Letha Ellen Staley Jones 1864-1920

Letha Ellen Staley was born on July 19, 1864 in Randolph County. Her father was George Staley and her mother was Sarah “Sallie” Hill Stout Staley. George was 52 years old and had been married twice before.

George’s first marriage was to Nancy Burgess in 1837.
George Staley Nancy Burgess Marriage Bond

Nancy and George had four children before she died in 1858. These were Rebecca, Hiram, Mary and Ann. Hiram died of typhoid fever January 20, 1863 as a Confederate soldier at Petersburg Virginia.

George then married Mary Butlar on December 11, 1858. From this union, Letha’s brother Robert was probably born since he was born in 1861 and George did not marry Letha’s mother Sallie until August 7, 1862.

Sarah “Sallie” Hill Stout was 34 when she married George Staley. She had been married once before to William Gaston Stout who died in 1857. She had two sons when she married George Staley. These were Jacob Washington Stout and James Abner Stout.

Letha was the oldest of George and Sallie’s children. George was a farmer and Sallie was a housekeeper and mother. Letha, their oldest child together was born July 19, 1864 during the Civil War. The Staley family was touched by the war in the worst way. Their son and brother Hiram who had enlisted in Guilford County in 1862 in Company A of the North Carolina Infantry 53 Regiment lost his life in early 1863. He succumbed to typhoid fever at the Confederate States Hospital in Petersburg Virginia. Petersburg became a focal point for North Carolina soldiers starting in June 1864 continuing to April 1865. The Greensboro Patriot on September 15, 1864, page 1 has an ad from the State of North Carolina Subsistience Department has an ad asking for Irish potatoes, Onions and Saurkraut for North Carolina soldiers in the trenches at Petersburg.

Food Wanted for NC Soldiers

In addition to Letha, George and Sallie Staley had the following children: William G.,Sarah Annie, Permelia Caroline, and George Taylor. In 1870, Letha was 7 years old and lived with her family at Pleasant Grove Township, Randolph County North Carolina. Her father owned $450 in real estate and $700 in personal estate. In 1880, Letha was living with family at Columbia Township in Randolph County, North Carolina. The family owned 150 acres on the watershed of Millstone Creek. Millstone Creek is 4.1 miles east of Ramseur, near Parks Cross Roads. Letha at the time was 17. The census stated that she attended school, could read, but couldn’t write.

Letha Ellen Staley married Peter Pulaski Lawrence Jones sometimes known as P.L. in Randolph County, on May 11, 1884, when she was 19 years old. Pulaski Jones had come to Randolph County from Chatham County around 1882. He was employed in the railroad service working for the Atlantic and Yadkin which had a line down from Greensboro to Ramseur. Her sister Annie married Thomas L Jones, Pulaski’s brother in 1885. The two Staley sisters who had married two Jones brothers began to raise their family in the town of Ramseur at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the twentieth. Letha and her family attended the Holiness Church in Ramseur.

Letha and Pulaski’s first son George Wiley was born on May 8, 1886. Her second son William Barnes “Bill or Will” was born on November 9, 1888. Letha’s father George passed away on December 8, 1891. The year before, Sarah and George had signed over the Millstone Creek property to younger sons William G and George Taylor. Probate records list George’s personal estate and include items such as pitchers, pine table, flower vases, wash tubs, mans saddle, spinning wheel, and other furniture. These items along with a growing crop of wheat,10 sheep, 1 black mule, 6 head of hogs, 14 chickens, 1,560 pounds of lint cotton, a note and a $23 mortgage on James Cavness and an open account with W E Branson were assigned and allotted to his widow, Sarah Ann Staley. Commissioners J W Cox and J M Foushee also found that because of the number of members of the family (six exclusive of the widow), there would be provided a years support of $557.40.

The year 1899 was a good and bad year for the Jones family. Son Charles Tate “Doc” was born on May 18 but son George Wiley passed away on June 2, 1899 in Ramseur at the age of 13. He is buried in the Sunset Knoll Cemetery in Ramseur. Letha must have experienced other heartbreak because the 1900 census asks how many children she had and she answered six but only two were living. Letha’s obituary says that four children have preceded her to the better land. In 1900, the only two surviving sons were Bill and “Doc”. Bill was 10 years old in this census and is listed as a day laborer who had attended school six months in that year. Pulaski’s occupation was locomotive watchman. All of the members of the household could read and write except for one year old “Doc”. They rented their home in Ramseur.

The 1900’s brought more births and deaths to Letha’s family. Her daughter Ida Lee was born on July 5, 1901. Her half brother Jacob Washington Stout died on August 15, 1903. Daughter Nellie Victoria was born on October 4, 1904 and her half sister Rebecca died in Ohio on February 7, 1908. By 1910, older son Bill had married and left the home and Pulaski and Letha were sharing their rented home in Ramseur with their three children, “Doc”, Ida, and Nellie. In this census Letha is listed as being able to read but not able to write. Letha’s brother Robert H. died on September 28,1913 and Letha’s mother Sallie passed away on August 9, 1915 in Randolph, North Carolina at the age of 85.

Letha Ellen Staley died on January 3, 1920 at the age of 55. Her obituary published in The Courier Tribune on January 15, 1920 is entitled “Death of a Good Woman” It stated that that Mrs. Jones had not been in good health for some time but no one knew that she was so near death. A complicated trouble caused her death. Her death certificate stated the cause of death was a hyperthyroid issue. Nellie Kinney, her daughter had stated that the reason there were no pictures of Letha was she had a large goiter on her neck and did not allow pictures to be made of her.

Letha Staley Obit

Letha’s funeral was conducted the Sunday following at the Christian Church in Ramseur and she was buried at the town cemetery, Sunset Knolls. It was reported by the Greensboro Daily News on January 8, 1920, p. 12 that there was a large crowd of sorrowing relatives and friends. Letha not only left behind two young daughters in the home. Ida was 18 and Nellie was 15. She also left behind two grandsons she was helping to rear. Bill’s 11-year old Seth had come to live with the Jones family when his parent’s marriage fell apart. Son “Doc” had tragically lost his wife the month before and mother Letha was helping him tend to Infant George Wiley Jones.

Letha and Peter P tombstone

There are three unknown children of Letha and Pulaski Jones who died before adulthood was attained. Other children are:

1. George Wiley Jones 1886-1899
2. William Barnes “Bill” Jones 1888-1963 married Nellie Blanch Webb, Cellie Dare Smith, Malinda Ruth Revels, and Lula Golden Rumley
3. Charles Tate “Doc” Jones 1899-1980 married Anne Elizabeth Branson and Myrtle Lou Overman
4. Ida Lee Jones (1901-1981) married George Wesley Fogleman
5. Nellie Victoria Jones (1904-1979) married Robert Roosevelt Kinney