Submitted by Descendants: Jeffords Donalson Jr., Laura Ruth Jones, and Mary Hannah MILLER
Mary Bush, born about 1828 in Alabama, was married to Aretus W. Jones on December 23, 1847 in Barbour County, Alabama. They started their family in Alabama, but would soon move with other Bush and Jones families to the Madison County area of Florida.
Mary and her husband are found on the 1850 Madison County census. Later this area would be cut out of Madison County to form Lafayette County in 1856. Their family would grow with the birth of other children. Mary’s husband would contract ‘brain fever’ and died at the age of 32 in Lafayette County as noted on the 1860 Mortality Table.
Mary Bush, as a widow, became head of household and a farmer to support her family. Both these roles are documented on the 1860 and 1870 census notations for Lafayette County.
Mary Bush was a true pioneer woman working to raise her children and farming to provide for them. She and her children lived close to extended Jones and Bush families in the Lafayette County area.
Mary Bush was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 2003