Jonas E. Hendrix

Page under review for updates.

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Jonas E. Hendrix was born in District 13 of Giles County, Tennessee, about 1845; the 7th of 11 children born to James & Matilda Hendrix.

The 1850 census for the District 13, Giles County, Tennessee, dated 24 Oct. 1850, shows Jonas E. Hendrix, age 5,

• living with his parents, James and Matilda Hendricks along with the following siblings;
• James V., Caledonia, John B., George W., Allen B., and Nelly D. Hendrix.
• This census shows his father and brother, James V., as farmers and having real estate property worth $500.00.

The 1860 census for the Southern Subdivision, Hammonds Store, Giles County, Tennessee, dated 13 Sept. 1860, shows Jonas E. Hendrix, age 14,

• living with his parents, James and Matilda Hendrix, with the following siblings;
• John B., George Washington, Bethel "Allen Bennett" A., Ellen "Nelly" D., Hilliard C., and Sarah A. Hendrix
• This census shows his father and brothers, John B., George, and Bethel A. as Day Laborers with real estate property worth $500.00 and personal property worth $140.00.

The 1870 Census for the Post Office at Parker Store, Giles County, Tennessee, dated June 7, 1870,

• shows Jonas & Rhody Hendrix with two children; Sarah A. (age 3) and Nancy E. (age 8/12);
• shows Jonas as a farm laborer with personal property worth $150.00 and Rhody as keeping house;
• indicates that Jonas and Rhody could not write.

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Jonas married Rhoda Barr were married in 1867 in Giles County, Tennessee.

• Rhoda (also known as Rhody) was the daughter of Nathan and Martha (Cottrell) Barr.
• She was born in 1842 in Lauderdale County, Alabama.
• In 1860 she lived near the Hammond's Store in Giles County, Tennessee.
• In 1870 she lived in Giles County, Tennessee.
• In 1880 she lived District Two of Wayne County, Tennessee.
• Rhoda Hendrix, age 55, married William Goins, age 59, April 8, 1900, in Cameron, Le Flore County, Oklahoma. LF@A@389.
• In 1900 she lived Choctaw Nation in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Leflore County, Oklahoma  and her name was listed as "Rhodie (Goins).
• In 1910 she lived living with her daughter, Sarah wife of William Clinton, in Braden, Le Flore County, Oklahoma.
• In April 1923 She died at the age of 81 in Milton, buried in Milton Cemetery, Milton, Le Flore County, Oklahoma.

Jonas and Rhoda had 5 children all born in Giles County, Tennessee.

• Sarah A. Hendrix was born 1867 in Giles County, Tennessee,
• Nancey E. Hendrix was born in September 1869 in Giles County, Tennessee.
• George Andrew Hendrix was born 8 July, 1873, in Giles County, Tennessee.
• William Riley Hendrix was born May 1874 in Giles County, Tennessee.
• Dora E. Hendrix was born in 1878 in Giles County, Tennessee.

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On June 8, 1877, Jonas E. Hendrix was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison, at the Tracy City Prison, Grundy County, Tennessee, for housebreaking and larceny. This has been verified according to the Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Prisons to the Forty-Second General Assembly of the state of Tennessee, January 1, 1881.

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The 1880 Census of the 11th Civil District, Grundy County, Tennessee, dated 12 June 1880, which is the census of the inmates at the prison at Tracy City, shows Jonas Hendrix as white male, age 36, birthplace Tennessee. This census also shows that there were two other men, Dan Hendrix (Black) and Joe Hendrix (White), in the prison at the same time as Jonas.

Jonas listed his father's birthplace Kentucky and his mother's birthplace as Tennessee.

Jonas Hendricks escaped from the Tracy City Prison, Grundy County, Tennessee on Sept. 22, 1882, which has been confirmed Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Prisons to the 43rd General Assembly of the state of Tennessee, December, 1882.

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Jonas E. Hendrix does not show up in the census records following the September 22, 1822 prison escape; however, this is not the end of his story.

Based on a story told by Anna Inez (Hendrix) Nixon, who as a grand daughter of Jonas E. & Rhoda (Barr) Hendrix, of how her Grandpa Jonas Hendrix was traveling west with his family and shot a black man in Tennessee because he needed to cross the Mississippi River to get into Arkansas. The story goes that he needed the man's wagon to make a boat from the wagon bed.

Harold Edward "Ed" Hendrix, a great-grandson of Jonas E. Hendrix, repeated this story as he remembered the story being told by his grandfather, William Riley Hendrix.

Jonas and family eventually settled in a community just East of the Oklahoma Indian Territory that became Hackett, Sebastian County, Arkansas.

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Jonas Hendrix died about 1896 and was supposedly buried in Greenhill Cemetery, Cameron, Oklahoma.

Jonas' death year is based on information on a Life Insurance Policy, obtained in 1925, belonging to Otto Andrew Hendrix. On this policy, George, had to give information about his parents and siblings.

Otto was a son of Jonas & Rhoda (Barr) Hendrix.

The location of his grave was found in 1979; however, since that time erosion and cemetery maintenance has removed all evidence of the existence of his stone.

I placed a memorial stone for Jonas in the Milton Cemetery, Milton, Le Flore County, Oklahoma.

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My Hunt for Jonas's Grave

by Roger Phillip Hendrix

In April 2009, I discussed with my mother, Marie Faye Hendrix (wife of Otto Andrew Hendrix), about a time she remembered going to Greenhill Cemetery, Cameron, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, some 30 years ago (1979) with the following people:

Cheryl Hendrix (Daughter of Marie and Otto Hendrix)
Annie Inez (Hendrix) Nixon (wife of Walter Nixon)
William "Bill" Nixon (son of Annie and Walter Nixon)
Roberta "Birdie" (Davis) Nixon (wife of Bill Nixon)

Mother remembered that Birdie and Annie found the tombstone marking Jonas's grave. She remembered that the stone was about 1 foot long and 6 to 8 inches wide. Also, that the name Jonas was visible on the stone. However, neither Mother or my sister, Cheryl, remembered any other distinguishing markers (trees, other stones with names in the area) that could be used to locate the grave site.

On April 6, 2009 I was informed that Mr. Levi Easton of Cameron was a member of the Greenhill Cemetery Association and that he might be able to help locating Jonas's gravesite.

Mr. Easton advised that the cemetery had been plotted by a surveyor and that there were 1262 graves and names listed on the plot; however, there were no graves with the initials, "J. H.", or the name, "Jonas", or the name, "Hendrix".

On May 6, 2009, I visited with Mr. Easton and 3 other members of the Greenhill Cemetery Association and reviewed the names listed on the cemetery plat. They confirmed that there were no graves with the names, Hendrix, Jonas, or J.H., listed on the cemetery plat.

The platting of this cemetery was done some 30 years after Marie Hendrix and other family members visited the cemetery.

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