Obadiah Jones
Obadiah Jones was born in Virginia, of Welsh parentage, and the family moved to South Carolina in his childhood. He grew up, working on the farm and studying at night, asking help of no one, and when food was scarce lived on wild fruits. He early learned great self-control and self –poise. At the age of 21, with his earthly possessions tied up in a handkerchief, and fifty cents in his pocket, he went to a town 50 miles distant to seek wider fields of opportunity. Falling in with Judge Knight at his destination, he was aided in finding work, went to school and in an incredibly short time was practicing law as a partner of the judge. As Georgia was a promising new field, he became a pioneer of Oglethorpe County. Between the ages of 31 and 32 he married Elizabeth Cowden of Ashville, N. C. He received the appointment of judge of Madison County, on the great bend of the Tennessee River, in the Mississippi Territory, in 1805. He apparently, did not accept at that time, as he filled similar post for Illinois Territory in 1809, and came to Madison County in the year 1810. On his arrival he bought a large plantation called Spring Hill, near the present town of Athens, Alabama. He was an intimate friend of Senator William H. Crawford of Georgia. A family record says, “He directed the surveying of Mississippi and Alabama into townships and sections and directed the moving of the Chickasaw Indians.” His old negro body servant, Grafton, whom he bought of Judge Knight, said the Indians were partial to Jones because of the descent of his wife from Pocahontas. He was given twelve sections of land for his services in Mississippi, eight in DeSoto County, which he divided among his four sons, and four in the lower part of the State, which he gave to his only daughter, Mrs. Roberts. He died at his Alabama home, May 31, 1825, at the age of 62 years. In 1836 his widow and sons moved to DeSoto County, where most of his descendants now live. There are many great pomp with which he used to open court and maintain dignity.
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