Jerimiah Burchnial Jones was born on the first day January, 1842 at Rubles Mill in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, to James and Anna Ross Jones. He was engaged in farming at the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted at Uniontown, Pennsylvania on April 18, 1861 in Company G, 37th Pennsylvania Volunteers (8th Pennsylvania Reserves). The company was nicknamed the Fayette Guards with Captain S. D. Oliphant as their commander. In the spring of 1862 the regiment was assigned to I Corps of the Army Of The Potomac and was engaged in the Seven Days battles near Richmond. At the Battle of Gaines Mill Jones was wounded and captured. He was later exchanged and sent to City Point where he was shipped north on a hospital boat to Baltimore. There he was discharged on account of his wound. He returned to Fayette County and in 1864 tried to re-enlist but was denied because of his previous injury. With great determination he paid his own fare and returned to his unit near Alexandria, Virginia. Due to his high order of patriotism the regimental surgeon, Dr. Jones accepted him and he re-enlisted.
He participated with great difficulty in every battle from the Wilderness down through Virginia to Cold Harbor, from there across the James River and on to Petersburg. On May 17, 1864 the regiment was mustered out and Jones was transferred to the 191st Pennsylvania Volunteers. At the battle of Weldon Railroad, on August 19, 1864, the entire regiment was captured and taken to Libby Prison, transferred to Belle Isle, and then taken to Salisbury Prison in North Carolina. His best friend Isaac A. Moore from his Regiment related the following account: “During our time together Jerry and I had become acquainted in the ties of comradeship and brotherhood, sharing our joys and hardships that we were as Damon and Pythias. We had made an agreement that after the war was over we would jointly settle on his farm in Kansas. But alas! It was ordered otherwise. While we were in Libby Prison I visited him frequently in the little house called a hospital where he lay, and near the end he sPvtaid, we will have to give up our plans for the future, I will never get out of here, tell them at home to divide up my things among themselves, I”ll never need it and tell my mother I died a soldier. This last message I could never summon the courage enough to deliver to Mother Jones. I told his brother Jesse Jones.” Jerry Jones died on October 31, 1864 at age 22 in Salisbury Prison and is buried in an unmarked grave.Bio composed by Scott Novac and placed on the following website: http://www.bivouacbooks.com/bbv3i1s6.htm
Currently a resident of Burke, Virginia - I'm originally from the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have been a student of the Pennsylvania Reserves since 1997 and thoroughly enjoy telling their story. By trade I'm a former IT Professional but presently working as a Letter Carrier for the United States Postal Service.
