Your theory of how the “Jasper” Shows error came about sounds entirely plausible. I have frequently found such misreadings of names during my years of research (and made a few such errors myself!) And, yes, there are instances of children being named after new counties, so that sounds plausible, too.

Thanks again for your contributions to this forum.

Vikki

Proud to know we’re cousins. Stop by if you ever want to hear tales of Old Greensboro up here in Webster County!

Jamie

Thanks for the clarification of your ancestry. I found your ancestor, James Jones Shows, listed as Jasper Jones “James” Shows in Jaunice Walters’s genealogy of the J.K.P. Shows line (J.K.P. was my great-grandfather). I see that he, too, was a brother of my great-great-grandfather, Daniel Monroe Shows. I also see that he married an Anderson, as did Stacy Collins, the father of Jasper Collins. So it’s clear that these families–the Shows, Andersons, and Collinses–knew each other well before they arrived in Mississippi. Yes, indeed, they do epitomize the maxim, “blood is thicker than water.”

It’s interesting to me that the Bynums also took stands on either side of the war. Those who intermarried with the Collinses were most likely to support the Union, but my branch, which eventually married into the Shows family, opposed the appointment of Unionists such as Vinson Collins to office during Reconstruction. I’ve never been able to gauge exactly how much the war created divisions among these Bynums, but they divide themselves into the “Calhoun” or “Ellisville” Bynums even today. Of course, part of that is geographic, but some of these Bynums also deny kinship with one another, which may hark back to divisions during the Civil War.

Vikki

Vikki

I’ll offer some commentary here regarding my thoughts about my ancestor Jasper Collins, and I hope my Jones County cousins out there can stomach it. I feel very strongly that Jasper was just as much a man, and a true gentleman, as any of my other ancestors from the Piney Woods region who sided with the Confederacy. He chose to obey his principles rather than the fickle sentiment of those in power. He obeyed conscience rather than the law of man. Though personnally I strongly and deeply believe in states rights, specifically the right of any state to leave the union at any time, I accept that he took a stand for what he believed to be a right and just cause. Martin Luther once said something to the effect that it is neither safe nor right to recant just to please men. Jasper put obedience to conscience above family, friends, community and everything else he may have held dear. Had I lived in that day, there is no doubt my personal scales would have balanced against the union – I would have donned the gray, even though I detest the very notion of slavery and human trafficking. I am just as proud of him for fighting against slavery as I am of any of my other GG Grandfathers who fought against the tyranny and intrusion of the Federal government. His descendants have no cause to be ashamed, let people say what they will. A man who will not take a stand and fight for what he believes in is not a man at all.
Again, thank you for providing us all a great source on the history of Jones County and for thought-provoking reading. I really enjoy reading about all the different families who were in the area then and and who have left descendants there today. I have a great friend who is a Duckworth whom I think the world of. I also know one of my great uncles married an Ainsworth from around there. So interesting that all those families who influenced and shaped the character of that region of Mississippi then are still going strong there today.

Jamie Shows
Webster County, MS

James Lafeyette Shows (b. 1856) was the son of James Jones Shows (b. 1830), grandson of James Shows (b. 1793), and G-Grandson of Revolutionary Patriot John Shows (b.1764).
James J. Shows, known by his middle name “Jones,” was a sergeant in the 7th MS Infantry Battalion, captured at Kennesaw Mountain, GA in the aftermath of the battle which claimed the life of Gen. Leonidas Polk. I am not sure, but I believe I read somewhere that he kept a small number of people in slavery on his farm in Jones County. Shows was a sure supporter of the Confederate cause. I never heard or read that he had a problem with his son marrying the daughter of Jasper Collins. I have always been told that Jasper even lived with his son-in-law, “Fate”, nearer to the end of his life. I know for certain that whenever you saw Jasper in Laurel, MS, you saw Fate Shows accompanying him. Perhaps a modern illustration of just how significant this was would be to imagine John McCain’s son inviting Jane Fonda to their home for supper to announce his upcoming marriage to her daughter.
The troubles in Jones County ran a lot deeper than people could ever imagine. Many of the pioneer families of that region were torn apart because of either the issue of states rights, the issue of slavery, or some cloudy mixture of both. Jasper’s father-in-law, and my GGG-Grandfather, John Powell, were at odds with one another due to their differing beliefs on the issue of slavery and on the issue of duty – conscription was one’s answer to the other.
John Powell, son of a Revolutionary Patriot, had migrated first from South Carolina, then from Georgia with the family of John Adam Shows to what would become Jones County. So then, for a Shows, who had long been connected with the Powell family by that time, to marry a child of Jasper Collins (who, strangely, had already married into the Powell family), people obviously must have been willing to put aside their differences to a great degree in post-war times. I guess the old maxim is true – blood is thicker than water.

As for the photograph mentioned in my previous post, I was mistaken. There is another very similar photograph in which my Great Grandmother, Fannie Collins sits in the center of the front row while Jasper stands all the way to the right on the back row. I will be happy to email it to you if you supply me an address. Thanks for the interesting and insightful reading. That war truly tore us apart and has left wounds which may never completely heal. God bless!

Jamie Shows
Webster County, MS

Where is the “original photo” that you mention in which your GGrandmother Fannie appears? Is it posted somewhere else on Renegade South?

I, too, by the way, have Shows ancestors. It appears that my GGGrandfather, Daniel Monroe Shows, was the brother of your presumed ancestor, Isaac Brandon Shows, who I believe was the father of James Lafayette–am I correct?

Vikki

Whether connected to your line or not, I did some research on a Jones R. Temples of Marion County. He can be found on the 1860 census in that county as a 27 year-old married man with several children. He apparently volunteered for the Confederate 7th MS Infantry in the spring of 1861 but his records end in December of that year. On June 25, 1864 a James/Jones R. Temple of Marion County (apparently the same individual) enlisted in the 2nd New Orleans and was transferred to the 1st New Orleans. Within 2 months, however, he was sentenced to confinement for the duration of the war at Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida. Contrary to most court martial proceedings in the New Orleans regiments, no reason for his imprisonment was cited in his military papers.

After the war Jones R. Temples moved his family to Bowie, Texas.