The solitary headstone three miles west of the Crenshaw Cemetery on The Ridge in Butler County is inscribed: "Sacred to the memory of James Jones, who died August 31st, 1842, aged 38 years."

The tombstone was barely legible by the 1960s when Myra Ware Williams Crenshaw (founding president of The Butler County Historical Society) copied the marker’s inscription.  The numbers were worn and James Jones' age could have been "38" or "33."  A verse followed the name and dates, but it was impossible to decipher.

Biographical Note:  James Jones was the son of early Butler County settlers Andrew and Sarah Jones who are buried in the Fort Dale pioneer cemetery on Highway 185 northwest of Greenville.  James was born about 1804 or 1809 in North Carolina and came as a child with his parents to Fort Dale in 1818-1819.  He married Frances Ann Lewis, daughter of David Lewis, about 1838-1839.  James and Frances Jones had one son who lived to adulthood, James F. "Jimmy" Jones, born 1841.  After James Jones Sr.’s death in 1842, his widow Frances married Dr. James Batchelor of New Orleans.

For more information on this family, contact:   Annie Crenshaw, P. O. Box 1041, Greenville, Alabama 36037 or via email.