John Curtis Jones (1862-1930)

John Curtis Jones (Oklahoma circa 1900)

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

John Curtis Jones was the fourth known child born unto John Logan Jones and Margaret Jane Bizzell in Independence County, Arkansas on March 8, 1862. After the death of his mother in 1870, John Curtis and his youngest sister Alzada Elizabeth Drucilla Caroline went to live with their aunt Alzada Bizzell Martin who also lived in the county. At age 22, he would marry Sarah Parthena Felts in Sharp County, Arkansas on April 27, 1884. Sarah was born in Barren Township in Independence County, Arkansas on March 8, 1867 and was the daughter of Robert E. Felts and Susan Carter, both from Tennessee.

Sarah Parthena Felts (wife of John Curtis Jones)

The couple had their first child Edgar Otto Jones on April 8, 1885 in Independence County, Arkansas. This birth would be followed by five more children being born in Arkansas: Roxie Ellen Jones (1888), Maude Lee Jones (1891), Ollie Drucilla Jones (1893), Jeff Thomas Jones (1894), and Rendie Parthena Jones (1895).

Edgar Otto Jones and family

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

Roxie Ellen Jones and brother Jeff Thomas Jones

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

Ollie Drucilla Jones

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones

Maude Lee Jones

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

Rendie Parthena Jones

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

With the opening of fresh land for sale in the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma), John Curtis and his family left Arkansas and resettled on the Cherokee Nation near the town of Warner (present day Muskogee County) at some point between 1895 and 1900. By 1908, the family had relocated to the settlement known as Mellette in neighboring McIntosh County. During this period of time, John Curtis and Sarah had three more children: Arch Franklin Jones (1900), Bertha Ann Jones (1904), and Claude J. Jones (1908).

Arch Franklin Jones and wife Arfil.

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

Bertha Ann Jones (circa 1915)

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

Claude J. Jones (circa 1915)

photo courtesy of Buddy Jones.

It was during their time spent in Mellette, Oklahoma that they met the family of John P. Kennedy who had also recently moved to the area from Pontotoc, Mississippi. Through the two families' relationship, three marriages would be produced: Ollie Drucilla Jones to William Kennedy in 1911, Maude Lee Jones to John Pyle Kennedy in 1912, and Rendie Parthena Jones to Eber Kennedy in 1915. Eventually John Curtis and his family would relocate once again to the town of Mounds in Creek County, Oklahoma. It is here where John Curtis Jones would pass away at the age of 67 on January 19, 1930. His body would be laid to rest in the Duck Creek Cemetery located in Mounds, Oklahoma. His wife Sarah would pass away six years later on August 17, 1936 and be laid to rest next to her husband.

Grave of John Curtis Jones

photo courtesy of Jayson Shellady.

Grave of Sarah Parthena (Felts) Jones

photo courtesy of Jayson Shellady.