Early Ancestry of St. Jones Without

by Lester Green

St. Jones Without is a small abandoned fishing village located on the south side of Trinity Bay. It can be described as a long narrow fiord offering an excellent, protected harbour from any seasonal storms. The surrounding valleys were covered in trees which gave firewood, logs and building materials to its early settlers. The hills provided berries which were harvested in the early fall. The shallow waters off St. Jones headland provided settlers with reasonable fishing grounds.

It appears that St. Jones Without may have been an established community as early as 1867, where it is listed as having 4 adults and 10 children. In 1870, Levi Green and John Green were recognized as settlers of St. Jones Without. (NOTE: records at this time called St. Jones the community of St. James). By 1884, St. Jones population had reached 33 and was now permanently settled. At the turn of the century, St. Jones Without had reached a population of about 70 people. Established surnames that would carry through the history of the community included Greens, Pitchers, Hiscocks and Bantons.. Other names which appear briefly in records are Georges, Sewards, Dodges and Bensons.

St. Jones Without existed from late 1860’s to 1950 and spanned a time period of about 80 years of permanent settlement. The population consisted of people from two denominations, Church of England and Methodist. Both religions had established churches and congregations. An examination of Table 1 shows that most all of the early ancestors were from Scilly Cove(Winterton). This close relationship led to many exchanges of people through marriages, trade and social activities.

This article will cover the early ancestry of St. Jones Without up to the year 1897. Examination of directories, census, and church records were conducted over a period of 12 months. In addition, consultation with local people and other published sources were used.

Early Ancestors.

Levi Green, born abt. 1824 and was buried at Scilly Cove on June 12, 1895. He married Rachael Adey, daughter of William and Mary Adey, on November 23, 1852 in Hant’s Harbour. Racheal was born on February 28, 1830 at Hant’s Harbour. It is not known for certain if Levi was the son of James Green, Scilly Cove. However, researchers from the Winterton area believe that Levi may belong to this family. According to the Hutchingsons 1864-65 for Scilly Cove, L. Green was listed as a resident of that community. This L. Green was most likely Levi based upon the marriage and birth of their children. Levi and Rachael had the following children all born at Scilly Cove:

1. Samuel Green…………….August 27, 1853
2. Mark Green………………..December 1, 1856
3. Christina Green…………..February 15, 1855
4. Noah Green…………………March 28, 1859
5. Mary Jane Green………….August 21, 1861
6. Jehu Green…………………..April, 1867
7. Caleb Green…………………About 1868

Levi settled in St. Jones Without Harbour in an area locally known as the Beach. It appears that Levi was not directly related to John Green because they settled in different parts of the harbour and were of different protestant faiths. Levi was Church of England and John, Methodist, settled in an area of St. Jones harbour called Ferry’s Cove. (see sketch)

John Green, born December 6, 1812, was the son of William and Johannah Green. He moved with his family to St. Jones Without around the same time period  in which Levi moved. John was buried at St. Jones Without on July 29, 1896. He married Ester?? and had the following children:

1. Jasper Green………………..December 1, 1849
2. Charles Green………………December 3, 1851
3. Caleb Green…………………December 14, 1859
4. Caroline Green…………….September 20, 1862

Two of John’s sons, Jasper and Charles, married and raised families at Ferry’s Cove.

William Green, born abt 1835, was buried on May 14, 1902 at St. Jones Without. Researchers, including myself, suggest that he may have been the brother of Levi. However, there is no direct evidence for this conclusion. William was married twice. His first marriage was to Eliza Legge on December 10, 1856 at Scilly Cove. They had the following children:

1. Jane Green……………………..August 9, 1857
2. Susannah Green………………October, 1861
3. Jacob Green…………………….April, 1867

Eliza died on May 27, 1883 and became the first recorded death for St Jones Without. William remarried the widow Rebecca Thorne(nee Hart), daughter of Nathan and Sarah Ann Hart. Children from this marriage are:

1.  Eliol. Green………………………..December 19, 1889
2. Levi Green………………………….June, 1892
3. Sarah Ann Green…………………June 2, 1892
4. Susannah Green…………………..September 5, 1901

Charles Hiscock, was the son of Jasper Hiscock and he was born abt 1839. He married twice. His first wife was Mary Follett, daughter of ??. There was only one child from this marriage, Caleb James Hiscock. This family did not live in St. Jones Without. However, children born in his second marriage which was on December 28, 1875 to Dorcas Pittle of Seal Cove moved to St. Jones Without.

Children from this marriage were:

1. James Hiscock………………………November 23, 1878
2. Robert Hiscock……………………..July, 1881
3. Bertha Hiscock………………………February 10, 1881
4. Mary Elizabeth Hiscock…………About 1882
5. Henry Hiscock……………………….About 1886
6. Willis Hiscock……………………….About 1888
7. Myria Hiscock……………………….About 1892

George Pitcher, born 1857 at Scilly Cove married Mary Jane Green, daughter of Levi and Racheal Green. It was because of this marriage that the Pitcher surname came to St. Jones Without. George and Mary Jane married and settled on the Beach. They had the following children:

1.  Racheal Sarah Pitcher…………………….July, 1887
2. Martha Jane Pitcher………………………..About 1889
3. Martin Pitcher……………………………….November 13, 1891
4. Leah Pitcher………………………………….December 21, 1893
5. Henry Thomas Pitcher……………………May 24, 1896
6. Ellen January…………………………………January 13, 1899
7. Jethaleen Pitcher…………………………..April, 1918

Caleb Banton, born 1881 at Scilly Cove, was raised in St. Jones and married Jessie Green, daughter of Charles Green and Rachael Whalen, of St. Jones Without. They had one son, Ernest Banton in 1910. Upon the death of Jessie in 1911, Caleb re-married Mary Ann Green, daughter of Jehu Green and Mary Anne Seward. They had several children.

Other Names.

The surnames George and Seward were two other surnames that appeared in St. Jones Without records during this time period. However, both of these families moved from this area by 1920’s. It appears that William Seward may have married Susannah Green, daughter of William and Eliza Green. However, no confirmation of their marriage could be found in church records to indicate if Susannah was born a Green. However, Enoch Green identifies his father as being William Seward in his marriage record to Mary Jane Reid. It could be possible that Enoch was born to William Seward and Susannah Green before their marriage. Children born to William and Susannah were:

1.  Enoch Green……………………………………Nov., 1883
2. Eliza Seward……………………………………May 8, 1887
3. Richard James Seward………………………Aug. 16, 1894
4. Edward Seward………………………………..Jan 18, 1901

Jessie George, was married to Sarah??. She was born about 1837 and was buried at St. Jones Without on Jan 2, 1899. They had two children, Silas and Hubert,  both born at Scilly Cove. Two years after Hubert’s marriage to Charity Legge on Nov 18, 1895, he passed away and was buried at St. Jones Without on Nov. 3, 1897.

By 1950 most all the families had moved from St. Jones Without. Descendants of the Pitchers and Bantons moved back to Winterton. Other families like the Hiscocks, scattered around Trinity Bay with some choosing to live at Sunnyside, Heart’s Content, Deep Bight and Robert Hiscock’s family moved to Little Heart’s Ease. The Greens moved to a variety of places and included Winterton, Sunnyside, Caplin Cove, and Hickmans Harbour.

My family moved first to New Perlican but within a very short period of time moved on to our permanent home of Little Heart’s Ease. My mother, Olive Jacobs, was born at Little Heart’s Ease to David Jacobs and Alice Martin. It was here that I was born and raised with the rest of my family. She married William Green, son of Adam and Mary(nee Drodge) Green. Adam was the son of Mark and Caroline (nee Dodge). Mark was the son of one of the first group of settlers and my gggrandparents, Levi and Racheal(nee Adey) Green.

If one was to take a boat ride to the abandoned community of St. Jones Without, the most prominent reminder of its early ancestry is the white, weather beaten, marble headstones. On a foggy, misty day these appear eerily at the entrance to the harbour and shore of Ferry’s Cove. Those grave sites marked by wooden crosses are long gone, like our early ancestors. Those left behind must wage a constant battle with alders and mother nature to preserve one of the few physical records left to tell the story of early settlers.

Early Ancestries of St. Jones Without