Henry White Jones was born on September 23, 1846 in Stockton, Baldwin County, Alabama to the union of Robert Jones and Clarissa Barlow. When the nation's war clouds burst into the Civil War, Henry enlisted on April 15, 1862 in Stockton as a private at the age of 15-years old. He was assigned to Company "C" of the 15th Confederate Cavalry. Here he would serve to the end of the war under the command of Captain C. Barlow. During the war his main duty was to perform picket duty along the coast of Perdido Bay all the way to the mouth of the Pascagoula River. He was never listed as either wounded, captured, or imprisoned and would receive his parole from the Federal forces on April 30, 1865.
After the war, he moved to Ferry Pass (formerly known as Flatiron) in Pensacola on June 4, 1866 and began working as a laborer. On June 4, 1868 he married Mary Elizabeth "Eliza" Whitmire (1845-1908), daughter of Edmond Whitmire and Mary Ann T. Jernigan. Her father gave them forty (40) acres of land as a wedding present, which is now the present site of West Florida Hospital. He supported his family as a laborer and a farmer until his retirement many years later. In 1909, he applied for his Confederate pension, which was approved in the amount of $100.00 per year.
In 1918, Henry donated land to the Olive Baptist Church on the southwest corner of Davis and Olive Road. He was also a member of Camp Ward #10 of the United Confederate Veterans and the Escambia Lodge #15 F&A.M. He was also an "honorary" member of the Spanish American War Veterans. The Pensacola News Journal article of January 20, 1934 stated that the United Daughters of the Confederacy “found him just a few yards off the paved highway in the house he built with his own hands after the war was over.” He died there on May 29, 1937. His funeral services were conducted partially in that same home as well as the Ferry Pass Baptist Church. He was laid to rest in the Whitmire Cemetery, resplendent in his “gray uniform in which he fought.” Parts of this story were researched by historian Judith R. Jolly.
Typical young Confederate Cavalryman
Earliest Olive Baptist Church my uncle, the
Senior Deacon Daniel Marion Merritt
Florida Confederate Pension Application 1909
CSA Private Henry White Jones' Grave
Whitmire Cemetery