KENOLY FAMILY HISTORY

SCOTT (SMOKY) JONES

Owning steamboats, Jones and McClurg transported merchandise to Linn Creek by water and then shipped it by wagon to southwestern Missouri, northern Arkansas and eastern Kansas, areas being settled at the time. As payment was usually in goods produced, the process of payment to the company involved the wagons and steamboats reversing their paths in order to bring the wares to the St. Louis market. It took manpower to operate such a large-scale business and slaves supplied much of this. In 1850, John Jones owned nine slaves. After Jones was killed in a steamboat explosion on the St. Louis wharf in February 1852, McClurg formed a new partnership with W. D. Murphy and the business became Murphy, McClurg and Company. Henrietta Jones and her children, all minors, inherited John's slaves and his part of the mercantile business. In 1860, Henrietta was sole owner of nine slave children, ages two months to seven years and, with her four minor children, owned two male and five female slaves, ages eight to seventy years. She was listed as a partner along with W. D. Murphy, J. W. McClurg, W. A. McPhail, G. A. Massey and M. W. Johnson in the ownership of six other slaves, all males between the ages of twenty and thirty-five years. These men probably made up the crew of the company's steamboat that plied the Osage and Missouri rivers in taking goods in and out of Linn Creek. - {Source 8}

It is not known for certain what part Smoky Jones played in the mercantile business when he was a child, but it is likely that he was trained early on to work on a steamboat. He may have been broken in on the side-wheeler, Winona, the packet owned by McClurg, Murphy and Barclay in the mid- 1850's. Smoky probably started out helping the deckhands, or roustabouts, as they were called. These men, usually slaves before the Civil War, remained on call for duty day and night, sleeping when and wherever they could among the freight. Whenever the boat docked, they supplied the muscle that loaded and unloaded the freight. Steamboat mates were hired to keep the roustabouts working. They did so by profanity, fists and, most often, clubs. As the roustabouts were armed with knives needed in their jobs, the mate usually kept a gun in his belt. The results of being subjected to the very rough and violent life on the riverboats would be apparent on Smoky for many years. - {Source 9}

The slave owners usually let the men keep whatever they earned on Sunday. The men on McClurg's boats, however, did not have the opportunity of earning this pay as McClurg kept the Sabbath work-free and refused to let his crew perform any labor. His boats pulled over to the riverbank at twelve o'clock Sunday morning and they did not move until twelve o'clock the following morning. In place of money, Smoky and the other members of his crew received a day of rest and relaxation, a rarity on the boats owned by other slave owners. - {Source 10}

At some point early in his career, Smoky became a fireman and assumed the duty of keeping the boilers fired with wood. While firemen had a more predictable day in that they worked in four-hour shifts, they labored in constant heat and always with the possibility of the boiler blowing up, an occurrence that was not rare. Engineers and firemen were scalded by the escaping steam and often died in such accidents. It may have been at this time that Scott Jones acquired the nickname, "Smoky," named, perhaps, because he spent so much time in the boiler room, which smelled strongly of smoke. - {Source 11}

In 1876, Smoky married Nancy Angeline Bond, the daughter of Felicia Bond, of Linn Creek. Felicia, probably born in Ste. Genevieve in about 1830 and evidently of French inheritance, may have been brought to the Ozark region about 1856 to work in the "Bond Mines" that were owned and operated by Jefferson Bond of Morgan County. Angeline, or "Nanny" as she was called, was born in Linn Creek about 1857. After emancipation, Felicia farmed in order to support her family. In 1880, after both of her children had established their own homes, Felicia owned fifteen tilled acres and sixty-five acres of woodlands. She owned one horse, two milk cows, one hog and twenty-four barnyard poultry that had produced fifty dozen eggs the previous year. In 1779, Felicia had planted fourteen acres of corn that had yielded 200 bushels, one-half acre of sorghum, producing twenty-eight gallons of molasses, and one-eighth acre of tobacco that produced fifty pounds of product. Her farm was valued at $200 and her livestock at $30. Nancy Angeline obviously came from a hard working, sturdy family. - {Source 12}

Smoky and Nancy Angeline established their home in Linn Creek and lived there for several years. In the great flood of 1882, Smoky and his family had to abandon their home. The Reveille reported that the water did ten dollars worth of damage to the Jones' property. The Jones family grew during the Linn Creek years, with at least three children born there. They had eleven children, seven of which were still alive in 1900. Smoky's known descendants through his Great-Grandchildren are listed below.

Descendants of Scott (Smoky) Jones - {Source 13}

1 Scott (Smokey) Jones b: Jan 07, 1851 in Camden County, MO d: May 27, 1926 in Springfield, MO age at d: 75
. +Nancy Angeline Bond b: Abt. 1857 in Linn Creek, MO
...... 2 Alice Jones b: May 22, 1876 d: Jul 1971 in Pleasantville, NJ age at d: 95 est.
.......... +(Unknwn) Washington
.............. 3 Georgia Washington
...... 2 Matur Jones b: Abt. 1878
...... 2 Oscar Jones b: Sep 13, 1880 d: Oct 1970 in Gaston, IN age at d: 90 est.
...... 2 Hattie Jones b: Mar 1884
.......... +(Unknown) Hogan
...... 2 Susan Jones b: Dec 1886
.......... +(Unknown) Bennings
...... 2 Lillian Jones b: Sep 1892
.......... +Ellis Vantrice b: Apr 03, 1890 d: Aug 1972 in El Reno, OK age at d: 82 est.
...... 2 Raymond Jones b: Sep 13, 1899 d: Jun 1986 in Scranton, PA age at d: 86 est.

Little is known of Smoky's life in the 1880’s, as records are so scarce. He was still working on a steamboat in 1880, the Einnia, owned by McClurg, one of his former masters. When not on the river, he was probably working as a farm laborer. When on land, he still exhibited the rough behaviors that were common place, even necessary for survival, on the boats, but were unacceptable in refined society. In 1881, for example, Smoky made the 4th of July memorable for the Linn Creek citizens by participating in a fight with Caswell McClurg, an ex-slave of J. W. McClurg. Smoky was acquitted of charges of disturbing the peace in 1883 that had been filed by J. C. Earp. At that time, he operated the ferry across the Osage River at Linn Creek. - {Source 14}

Moving to Lebanon, Missouri, Smoky was working for the city by 1890. His experience as fireman on the riverboats made him a perfect candidate to assume the responsibilities of fireman at the city's powerhouse. This Smoky did for the next twenty-five years working the night shift, and performed so satisfactorily, even with a few early brushes with the law, that, when he became too old to handle the work at the power plant, a new job was created for him, that of keeping the business streets clean. The blacksmith made him a cart and some businessmen bought a donkey to pull the cart. On February 20, 1916, close to the time when he started his new job, Nannie, his wife of forty years, died. - {Source 15}

For the next ten years, Smoky and Maud, his trusty donkey, was a common sight in Lebanon as they moved up and down the streets, picking up animal droppings and any other debris that might have been fallen. As they cleaned, they made friends. Smoky was an outgoing man with an "infectious laugh" and was counted as a friend by the citizens of Lebanon, children and adults alike. Maud also had her following as she liked to chew tobacco and made her unhappiness known if her habit was long ignored by Smoky or her other friends.   - {Source 16}

In 1926, at the age of about seventy-five, Smoky had to miss work because of a bladder problem that didn't get any better. After being confined to his bed for several months, Smoky was taken to the Colored Hospital in Springfield for surgery. Unable to withstand the physical stress of the operation, Scott "Smoky" Jones died May 27, 1926. The funeral service, held at the Wood Street Baptist Church, was attended by a large number of friends, both black and white. The pallbearers were six old friends: F. D. Green, Jack Whitten, Frank Stevens, Cap Stallion, Sam Osborne and Oscar Mitchell. Interment was in the Lebanon City Cemetery.             - {Source 17}