(Honoring Mr. Prince Albert Jones Sr.)
(Obverse)The Jonesville Community on Old Pike Road in Mathews, named for wealthy landowner George Mathews from Olgethorp County Ga.was designated by the Montgomery County Commission on October16th, 2007 to honor the life and legacy of Prince Albert Jones Sr.(April 25, 1916 - January 13, 2008) and his family to the community.Jones was born and reared in the area and devoted much of his nearly 92 years of life to helping others in Mathews and the surrounding communities of Cecil, Waugh, Pike Road and Mt. Meigs.A farmer by trade, he supported his family and many of hisneighbors with crops he planted. He used his resources (tractors,balers, trucks and other farm equipment and transportation) tohelp others cultivate their crops and get them to market. He alsovoluntarily cared for several of the local cemeteries, includingNew Jerusalem (on the grounds of the old Margaret Beard Elementary School) and Gilmer Cemetery in nearby Pike Road, where he and many of his family members and former residentsare buried.
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Prince Albert Jones was concerned about the common man and believeddeeply in civil and voting rights. Quoting from an article appearingin the "Montgomery Advertiser" on January 18, 2008, Morris Dees,co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Jones was one of rural Montgomery's first registered black voters, when fewer than1 percent of the county's black residents were registered. "Mr. Joneswas one of the area's most dedicated advocates for equality andused his good reputation with the white farming elite to help blackneighbors and church members obtain the right to vote decades beforethe enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act," Dees said. Jones wasone of 15 children. He and his wife Essie also reared 15 children.They strongly valued Christian living, education and hard work andtaught their children and others in the community the importance ofworking with their minds as well as their hands.
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