Genealogy Began as Hobby, Became More

Aileen M. Streng has an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA), Genealogy began as hobby, became more, about a great grandson finding and proving his great grandfather’s grave and making sure that it would be properly marked.

If a headstone was placed on the grave of Charles William Jones when he was buried in 1909, it is long gone.

So is the Belle Haven Baptist Church that stood beside the cemetery and the village of Kopp that surrounded it.

Jones’ great grandson, Raymond Webster “Buck” Jones, however, made sure that he wouldn’t be forgotten. After five years of researching his family history, he was able to locate and prove to the federal government where Charles Jones was buried in the Belle Haven cemetery at the Quantico Marine Corps base.

“I’m 78 years old. Once I die, this would never have been done,” Buck Jones said.

There is another article in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette that is a reprint of a Washington Post article by Theresa Vargas that covers this as well, with more information.

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