9th, Frank, Edd Jones, & I plowed west of R.R. Got into 2 nests of bumble bees. Jno & Geo. worked on Geo’s house on Scruby Bro.’s place.
There are a few Ed Jones in the 1900 federal census. The one closest to the Bench farm is widower Edward William Jones, 38, living with his step-father Washington Lee, and his mother Belle Lee. They are one of the African-American families living in Utica. Ed lived all of his life in Livingston County. He married Lula Carter sometime after 1900 and they had five kids. He and his mother are buried in Utica Cemetery according to their death certificates. It was common at that time for cemeteries to be segregated, and this is the case here.
While it isn’t clear what Jesse meant about “working on George’s house on Scruby Bro.s’ place,” they were possibly processing lumber at Scruby’s lumberyard. The brothers of Scruby Brothers are William, Horace, and Frank.
