I spent a beautiful afternoon with Grover L. Jones Jr. and his eldest daughter, Gronna Jones. The Joneses descend from one of Wilson County’s largest free families of color — one that I’ve blogged about over and over and over. Mr. Jones is a western Wilson County griot, and I was thrilled when Gronna offered to drive us around to some of the family’s landmarks, all on or within a mile or so of today’s Saint Rose Church Road.

Mr. Jones’ grandparents, John A. Jones and Betty Hinnant Jones, built this house around 1912. Mr. Jones himself was born in the “little room” at the south end of the house.

While the house was under construction, the Joneses lived in the upstairs loft of this tobacco barn.

This 1927 Dodge has been parked here all of Mr. Jones’ life. He’s 88.

John A. Jones planted these massive oaks — a white and three swamp whites — that now tower over his grandson. A gnarled pecan tree leans away from one end of the house.

Just down the road stands the church John A. Jones attended — Rising Sun Missionary Baptist.

Per John Jones’ 1962 obituary, he was founder of Rising Sun. Rev. Buchanan H. Edwards was its pastor during much of the first half of the 1900s and preached Jones’ funeral.)

Wilson Daily Times, 16 September 1962.

Rising from the rear of the church structure is a two-story addition. A Masonic lodge, whose name and number have been forgotten, met upstairs. (I’m trying to identify it further.)

The tenants who lived in this house farmed for the Joneses, mostly raising tobacco and corn.

Saint Rose United Holy Church, which Betty Hinnant Jones attended, stands north of the Jones house. The original wooden building was moved to the Green Pond area of Wilson County to house another church.

Two family cemeteries lie across the road. The Jones family cemetery, holding the remains of John and Betty Jones and some of their children and grandchildren, is relatively new.

The nearby Sane Williams cemetery is much older, with graves dating back to the 1890s. The predominant family buried here is Jones, but other surnames appear on the 65+ graves. Sane Williams (or Williamson) and John A. Jones owned adjoining property, and Mr. Jones pointed out the property of neighboring landowners Johnny Finch and Henry Coleman.

The Henry Coleman farm, known as The Kingdom, lies off Old Raleigh Road, but is a straight shot through the woods from the cemeteries. Below, one of the cemeteries in The Kingdom. The old Jones Hill cemetery, also known as Old Fields cemetery, which holds graves of Joneses, Powells, and related 19th century families, has grown up in scrub trees again.

Mr. Jones confirmed the site of the Jones Hill School, which he attended from first through sixth grade. His teachers were Ethel Moye Coley and Alice Shaw. (He attended Sims School for seventh grade, then Williamson High School briefly before the brand-new Springfield High School opened in 1951.)

This abandoned store was once located on the other side of I-95, very close to the school. In order to gain licensing to sell beer, however, the building was moved down the road to this location.

I didn’t get photos, but we also rode over to Sims, past Flat Rock Church of Christ, the remnants of Sims School, and the house in which Mr. Jones’ maternal grandmother Lillie Taylor Jones lived in the Sugar Hill neighborhood.

A very special thanks to Gronna and Grover Jones for indulging my thousand questions — and treating me to a hot dog at Best N Burger! Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, May 2026.