Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Devine V.  Jones and Family Papers (Z/0931).
Creator/Collector: Jones family members; and others.
Date(s): 1960-1965; n.d.
Size: 0.30 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, July 1968; MDAH staff, Allyson Hartling, 2023.
Provenance: Gift of William F. Winter of Jackson, MS, on July 11, 1968.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Devine V.  Jones and Family Papers (Z/0931), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

Devine V. Jones

Devine V. Jones was born on April 9, 1893, the son of Lucrecy "Crecy" Robinson (1864-1944) and Simon Jones, Sr. (1856-1929), of Mississippi. Jones became an African American Methodist reverend who preached and lived near Grenada, Mississippi, for a large majority of his life. Reverend Jones was a tenant farmer on the farm of William F. Winter until it was leased to someone else in 1968. Devine married twice, first to Lenora Jackson and second to Henrietta Matthews. His children from these marriages included: Pearl Jones (b. 1913-), Marcellus Jones  (1915-2001), Claudel Jones (1916-2004), Floyd L. Jones (b. 1917-), Annie B. Jones (b. 1921-), Jennie Lou Jones (b. 1923-), Melvina Jones (1928-2005), Priscilla Jones (b. 1928-), Lillie Mae Jones (1930-1963), Ora Lee Jones (1939-1980), Alzonia Jones (1934-1974), Mary Lee Jones (b. 1936-), William Jones (b. 1937-), Willie Jones (b. 1937-), and Devine Jones, Jr. (b. 1943-). His children and a few other relatives migrated from Mississippi to places such as Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Lawton, Oklahoma; and Memphis, Tennessee, however, they all kept steady contact with each other through a series of letters.  Reverend Devine V. Jones died in Grenada on August 27, 1975.

 

Scope and Content Note:

Letters to Devine V. Jones, African American Methodist preacher, Star Route 1, Grenada, from his daughters and other ministers and reverends in Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Memphis, Tennessee; and Lawton, Oklahoma. Some of the letters were written during the University of Mississippi and James Meredith riots of 1962 and refer to these events.  The letters reflect family life, the African American migration to the cities, church affairs, and social conditions of a tenant farmer in Mississippi in the 1960s.

 

Series Identification:

The collection consists of one series, Correspondence, which consists of a total of 44 pieces of correspondence, including letters with their envelopes and a postcard.  The primary focus of the collections are letters from the daughters of Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones to their parents.  With their married name, these include Willie Jones Noel, Annie B. Jones Cross, Mary Lee Jones, Ora Jones Owens, Jennie Jones, Alzonia Jones Talbert, Melvina Jones Thomas, and one postcard from Pearl Jones. His daughter-in-law “Mamie” Jones, who married his son Claudel Jones, also wrote him a letter.

There are also letters from Vere Lee Noel, daughter of Willie Jones Noel, to her uncle William Jones. Vere Lee Noel also writes a letter to her grandfather, Reverend Jones.  There is one letter from Mary Lee Jones to her son Roy Earl Jones, one letter from Annie B. Jones Cross to her sister Lillie Mae Jones Marshall, and one letter from Alzonia Jones Talbert to her sister Mary Lee Jones.

Additionally, the correspondence includes several letters from Reverend J.H. Ross, a minister of the St. James M.B. Church of Chicago, Illinois; several letters from Reverend Emmett Townes, also of Chicago; one letter from Reverend B.T. McSwine of Greenwood, Mississippi, who is Reverend Jones’s nephew; one letter from Reverend J.C. Hentz of Coffeeville, Mississippi; one letter from Brother Clemmie Smith, also of Coffeeville; one letter from Mrs. Odessa Jeffreys of Smith Chapel M.B. Church in Coffeeville; and one letter from Dorothy Ann Smith of Coffeeville thanking Rev. Jones for his gift.

 

Box List:

Box 1
Folder 1: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend J.H. Ross, January 19, 1960. 
Folder 2: Letter to Willie Noel, Gary, IN, from Reverend Devine V. Jones, September 1, 1960. 
Folder 3: Letter to William Jones, Grenada, MS, from Vere Lee Noel, December 30, 1960. 
Folder 4: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Mamie Jones, June 8, 1961. 
Folder 5: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Annie Cross, January 30, 1962. 
Folder 6: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Mary Lee Jones, April 18, 1962. 
Folder 7: Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Reverend Devine V. Jones from Ora Owens, May 28, 1962. 
Folder 8: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Mary Lee Jones, June 7, 1962. 
Folder 9: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from daughter, June 10, 1962. 
Folder 10: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend Emmett Townes, June 11, 1962. 
Folder 11: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Jennie Jones, June 14, 1962. 
Folder 12: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Mary Lee Jones, July 31, 1962. 
Folder 13: Letter to Lillie Mae Marshall from Annie Cross, August 6, 1962. 
Folder 14: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend B.T. McSwine, August 16, 1962. 
Folder 15: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Verre Lee Noel, August 22, 1962. 
Folder 16: Letter to Mary Lee Jones from B. Wilson, September 10, 1962. 
Folder 17: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Jennie Jones, September 19, 1962. 
Folder 18: Letter to Mary Lee Jones from Alzonia Talbert, September 25, 1962. 
Folder 19: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from daughter, September 25, 1962. 
Folder 20: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Melvina Thomas, October 8, 1962. 
Folder 21: Letter to Mary Lee Jones from Alzonia Talbert, October 12, 1962. 
Folder 22: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend Emmett Townes, October 15, 1962. 
Folder 23: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend J.H. Ross, October 16, 1962. 
Folder 24: Letter to the pastor and offices of the Smith [Chapel] M.B. Church from Reverend J.C. Hentz, January 19, 1963. 
Folder 25: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Brother Clemmie Smith, February 3, 1963. 
Folder 26: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Mary Lee Jones, March 12, 1963. 
Folder 27: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend Emmett Townes, March 26, 1963. 
Folder 28: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Jennie Jones, March 27, 1963. 
Folder 29: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from J.W. Noel, June 5, 1963. 
Folder 30: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Alzonia Talbert, June 26, 1963. 
Folder 31: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Mamie Jones, July 1, 1963. 
Folder 32: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Jennie Jones, August 1, 1963. 
Folder 33: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Dorothy Ann Smith, December 30, 1963. 
Folder 34: Letter to Roy Earl Jones, Grenada, MS, from Mary Lee Jones, January 11, 1964. 
Folder 35: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Reverend J.H. Ross, February 10, 1964. 
Folder 36: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Mrs. Odessa Jefferys, Smith Chapel M.B. Church, February 17, 1964. 
Folder 37: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Mary Lee Jones, February 20, 1964. 
Folder 38: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Willie Noel, April 19, 1964. 
Folder 39: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Ora Owens, April 30, 1964. 
Folder 40: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Jennie Jones, May 14, 1964. 
Folder 41: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Annie Cross, November 15, 1964. 
Folder 42: Letter to Reverend Devine V. Jones from Melvina Thomas, June 1, 1965. 
Folder 43: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Melvina Thomas, September [no year]. 
Folder 44: Letter to Reverend and Mrs. Devine V. Jones from Pearl Jones, n.d.