Alexander Jones (1840 - 1864)

Born 1840 in United States [uncertain]

Died Jul 1864 at about age 24 in Beaufort, South Carolina, United States

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Alexander Jones (1840-1864)

Alex Jones is a part of US Black heritage.

Corporal Alex Jones served in the United States Civil War.
Side: USA

Alexander Jones was born about 1840^[1]. He served with the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.

Occupations

• 1863^[1]: Waiter

Residences

• 16 Mar 1863: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (military enlistment)^[1]

Military Service and Death

Corporal Alex Jones died of disease during the United States Civil War.

During the Civil War, he served as a Corporal in Company D of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army, the first regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. He was about 23 years old, single and working as a waiter when he enlisted on 16 March 1863 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Alexander Jones died of consumption on 7 July 1864.^[2][3] (or 30 July 1864^[4]) in Beaufort, South Carolina.^[1]

Alexander Jones was buried in Beaufort National Cemetery and his grave marker was still intact in the 2010s.^[5][6]

New Year's Day Observation, 1864

On New Year's Day of 1864, the honor guard lead the march to the parade ground where speeches were given. Among the speakers was Corporal Jones.

Corporal Jones was the next one to address the assemblage, and his remarks were very appropriate, notwithstanding his evident partiality to Webster's great masterpiece. The substance of his remarks was, that the fact of the colored men being a part and parcel of the military arm of the nation was a sufficient guarantee that he was not a brute, but a man; and as a man, the future was full of hope for him; for the nation is contending for the rights and liberty of not one class or condition of people, but the struggle now going on is for all, that the institutions framed by the revolutionary patriots may be a reality, and not a name. He urged his comrades in arms to remain hopeful, and not cease in their efforts to gain, if possible, a more lasting name than what has been accorded them for that blooding night before Fort Wagner. He said that night's work would be a bright example, but warned them not to vainly suppose that would be a sufficient sacrifice for liberty and freedom of the race. In conclusion, he said - no matter how much the enemies of liberty seek to deride our efforts and treat us with contempt, they dared not insult or molest him, while he had the United States uniform on, and a consciousness of right on his side.^[7]

Company Remarks

See also Images.

31 August 1863

Corp Jones in Hospital Privates R Johnson J Butler Jeffrey R Jones Vroman H Parker Hopkins Davis R Butler Burrel Young

30 August 1863

Corp Jones in Hospital Privates J Butler Kennard Davis J. W. Young Vroman Jeffrey H Parker R Johnson Hopkins Johnson

29 August 1863

Corp Jones in Hospital Privates J Butler R Johnson Davis H Parker J. W. Young Vroman

28 August 1863

Corp Jones in Hospital Privates R Johnson R Jones Davis Hopkins H Parker Jeffery Young J Butler J Handerson Vroman all sick in quarters

22 August 1863

Corp Jones sick in Hospital. Corp. Wilkins. Private Davis. West. Nelson. Jeffrey. Hopkins. Butler. Kennard. sick in Quarters

Projects

• 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Research Notes

No records on FamilySearch and Ancestry have yet been found to confirm Alexander's date and place of birth and information about his parents and siblings (as of 28 Apr 2024).

In the 1860 US Census, there is an Alexander Jones (age 21) working as a waiter on the U.S. Steamship Pawnee, enumerated in Philadelphia, PA. This person was born in Virginia. (See Census record listed below.) It is not known if this is the same Alexander Jones.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Emilio, Roster p. 356
2. ↑ Burial: "U.S., Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960"
   National Archives and Records Administration; Burial Registers of Military Posts and National Cemeteries, compiled ca. 1862-ca. 1960; Archive Number: 44778151; Series: A1 627; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 3135 #63698 (accessed 28 April 2024)
   Alexander Jones burial (died on 7 Jul 1864) in Beaufort National Cemetery, South Carolina.
3. ↑ Death: "U.S., Register of Colored Troop Deaths During the Civil War, 1861-1865"
   Original data: Register of U.S. Colored Troop Deaths During the Civil War 1861-1865. NAID: 1226169. Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s–1917, Record Group 94. The National Archives in Washington, D.C
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2130 #628 (accessed 27 April 2024)
   Alexander Jones death 7 Jul 1864 at 2nd Division General Hospital Beaufort, South Carolina.
4. ↑ Company D July 1864 Remarks (see Images)
5. ↑ Burial: "U.S., Civil War Roll of Honor, 1861-1865"
   Roll of Honor, Vol. IX
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 61388 #139551 (accessed 28 April 2024)
   Alex Jones burial (died on 7 Jul 1864) in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.
6. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (no image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #192248500 (accessed 28 April 2024)
   Memorial page for CPL Alexander Jones (unknown-7 Jul 1864); Maintained by Gail Black (contributor 46916450).
7. ↑ Gooding, p. 99

• Emilio, Luis Fenollosa. History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Book Co., 1891 (1st ed.) and 1894 (2nd ed.)
• Gooding, James Henry and Virginia M. Adams (ed.) On the Altar of Freedom: A Black Soldier's Civil War Letters from the Front. University of Massachusetts Press: April 1999.
• "United States Civil War Service Records of Union Colored Troops, 1863-1865," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JZ6F-673 : accessed 20 Jul 2014), Alexander Jones, 1863; citing "Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: 1st through 5th United States Colored Cavalry, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored), 6th United States Colored Cavalry," Fold3.com; military unit 54th Massachusetts Infantry, Jackson-Jones, NARA microfilm publication M1898, roll 9.
• Possible census record for Cpl. Alexander Jones: 1860 Census: "1860 United States Federal Census"
  The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Philadelphia Ward 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1152; Page: 358; Family History Library Film: 805152
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7667 #4328897 (accessed 28 April 2024)
  Alexander Jones (21), Waiter, in Philadelphia Ward 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in Virginia.