"Kind Sir, I was a refugee for near two years. Had it not been for my colleague in Congress, Robert R. Bridger of Tarboro, North Carolina, I would have been hard pressed to have a roof over my head. I took advantage of Bridger's hospitality at Strabane Plantation until the war's end. When the end came and Friend Johnson succeed to the blood stained presidential chair, he sent for me. I'd written him assuring him of my continuing prayers for his reckoning with the difficult responsibilities in April of '65. After I'd turned from him and my nation in '61, he showed blessed forgiveness in 1865 for that severe affront.
"He sent for me, sir, arranged my travel to Washington with the U.S. Army, and showed me great regard by receiving me at the White House. Check the records sir. You'll note I was granted one of the earliest presidential pardons in June 1865, pardoned as a criminal for my service to the Confederacy and for the act of treason against the nation my father had fought for." He shuddered. It seemed he was remembering something again after having tried to forget it.
He returned to his story, saying, "Johnson even aided me in locating at length some of my property carried off by the Union and partisan forces. I returned to Fayetteville in late summer of '65 after visiting with President Johnson at the White House. Mr. John T. Madearis of Shelbyville had bought the saddlery in 1864 and from him and Miss Patc I learned of the great difficulties she and our neighbors had experienced under the harsh rule of U.S. Army Provost General Robert Milroy. As the through and ruthless agent of marital law in charge of suppressing Confederate activity and supporters, he carried on a program of 'blood and fire' across Old Lincoln and the adjacent counties." Jones' whole being was grim, very grim.
"Rebecca died in the summer of '64…typhoid. Miss Patc got some hands to bury her on Brother Will's place in Elkton, along the river near a stand of ancient cedars." He blinked several times, looking down at the dying green-brown grass. As if to provide needed information, he continued a bit too fast, "And her father Cyrus had died in 1863. Rebecca was buried beside him. Mr. George and Miss Patc read the prayers privately at both buryings He moved away from that briskly, "We survived the harsh years after the war, 1865-1870. Those years added to 1863-65 were the darkest and most troubled this country around us has ever experienced, sir. There was demoralizing strife and severe vexation most every day." He used his preaching voice again.