallas, TX
11. Virginia Alice WHITE, b. 25 May 1898 AR, d. 21 Apr 1926 Dallas, TX (**bd wrong)
12. Asa Ephram SANDERS, b. 1863 Sercey Co., AR
13. Mary GRIFFIN, b. 1857 AR

14. Ivy HORTON
15. Mattie BELL

16. Wm. R. JESTER, b. 22 Oct 1836, m. 26 Mar 1865, d. 5 Jun 1898
17. Nancy Jane WATSON

Pedigree Chart of E. L. Jester, 2700 Leigh Ann, Arlington, TX 76010 Aug. 9, 1989

1. Elizabeth Lynette JESTER, b 3 Apr 1954 Texarkana, Miller Co., AR, m. 28 Oct 1968, div. 1975
2. Ralph B. JESTER, b. 25 Dec 1915 Canfield, AR, m. Jun 1939, d. May 1979 Galveston, TX
3. Lela Iralee DAVIS, b. 20 Nov 1923 Fouke, Miller Co., AR
4.Cleveland Grover JESTER, b. May 1885 Lafayette Co., AR, m. 11 Nov 1911, d. 1916 Lafayette Co., AR
5.Janie Louise KELLY, b. 1897 AR, d. 1928 Rondo, Miller Co., AR
6. Joseph Edward DAVIS
7. Ocie Ola Rena MORTON
8. Levi JESTER, b. 1850 Eldorado Twp., Union Co., AR, c. 1898-1900
9. Analiza TEAGUE
10. Ely KELLY
11. Angeline GREEN
12. John Dallas DAVIS
13. Mary Ann THORNTON
14. Samuel MORTON
15. Sarah V. FOUCHE
16. Burgess JESTER m. 19 Sep 1827 GA
17. Mary A. HAY
18. Nathaniel TEAGUE
19. Martha HICKS
20. Jessie Lafayette GREEN
21. Eliza KEYS
22. William KELLY
23. Lucy B.
24. John T. or D. DAVIS (**This John never used middle initial and was added by me in error Jester-173 20:57, 4 March 2017 (EST))
25. Jamina Jane BULLARD
26. William THORNTON
27. Elizabeth STILL
28. John T. MORTON
29. Sarah ALLEN (**this is corrected from the Original issue, where I had WARD. )

Notes

**Notations not included in the original newsletter. These were posted on the Jester List Rootsweb with my permission. My Ahnentafel does contain some errors, I either didn't know, forgot and couldn't remember, or possible other errors. Some errors were corrected in later issues, some weren't. I would rather make sure they are corrected now. Jester-173 20:57, 4 March 2017 (EST)





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