8565 Water Street
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Last updated on April 9, 2024
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Directions from Mount Mount Moriah United Methodist Church and Cemetery to site 24:
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This was the first village house to be owned by an individual who had been previously enslaved. Marshall Jones was born enslaved about 1837 in Fauquier County, Virginia. How Jones arrived in Rockingham County is unknown, but it is possible that a member of the Lewis family or neighbor Gabriel Jones once enslaved him. Upon receiving his freedom in 1865, he became employed by Charles Lewis who owned the house. In 1890, Andrew Lewis sold the house to Jones for $400.00. Jones and his family lived in it until his death in about 1914, after which it was sold by his surviving children. During his lifetime, Jones, who could neither read nor write, was employed as a farm laborer. Life was hard during Reconstruction, and it is remarkable that he was able to acquire real estate.
