(Written for The Meteor March 11, 2019)
Nan McCluney passed away on December 31, 2018. With her passing the historic Dr. R. E. Jones House on Pearl Street has been placed for sale. The home of Dr. Robert Elam Jones and wife Elizabeth Ann McKey Jones has been in the same family since the late 1800s. Nan was the widow of Ross McCluney, a grandson of R. E. Jones.
Dr. Jones and his wife were early leading citizens of the community. Elizabeth was born in Jefferson County in 1850 but spent most of her life in Crystal Springs. She founded and was a leading member in several organizations including the Floral Club, and Copiah Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Daughters of 1812, and the Mississippi Federation of Women’s Clubs (MFWC).
In 1894, she organized the Crystal Springs Ladies Floral Club with 20 charter members. In 1898, the MFWC was formed and in 1906 Elizabeth was elected president for a two year term. It was during her presidency that she wrote several letters to the Daily Leader and the Clarion-Ledger about her views of women’s suffrage, which she was against.
In 1908, while secretary of the Daughters of 1812, she wrote a letter to the legislature through the Jackson Daily News protesting the sale of the old Capitol and its grounds and the governor’s mansion for commercial use.
On March 18, 1909, she became the first regent of the Copiah Chapter, DAR when a small group of women interested in the Revolutionary war records of their ancestors met at the home of Mrs. S. H. Howell. In 2009, the chapter held a centennial tea at the Dr. R. E. Jones House. Nan’s husband, Ross, a grandchild of Dr. Jones, inherited the home when his mother, Clara Jones McCluney, passed away. Nan was a member of the Copiah Chapter DAR for many years and participated in the DAR ceremony marking Elizabeth Jones’ grave.
Robert E. Jones was born October 5, 1843 in Utica to Dr. Robert Jones and Mary Robertson. He was in school at Mississippi College when the War Between the States broke out. He joined the army as a lieutenant in Company K, 36th Mississippi Volunteers. As his troop traveled all over the State, fighting the enemy, he wrote of making it to Crystal Springs where he camped near the site of the old Newton Institute, which was where the high school is today.
At the end of the War, he studied medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans and became a doctor in 1869 and moved to Crystal Springs. On December 16, 1869 he married Elizabeth McKey and they had several children including Clara, born in 1882. Clara married William B. McCluney, Ross’ father, in 1903.
Dr. Jones bought and sold property throughout the town, but he chose Pearl Street in the 1880s to build his neoclassical revival home. Located within the Historic District and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the front gallery of the home has fluted ionic columns and floor-length, double-hung windows. In the front gable is a pair of leaded glass windows having fluted surrounds. The original front door has decorative etched glass and sidelights. The original iron fence encloses the front yard.
The home has been maintained in its original condition, with sensitive updates, and is one of the most historic homes in Crystal Springs. Hopefully, the new owner will preserve and cherish it as much as the Joneses and their descendants did. Dr. Jones and his wife died within a month of each other in 1921. Both are buried in the Crystal Springs Cemetery, as well as several of their descendants.
