Augustus M. Jones

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Augustus M. Jones

Source: History Morris County New Jersey, Volume II, Lewis Publishing Co., 1914

One of the leading and highly respected citizens of Netcong, Morris county, New Jersey, is Augustus M. JONES, whose life has been characterized by honor in business transactions, loyalty in the discharge of the responsible duties which have fallen to his lot, and cordiality and kindness in social circles.

George Godfrey JONES, his father, was a resident of Philadelphia, and from there removed to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. He was a wood turner by trade, and his son, Augustus M., carted the results of his work to Philadelphia at a time when the railroad was not running within fifty miles of that section of the state. The elder JONES died at Chatham. He married Elizabeth LAFFERTY, who died in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. They had children: 1. Augustus M., of whom further. 2. Charles S., who was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, and was killed at Petersburg, Virginia. 3. Alfred, was a soldier in the regular army, serving two enlistments of five years each; he was a participant in the Indian campaigns in Washington and Oregon, and while there took up two quarter sections of land at Hood’s Canal, at the port of Puget Sound, and spent the remainder of his life there. 4. Martha, married William HAVENSTRITE; died at Moscow, Pennsylvania. 5. Mary Ann, married David McWADE, both now deceased; resided at Daleville, Pennsylvania.

Augustus M. JONES was born November 25, 1836. At a very early age he became an active assistant to his father. He went to the woods, felled trees, cut logs and cross-sawed them, and prepared them for use in the cabinet making business, following these occupations until the opening of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. He removed to Chatham, Morris county, New Jersey, in 1867, holding the position of train and engine dispatcher until the Boonton branch was completed, when he went to Port Morris, and was the first train dispatcher there. At the end of one year he was advanced to the office of yard master, and filled this position efficiently until his resignation in 1895. He had a record of thirty-five years of uninterrupted service. At one time Mr. JONES was station agent at Gouldsboro, a station built for the firm of PRATT & GOULD, of which Jay GOULD was a member, and while in charge there was frequently called upon to act upon his own judgement in matters of the utmost importance and involving huge sums of money. Before entering into his connection with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Mr. Jones had a varied business career. He was in the livery business, and later engaged in business as a wagon and carriage builder and harness maker. His fraternal affiliations are as follows: Madison Lodge, No. 93, F. and A. M.; a charter member of the Musconetcong Lodge, No. 151. In political matters he has always been a strong Republican, casting his first vote for Abraham LINCOLN, for whom he had an intense admiration, being obliged to ride eighty-five miles to get to the polling place.

Mr. JONES married, in 1863, Hannah, daughter of Josephine CASTERLINE, of Beaumont, Pennsylvania, and in the fall of 1871 they removed to Netcong, New Jersey. Children: 1. Edward, now of Budds Lake, Morris county, New Jersey; has a contract to carry the mail between Stanhope and Mount Olive, he married Edith DANGLER and has children: Edmund T., Percy R., Mildred F. 2. Jennie M., married Lever McDOUGAL, now deceased, and has three children: Ellroy, Mattie, Leslie. 3. Zada B., married William King, of Netcong, and has one son, Maximilian. 4. Mary E., married S. S. WILLS, and has one child, Marguerite. 5. Charles M., of Netcong, married Nellie, daughter of Henry ASTRICK, and has one son, Paul. 6. Joseph G., resides with his parents. 7. Francis W., married Hazel TREZISE, a daughter of Richard TREZISE, and has children: Rachel and Ruth. 8. Hazel E., married Leslie W. BROWE, of Newark, New Jersey, and has one daughter, Thelma.

Transcribed by John Cresseveur (1949-2003)