Rev. War Pension Applications For JONES (part II)

A total of 460 Jones surnames were listed in the index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications.  Four hundred and fifty six (456) provided enough information to be included in this study. [99%]  Over all, 219 of the pension applicants migrated from the state that they had enlisted. [48%]  Thus, 52 % of the pension applicants remained in the state from which they had enlisted.  The applicants were organized by the state from which they enlisted.  Regional geography was used to classify the "northern" states, compared to the "southern" states.  They were then listed by highest migration rates (ratios) to the lowest.

The figure to the right shows the migration ratios for the northern regions.  Two hundred thirty three applicants were from the northern states outlined. [51% of the total]  Of these, 113 left their state to move to another state. [48%]  Only 6 of the 113 [5%] left a northern state to migrate to a southern state.  This would suggest that those who moved from their original state, chose to stay in the northern regions.  Very few migrated from the north to the south following the Revolutionary War.

Massachusetts had the highest number of JONES (77), followed by Connecticut (61), New York (34), and Pennsylvania (26).  It would seem that the folks in New York wanted to stay in New York.

The "south" is yet to come.

This study is taken from The Jones Genealogist, Vol.VIII, No.4, Nov/Dec, 1996, p. 1-7.  The data set is located in The Jones Genealogist, research notebook, #67.

Rev. War Pension Applications for JONES (part I)

Revolutionary War records are an important resource for the Jones tree climber.  A beginning point for many researchers is the Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications, published by the National Genealogical Society, Washington, D.C.  On page 610 of this index, the Jones surname begins.  It is noted : "For Revolutionary pension applications filed for military service for soldiers who had the surname "Jones", more details than usually included in this Index are being printed as an illustration of the amount of non-military vital statistics which are to be found in Revolutionary War pension applications...".  It is the use of this non-military vital statistics that are most helpful for Jones tree climbers!

The following series of posts uses this reference to analyze the Jones surname for Revolutionary War pensioners.  Its purpose is to evaluate the numbers and migration patterns for the surname JONES, "state by state".  The questions it seeks to answer are: 1) Is there a pattern of Jones migration from one state to the next following the revolution?, 2) How many Jones from one state actually moved to another state?, 3) Which state(s) had the most Jones surnames recorded?, and 4) Will the patterns identified be helpful in my own genealogical searches?.

An example of the information provided in the index is copied exactly as it appears on page 610:

        "Ambrose, Cont. (Va.), Martha, W9083, b. 8/10/1756, enlisted in Augusta Co., Va.  In 1821 res. Floyd Co., KY, d. 6/12/1833  (see Quarterly, Sept. '46, p.104)."

This information was analyzed and abstracted for its content including the following items: 1) name , 2) state of identity, 3)  wife's name, 4) date of birth, 5) location by state of enlistment, 6) location of resident when applying for pension, and 7) the date of death.  This information became the bases for the analysis, organized by state, and evaluated for location at the time of pension application.  It assumes that the applicant was originally from the state identified by the index, and was living in the state of reference when he applied for the pension.  In the example above, this would suggest that Ambrose Jones, service record W9083, was from VA and migrated to KY before 1821.   Each entry for the JONES surname was analyzed and coded.  The results of this analysis will be presented.   More to come.

This research was published in The Jones Genealogist, Vol. VIII, No. 4, Nov./Dec., 1996. pp. 1-7.  Date set is located The Jones Genealogist Research Notebook # 67, The Joseph Wheeler Jones Memorial Library, Danville, KY.  The "Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications" published by National Genealogical Society, Washington, D.C., 1966.