by Gwen Boucher
Sarah Ann CUMMINGS was born March 4, 1835 in Bedford County, Tennessee to Robert CUMMINGS (Cummins) and Elizabeth Ann McFARLAND (McFarlin) CUMMINGS. Robert and Elizabeth were married on November 20, 1830 in Rutherford County, Tennessee.
In 1837 the CUMMINGS family packed up their belongings and headed for the new Republic of Texas. They first lived in Nacogdoches but by 1842 had moved to the area that was to become Lavaca County. Robert and Elizabeth had four other known children, Eliza Jane born in Tennesse about 1832 and three born in Texas: Granville Newton, William Robert and Mary Young.
When General Adrian Woll was advancing on San Antonio, Robert joined forces with Nicholas Mosby Dawson, but was killed on September 18, 1842 at Salado Creek. He was later interred at Monument Hill in LaGrange, Fayette County, Texas. Elizabeth subsequently married Stephen HICKS and from this union another daughter was born, Susan HICKS. There was a third brief marriage to Jesse ROBINSON.
On September 23, 1850, in Lavaca County, Sarah Ann CUMMINGS married David JONES, a young man who, born in Alabama about 1826, had come to Texas around 1846. David served in the Mexican War and family tradition says he also served in the Civil War. David and Sarah had the following children: Mary M., Amanda Jane, Louis L., Rebecca and Zora Mildred. 1900 and 1910 census records indicate there was a sixth child but nothing else is known of this.
David died on January 25, 1868, leaving Sarah to raise her young family alone. He was buried in the Harless Cemetery near Hope, Lavaca County, Texas. His tombstone reads:
To the Memory of
David Jones
Who Died Jan 25
1868
Our Father At Rest
In 1870 Sarah and her children were still in Lavaca County, but sometime before 1880 and until about 1890, she lived around Travis and/or Williamson County. During this time she supported herself and her family by farming and selling ladies' notions. Sarah is found in the Austin City Directory for the years 1881-1882 through 1887-1888. In 1887 she was living at 94 Trinity. Miss Zora Jones was also residing at that address. In 1893 , while living in Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington, Sarah applied for and was granted a widow's pension. From 1900-1916 she lived in Seattle, King County, Washington, working as a confectioner in her own shop near the waterfront.
In the summer of 1916 Sarah returned to Texas, living with her granddaughter, Mattie MEYER KOONCE and Mattie's husband Joel KOONCE, in the Houston Heights in Harris County. Also living with the couple was Sarah's daughter, Amanda Jane JONES MEYER, widow of Littleberry MEYER, Jr., previously of Lavaca County. Sarah died from natural causes on February 13, 1919 and was buried two days later at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston. Her tombstone reads:
In Memory of
My Mother
Mrs. S. A. Jones
Died Feb. 13, 1919
83 Yrs. 11 Mos.
