James Jasper Coon 2nd great grand uncle
James Jasper Coon was born to Nancy Coon, wife of Jacob Coon, on 8 August 1825 in Mississippi. James Jasper died 5 February 1901. He was married
to Susan Penelope McDavid and was a soldier in the Confederacy. He was a private
in Company B 7th Regiment Mississippi Infantry C.S.A., and has a military marker
that Mrs. Sam White ordered, had placed on his grave, to honor our ancestor
for his service. The tombstone shown is James Jasper Coon's is a great tribute to a man who deserved the memorial in his honor. His wife Susan died several years before, and to my knowledge James Jasper "Doss" never remarried.
There were eleven known children of Jacob and Nancy Coon. James was the youngest brother of the siblings, and the brother of my maternal second great grandfather John Lewis Coon. Because of the time of James' birth the records to prove his birth date have been difficult to come by. The tombstone is a source that I will use (with caution) to verify his birth and death information. The birth information most likely came from a family Bible, a family member, or other source. Tombstone inscriptions are also used as sources of birth
and death information. Such records may be
used to supplement standard sources of genealogical information, but sometimes
they are
the only information that can be found pertaining to the birth and death of an
ancestor. Names, dates, places, and sometimes information on the family can be
included on a tombstone. Once you find the tombstone of an ancestor, use
caution with the information found on it. Tombstones are notorious for error,
for whatever reason there may be errors in the information – incorrect dates,
name misspelled to name a few. The information needs to be used with
information from other records to verify it.
The appearance of the tombstone is another important thing
to be aware of when using information from a tombstone in researching our
ancestors. The photo is of James Jasper Coon’s tombstone. As you can tell from
looking at the photo it is an old tombstone. James Jasper died in 1901 so this
tombstone is worn, old in appearance and probably the information is reliable.
The information from a tombstone is considered a
secondary source. The information on the tombstone most likely is not someone who was present at the birth of the ancestor, such as the midwife, doctor and other person. The information on the
tombstone is only as accurate as the person’s firsthand knowledge of the
information. The person giving the information is the informant. The
information is only as accurate as that person’s memory. It is so easy
for birth dates and places to be wrong - even for a name to be wrong. When using information from a tombstone use it, but prove it with other records.
The memorial information states that James Jasper was
buried in the Attovac Baptist Church Cemetery in San Augustine, San Augustine
County, Texas.
