Nancy Chapman Jones, Letters

              Prologue
Caleb Jones was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 11,1805, a son of Captain
Joshua Jones, who during the War of 1812 when Baltimore was bombarded by the British,
helped in the defense of the city. About 1815 Joshua Jones moved with his family to
Cynthiana, Kentucky. When Caleb Jones was 21 years of age, in 1826, he came to
Missouri on horseback, swimming his horse across the Missouri River at Franklin,
Missouri. With such meager resources as he could command, Caleb Jones put his credit co
the test and was able to secure a small stock of merchandise with which he opened a store
at the landing at Arrow Rock. This venture was the beginning of the successful career.
From the very beginning his affairs prospered, his mercantile venture presendy was
expanded to include banking and he thus became one of the pioneer bankers of this section
of Missouri, his operations necessitating the removal of his base of operations from Arrow
Rock to Boonville. He invested largely in real estate and was at one time the owner of
about 6,000 acres of land in Cooper County, the greater part of his holdings lying in
Blackwater Township.
On November 10, 1831 Caleb Jones married Nancy Chapman, who bom 06 Apr 1814
in Howard County, Missouri. She was a daughter of Squire George Washington
Chapman, a Kentucky frontiersman, and a pioneer in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. He
was a noted border character who spent his life in advancing the outposts of civilization in
remote and unsettled regions.
The above information, taken from local histories, gives the background of two of the
main characters in the letters of Nancy nee' Chapman Jones. It is now 1861 and Caleb
Jones has amassed a fortune. "When he had made a hundred thousand dollars he said that
was enough to satisfy any man, so he disposed of his business and became a retired
merchant." The money was invested in Missouri farmland and Caleb played at farming.
Nancy nee' Chapman Jones always said, "it took Caleb Jones, the merchant, to keep up
Caleb Jones, the farmer."
When Caleb Jones was a merchant, he lived on Spring Street in Boonviile. later the
home of Dr. Charles Swap. After his retirement he built a house on one of his farms about
three and a half miles west of Boonville. The house was soon destroyed by fire and when
it was destroyed. It was replaced by a brick house. Nancy Jones never liked the house so
it was sold and a third one about a half a mile further west was built. This home was cailed
Oakland because of the many oak trees on the ground. The house is just in the final stages
of being finished when the Civil War began to unfold.
The Caleb Jones' had three children. Addie "Ada" Sands Jones, the oldest child had
married William D. Muir on January 1, 1851 and had a large and growing family. Mary
Levinia Jones was the middle child. When she had finished her schooling in Boonville. the
family had taken a trip to San Antonio, Texas. There she met and fell in love with Justin
McCarthy. The corresponded and Mr. McCarthy came to Boonville in a rush and married
Mary. As Nancy Jones begins her letters, her daughter is returning with her new husband
to San Antonio. George Chapman Jones was the youngest child. As the letters start he is
at home with her parents. So with this information let us start with