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This collection includes family papers of Noble Jones and his descendents. The Jones' have been active within coastal Georgia since the inception of the original Georgia colony. Noble Jones (1701-1775) came to Georgia from Britain with his son, Noble Wimberley Jones (1724-1805), with James Oglethorpe in the original group of colonists in 1733. He was named Oglethorpe's emissary to Tomochichi and the Yamacraws, and later made a member of the Georgia council and treasurer of the province. He gained land on the Isle of Hope, later to be known as the Wormsloe Plantation. N.W. Jones became a member of the Provincial Congress of 1775 and was chosen as one of Georgia's representatives in the Continental Congress, although he did not attend. He was a member of the Council of Safety, a delegate to Congress in 1781, a leading physician within Georgia and first president of the Georgia Medical Society. George Jones (1766-1838), the son of Noble Wimberly Jones, was active in Georgia law and legislation. Among other responsibilities, he served as register of probates in Chatham County, 1783-1787; Chatham inferior-court justice, 1791-1804, 1813-1817; superior-court judge for the eight-county eastern judicial district, 1804; Georgia House of Representatives, 1792-1793; Georgia Senate 1796-1798, 1813; and mayor of Savannah, 1812-1814. The Wormsloe estate was passed directly from George Jones to his only living son, George Wymberley Jones DeRenne, who was the founder of the Wormsloe Press and dedicated to the collection and publication of Georgia material and would become known as the richest man in Savannah during the period. James Habersham (1712-1775) came to Savannah from England in 1738 and was instrumental in establishing the Bethesda Orphans' Home of which he was president until 1744. He also founded Harris and Habersham, the first mercantile house of the colony; served as secretary of the province and councilor in 1754, and president of the upper house of the assembly in 1767. He served as governor of Georgia from 1769-1772 during Governor Wright's absence in England. His son, Joseph Habersham (1751-1815), was notable in his service to the cause of liberty as a Captain of a schooner and major in the organization of Georgia troops. He served as second to General Lachlan McIntosh in his duel with Button Gwinnett. After the war, he was appointed postmaster-general by President Washington.
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The collection consists of family, social, and business correspondence and papers for the Jones and Habersham families. Members of the family represented in these papers include: Noble Jones (1701-1775); his son, Noble Wimberley Jones (N.W. Jones I) (1724-1805), and his son, George Jones (1766-1838). George Jones was married three times; several generations from these marriages are included in the collection: from George Jones' first marriage to Mary Gibbons, their son Noble Wimberley Jones (N. W. Jones II) (1787-1818); their son, George Noble Jones (G. N. Jones I) (1811-1876) and his wife Mary Wallace Savage Nuttall (1812-1861) and their children: George Fenwick Jones (1841-1876), Wallace Savage Jones (1846-1902), Noble Wimberley Jones (N. W. Jones III) (1841-1876), Sarah Campbell Jones (1843-1925), who changed her name to Lillie (Lily) Noble Jones. Also included are the children of George Fenwick Jones and his second wife, Anna Wylly Habersham: George Noble Jones (G. N. Jones II) (1847-1955); Josephine Noble Jones (1873-1952), who married James Alfred Pearce Crisfield; and Mary Savage Jones (1873-1958), who married Clarence Gordon Anderson, Jr.
Also included are several letters of George Wymberley Jones DeRenne, the son of George Noble Jones I by his third wife, Eliza (Van Deren) Smith. G.W.J. DeRenne went also by the names of George Frederic Tilghman Jones and George Wymberley Jones. He married Mary Nuttall, the daughter of Mary Wallace Savage Nuttall by her first marriage.
There are also some papers of the Habersham family, maternal ancestors of G.N. Jones II: James Habersham (1712-1775), Joseph Habersham (1751-1815), Robert Habersham (1783-1870), William Neyle Habersham (1831-1899), and Anna Wylly Habersham (1849-1888) before her marriage to George Fenwick Jones.
The plantation records focus primarily on Georgia and Florida plantations. The Georgia plantation records include grants, deeds, mortgages relating to tracts owned by the Jones family in the following counties: Appling, Burke, Chatham, Columbia, Effingham, Franklin, Jefferson, and Richmond. The Florida plantation records include a journal of Chemonie, January 1861-June 1864, and a large number of patents and conveyances for Chemonie, El Destino, and Oscilla Eldorado. The patents are signed by the various presidents of the period and bear the presidential seals of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. The plantation records also include slave records from the various plantations such as birth and marriage records and bills of sale. Also included in the collection are genealogies of Jones, Habersham and related family lines; a collection of U. S. Continental Currency; 'shin plasters'; Confederate bonds; letters regarding the opening of Laurel Grove Cemetery; and the yellow fever epidemic.
The papers are arranged into five series: Jones family correspondence; Jones family personal papers; Habersham family papers; Georgia land records; and Florida land records.
The following newspapers were initially included in this collection, but have been separated to the newspaper collection: [Augusta] Daily Chronicle & Sentinel, December 13, 1875; [Augusta] Daily Constitutionalist, December 10, 1865; Republican and Savannah Evening Ledger, June 27, 29, July 9, September 22, 1812, October 7, 1813, October 8, 22, 1814, [Savannah] Columbian Museum, June 29, July 27, 1812.
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Artifacts were separated and cataloged with the Georgia Historical Society Artifacts Collection.
The following newspapers have been separated to the newspaper collection: [Augusta] Daily Chronicle & Sentinel, December 13, 1875; [Augusta] Daily Constitutionalist, December 10, 1865; Republican and Savannah Evening Ledger, June 27, 29, July 9, September 22, 1812, October 7, 1813, October 8, 22, 1814, [Savannah] Columbian Museum, June 29, July 27, 1812.
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9 boxes, 1 oversize folder
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Copyright has not been assigned to the Georgia Historical Society. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Division of Library and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Georgia Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
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GHS 0440, Jones family papers, 1723-1936. Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia.
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