Jones/Fretwell Photographs

Photographs

I have acquired some wonderful old photographs that came from the estate of Wilma
Gene Jones Nation of Upshur Co., Texas. I believe she was the only child of W. Henry
"Frog" Jones and Wymoth Fretwell Jones. Included are photographs of her parents,
grandparents, and great-grandparents and other family members, some back to the
1800's. I would like to share these wonderful memories with descendants and other
interested parties, and have created this page to do so. Very few of the photographs are
identified, but as they are so special, I have done some genealogical research to try to
identify them, as best I can. My research is not complete, and some of my speculations
may be in error, so I welcome any insight and comments on any of the information given
here.

The families included in these photographs are Jones, Squyers, Fretwell, Gilbert, and
Daniel. Most of these families lived and remained in Upshur Co., Texas. Many are buried
at Riley's Chapel Cemetery. I will tell you what I know about the family members in the
photographs. Feel free to download, print, and save any of them. All that I ask is that if
you have additional information, please tell me so that I can, in turn, tell others. Thank you!

Click on the small pictures to see larger photos suitable for printing and saving. Enjoy
these wonderful old photos, and please let me hear from you!

Starting with the most recent photos, I believe these originally came from the estate of
Wilma Gene Jones Nation (08-16-1936 to 03-20-2006). Here are shots of Wilma Gene.
Remember you can click on the small pic to see a larger photograph.

You'll notice Wilma Gene was a cowgirl from the time she was a little girl. In fact, she and
her father, W. Henry "Frog" Jones, were local country singers, probably in the late 1940's
and 1950's. Following are some photos of their acts. First is a photo of Frog Jones before
Wilma Gene joined him; he is on the right. In the other photos and the flyer, Frog and
Wilma Gene are generally found in the center right.

The band is identified as Curtis Surratt & His Melody Boys. In the second and third
photographs, Wilma Gene is behind a KMHT mike, which is a Marshall, Texas, radio
station. The back of the fourth photo is stamped by Dean Smith Studio in Marshall, Texas.
The flyer was for a gig in Livingston, Texas.

Wilma Gene first married young Mr. Squyers. At present, I have no information on him,
other than the photos below. The Squyers did have a daughter together. I'm not sure if
they divorced, or if Mr. Squyers died, but Wilma Gene remarried in 1963.

The third photo above is stamped on the back, Avalon Studios, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Now I'll get back to the parents of Wilma Gene Jones. Her father was W. Henry "Frog"
Jones, born Dec. 31, 1911 and died Jan. 15, 1973, buried at Riley's Chapel. Her mother was
Wymoth Fretwell, born Dec. 13, 1918, died Dec. 2, 1994, also buried at Riley's Chapel.

Here's where some speculation begins. Two of the following photographs were found in
an envelope marked "Old Jones Pictures", but neither photograph is marked. I believe
they may be of the parents and siblings of Frog Jones. In 1920, in Upshur Co., Texas,
there is a census record for Wina Jones, widow, 40 years old. She has sons Clyde, 20, and
Henry, 8. In 1910, in Upshur Co., Texas, I found William H. Jones, 50, wife Willy, 28, son
Clyde, 11, daughter Annetta, 8, and daughter Ora, 5. This is the second marriage for
William and the first for Willy; they have been married 12 years, making a marriage date of
1898. Willy states she is the mother of 3 children and all are living. Back up to 1900, in
Morris Co., Texas, and I found Henry Jones, 40, wife Willey, 18, son Willie, 9, and son
Clyde, 1. I would imagine that these are all records of the family of Frog Jones. It looks
like his father was married before, had a son Willie, and his wife probably died. It looks
like Frog's father died between 1910 and 1920, and his mother, Willey/Wina, perhaps
Wilhelmina?, apparently died before 1930, when Henry Jones was found living with his
sister, Annetta Jones Gilbert and her husband, Frank Gilbert. Anyway, on with the
pictures:

Unfortunately, the girls were cut out of the first photograph, but the boy is unmistakenly
the same, and it appears the photos were taken near the same time. If this photo was
taken about 1912-13, Clyde would be 13 to 14, Annetta, 10-11, Ora, 7-8, and Frog would be
the baby(?) I don't think the baby looks like Frog, but nothing else seems to fit, unless
maybe the children are a bit younger, and this is a baby born before Frog, who
subsequently died. The family resemblance is strong. I included a photo that I am pretty
sure is Annetta Jones and Frank Gilbert. It was in an envelope marked "Old pictures
Frank and Annetta Gilbert". The back of this picture says "Gilberts, Hughes Springs", and
Frank and Annetta did live in Hughes Springs later in life.

Wymoth Fretwell was the daughter of James Martin Fretwell (1885-1951) and Julia Daniel
(1891-1983). Their children in order of birth were: Letha Mae Fretwell Duke (1911-1980),
Rosabelle Fretwell Helms (1913-2004), Wymoth Fretwell Jones (1918-1994), Hulon Martin
Fretwell (1921-1993), Daniel Fretwell (1924-?), and Kathryn Fretwell (1930-?). Many of
these family members are buried at Riley's Chapel. Following are several Fretwell family
photos, identified on the large photo links:

James Martin Fretwell's parents were Louis Hulen Fretwell (1855-1921) and Margaret
Dobbs Fretwell (1861-1930). Their children, in order of birth, were: Nancy Susanna
Fretwell Mosley (1879-?), John William Fretwell (1881-1952), Alice M. Fretwell Mosley
(1883-1959), James Martin Fretwell (1885-1951), and Oscar Fretwell (1889-1949). The
following wonderful old photographs are unfortunately not identified, but they may be
Fretwells, as I can see a family resemblance in the young men. Perhaps the handsome
couple is Louis Hulen and Margaret Dobbs Fretwell. That is purely speculation on my part.
Included in this estate lot of photographs were also old photos of Daniels and Gilberts,
so there is a possibility they could be those, or even other presently unknown in-laws or
friends.

From census records, I gather that Julia Daniel Fretwell's parents were John (1855-1915)
and Rosa (1852-1925) Daniel. I believe Rosa only had four children as she stated in a 1900
census record, and I never found additional children listed in the 1910 and 1920
censuses. They were James Franklin Daniel (1886-1967), Joel Thomas Daniel (1888-1993),
Julia Daniel Fretwell (1889-1983), and Jessie Daniel (1895-?). I believe John and Rosa are
buried in the Simpsonville Cemetery and all the children except Jessie are buried at
Riley's Chapel.

I believe the following very old photographs came from the Daniel family. It is possible
that the men on horseback above also came from the Daniels. The first photograph below
has lots of writing on the back, but much of it has worn too light to read, but I can make
out Brumley School, 1910, and Jessie Daniel. The second photograph has a placard in the
picture that identifies it as Brumley School, with a date I can't make out. It is only my
speculation that the third photo may also be of Brumley School. The fourth photo has
some faint handwriting, and I have just about made myself blind trying to read it. I believe
I can make out an "iel" at the end of one word that may be Daniel. I can see a family
resemblance in the mother in the picture and Julia Daniel Fretwell. Maybe one of the girls
in the photo is Julia, but I can't be sure as I don't think they had three girls. As a matter of
fact, there are several pictures with too many girls that have me baffled. I welcome any
knowledge, insight, or opinion on these and the following photographs on this page.

Another point of interest was a piece of cardboard found among these old photographs
that says "Walker (or Walter) Daniel was born Orange Ga. Nov. 1st 1875". I can't find a
Walter Daniel that belongs to this immediate Daniel family. Interestingly, there was a
census record in 1910 Upshur Co. of a Walter Daniel with a wife Julia and a son Joel (our
Julia has a brother Joel), but it says he was born in Mississippi in 1885. I can't find him or
his family after that, so I don't know if he could be related to this family, or how.

Now for an interesting mix in the situation, this estate also contained old Gilbert
photographs. Remember that Frog Jones's sister, Annetta, married Frank Gilbert. As of
1930, Frank and Annetta did not have any children, and Frog lived with them. I suppose
that is why he wound up with the old photographs. Unfortunately, most of the photos are
unmarked, and I question the accuracy of one that is marked, so your guess may be as
good as (or better!) than mine.

First, here is what I found in my research of the Gilbert family. A. W. Gilbert, Frank's
father, was a very elusive fellow. Some of my information comes from other Gilbert
research on-line that gives aliases Alfred Walsh, Albert Washington, or just plain
Washington Gilbert. I found Alford W. Gilbert buried in the Riley's Chapel Cemetery. I
found it interesting that an A. W. Gilbert's Civil War pension application was rejected in
Upshur Co. A. W. was born in 1857; he couldn't have fought in the Civil War!

Alford W. Gilbert (1857-1919) and Mary Ellen Williams Gilbert (1872-1974) had the following
children: Leonard Ellis Gilbert (1894-1982), Frank Dewey Gilbert (1898-1987), Lucille
Gilbert (1901-1979), B. M. Gilbert (1906-2000), Elsie Mae Gilbert Pomeroy (1907-1940),
Gordon Lowe Gilbert (1913-1990), and Lorene Gilbert (born about 1912). The first two
photos below are marked A. W. Gilbert on the back, but I don't believe they are the same
man, and definitely not the same woman. If the second photo is indeed A. W. Gilbert, then
I believe the third photo is also A. W. Gilbert, but the woman does not look the same. A.
W. Gilbert was several years older than Mary, so perhaps he was married before. You may
note that this man looks a lot like the man in what I identified as a possible Daniel photo
above. I have studied ears and eyes and noses until I'm dizzy and blind, and still can't
decide for sure who's who. I only hope someone out there has some information to share
so that the identity of these great photos won't be lost forever. I grouped a few photos
below that have similar faces.

There are some other nice photos in this estate that I can't identify. There seems to be a
family resemblance among the next few photos, and my guess would be Jones, but I can't
figure out who they'd be.

Here are a few final random photos. The first is identified as "Buster and a Buddie in
Miltitz Germany, May 26, 1945", and a B on the front of the picture identifies Buster as the
man on the right. The second photo is another photo identified as Buster, and a snake,
dated 1957. I am assuming it may be the same Buster, but I don't have a last name. The
third photo says "To Wilma From Sommie" on the back in a young hand. It may be
supposed to be Sonnie or Sammie. To Wilma Gene doesn't make sense; it looks too old
for her. I often saw Wymoth's name written as Wilmoth, so maybe it's to her...I just don't
know. I feel like the fourth and fifth photos may be Squyers, because they were taken with
Wilma Gene's daughter at the same time as similar photos with Wilma Gene's parents. It is
logical that these are Mr. Squyers's parents. I am still working on identifying them. I
suppose any of the unidentified photographs could be Squyers ancestors.

Please see my genealogy pages at the following link:

GENEALOGY PAGES

Please feel free to email me with any information, questions or comments. Just click the
image below:

I love mail the old-fashioned way, too, so please feel free to send me a letter at the
following address with any questions, comments, or information.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth... Romans 1:16

Donna Spence

donna@seekyetruth.com

200 RCR 3338
Emory, Texas 75440

Donna Spence

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