Placing a writing tablet on the tabletop so as not to harm the antique packet, I then gingerly pulled it out from under my jacket and placed it gently on the writing pad.
I cautiously untied the brittle old ribbon and reveled in my treasures-one was a packet of letters tied together: fourteen of them, addressed to Geo. W. Jones, Esquire, Fayetteville, Tennessee. They were dated from November 1880 until January 1882; one letter a month. Mr. Jones would have been seventy-four to seventy-five years old. He would have been boarding with Miss Patc, who did not die until the summer of 1882. Jones died November 14, 1884, in Doctor W.N. Wright's house at the east end of Washington Street.
I sat them aside and went to the other part of Mr. Jones' legacy to me. It was a smaller single envelope and was unsealed as were the others. I anxiously opened it. Inside were two well worn smooth wooden rings. They were about the same size and the color of aged red cedar. Each hung on a long smooth dried thin strand of leather. Enclosed was a quality piece of old paper. I unfolded it and recognized the handwriting from my study of my Mr. Jones' letters…
In bold handwriting the color of red- brown it read…
December 24, 1846 - July 16, 1864 Rebecca Cyrus and George Washington Jones of Fayetteville, Tenn. 'United by love the world would not permit but blessed of God in their union.' My sentiments overwhelmed me…it was true! In my hands, the cool feel of crafted wood was incontrovertible evidence. I pursed my lips, looked towards the west, in the direction of Rose Hill Cemetery, and gently shook my head.
I went on to examine the other letters; the remainder of my treasure. I opened all the letters, put them in chronological order, and read them in turn. Grasping the written words and reading between the lines, I learned enough to send me to more study. I could only refine the information after several weeks of research back home in south Mississippi. The letters provided a sketchy report from Elizabeth on her and Fayette's lives from 1859 until 1882.
Mr. Jones had taken Fayette and Elizabeth with him on his last trip to Washington as a Congressman in 1859. Taking the new Louisville & Nashville Railroad north, they stopped in Cincinnati en route. He left the children there, entrusting his mulatto 'fugitives from slavery'; his son and daughter, to James J. Faran, the Postmaster in Cincinnati. He and Mr. Jones had served as Democrats in Congress from 1845-49. Faran had been mayor of Cincinnati from 1855-57. Mr. Jones provided Faran with funds to see that Fay and Eliza could be seen after and receive an education. Faran had introduced them to free blacks in the city and found them a foster home in Clermont County outside Cincinnati. Thus began the journey of Rebecca's two children, Old Cyrus' grandchildren.