 - 1841
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| Name |
Augustus Jones |
| Gender |
Male |
| Baptism |
12 Oct 1783 |
Westbrook, Middlesex Co, Connecticut  [1] |
| Died |
1841 |
Lake Erie |
| Notes |
- About 1816, "August Jones" is listed as owner of a sloop named "Mercator" built by the firm Hall & Hull. The sloop navigated the Saybrook river and Long Island Sound.
!Old Saybrook History
Before the War of 1812, Augustus Jones and William Murdock had been ship builders on the Connecticut River. A raid by the British had put them out of business. In 1820 they accepted land grants near the mouth of Black River from the government. Here Jones and Murdock started shipbuilding and the first employed working men were ship builders from the east.
Soon other shipyards were established, not only along the river but also along the lake shore both east and west of Black River, where wooden ships were built and launched. The first steam boat launched here slipped from the ways of the F. N. Jones yard in 1837. She was christened "The Bunker Hill." Some of the early ship builders soon became ship owners. Fleets of schooners sailed in and out of Black River carrying the community's commerce over the only means of transportation by water. In 1836 all vessel owners here joined themselves into the Black River Steamboat Association.
!A History of Lorain, Written by J.B. Nichols, 1924
AUGUSTUS JONES, one of the pioneer shipbuilders on the lakes, was born in Essex, Conn., in 1782, and belonged to a race of sea captains and ship builders. The early part of his career was passed in New England, and during the war of 1812, when the British burned the ships in the Connecticut River, his vessels were destroyed. As a compensation the government granted him a tract of land at Black River, now Lorain, Ohio, and he started for the Western Reserve with an ox-team and covered wagon. No record is left of the perils and privations of this journey, but he certainly experienced all the hardships, which the pioneers were forced to endure when traveling to what was then the Far West. After a struggle of two years he had established a shipyard, built a log house, and made a home for his family, who then joined him. Mr. Jones worked at various points on the lakes, but retained his home at Black River until his death in 184.r, at the age of fifty-nine years.
Mr. Jones married Saba Murdock, of Saybrook, Conn., a lady of education and refinement, who heroically endured her lot, and died from the effects of hardships incident to life on the frontier. Their children were: William Augustus; Benjamin Buel; George Washington; Frederick Nelson; James Madison; Maria, wife of Captain Whittaker; Fannie, wife of Capt. Joel McQueen; Mehitable, wife of A. C. Jones, clerk on a steamboat; and Marie Antoinette, wife of Sir Francis Drake, a descendant of the celebrated English navigator. For several years the father and sons were associated in shipbuilding, but after his death they established individual shipyards at Lorain, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit. Altogether the Jones family was one of the most noted in the development of the lake marine.
!Pg. 11-12 History of the Great Lakes by Charles published by J. H. Beers & Co. in 1899 Vol. 2 - Biographical
From: Early Days On The Lakes, With An Account Of The Cholera Visitation Of 1832.
From Manuscript Records Of Captain Augustus Walker
About the year 1824 or '25, there was a marked improvement in the models and general construction of sail vessels, creating a new era in ship-building; much of which was due to the taste and skill of Capt. Fairbanks Church, and Captain Augustus Jones, who came from the East and established shipyards at the mouth of Black River and Huron, Ohio, where they continued business for many years. Their vessels, as a general thing, were far in advance of those previously built--both for sailing and carrying heavier burden for their tonnage, and drawing much less water than those previously introduced. They bore a greater proportion of beam to the length of keel, and less depth in the hold, and being very broad on the transom, were enabled to carry sail as long as their canvas held together, which sometimes is very important when jammed upon a lea shore. There was a peculiar grace in the set of those vessels. In that particular these builders excelled. Their vessels had a sort of swan-like appearance upon the water, that attracted attention, while at the same time they were simple in their rig--mostly fore-and-aft schooners, though in after years they built and put afloat quite a large number of brigs and steamboats. Capt. Jones was the most successful so far as sail vessels were concerned. His style of sparring vessels, cut and proportion of sails, etc., was quite different from any other before introduced upon the lakes. The foremast was stepped further forward, the mainmast further aft, giving greater spread to the foresail, which is an important item when hauled upon the wind. Capt. Jones's vessels were always known in the distance by their masts being wider apart, as well as their great length of gaffs, both fore and aft, a distinguishing feature which characterized them from other vessels of that day.
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| Person ID |
I22489 |
Bryant |
| Last Modified |
10 Jun 2007 |
| Father |
Augustus Jones, b. 11 Aug 1752, Saybrook, Middlesex Co, Connecticut , d. Aft 1835, Saybrook, Middlesex Co, Connecticut |
| Mother |
Mehetabel Chapman, b. Jan 1759, Westbrook, Middlesex Co, Connecticut , d. 1793 |
| Married |
10 Dec 1777 |
Westbrook, Middlesex Co, Connecticut [2, 3] |
- They were married by the Rev. John Devotion.
|
| Family ID |
F1483 |
Group Sheet |
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| Sources |
- [S48] Chapman Family, Chapman, Rev. F. W., A. M., (Case, Tiffany and Company, Hartford, CT, 1854), p.82.
- [S58] Bailey, Early CT Marr., Frederic W. Bailey, (Bureau of American Ancestry, 1898), 2nd book; p.118.
- [S48] Chapman Family, Chapman, Rev. F. W., A. M., (Case, Tiffany and Company, Hartford, CT, 1854), v.
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