Overview / Summary Enoch Jones Farmstead
Enoch Jones Farmstead – Bexar County, Texas
The Enoch Jones Farmstead report is a compilation of information related to the individual families associated with the property, i.e., the Enoch Jones family including the Newton family and as well as information about the short tenure of Count Norbert von Ormay and his family. Extensive information from three different sources is included regarding the home originally constructed by Enoch Jones which was expanded later by others. The Enoch Jones Farmstead has also been known as the “Castle on the Medina.”
Enoch Jones, was born on October 14, 1802, either in New Jersey or in Worcester, Ohio.1 He was the son of Thomas Griffin and Susana (Jones) Jones. With little formal education, Enoch Jones was mainly self-educated. He entered the grocery store business under a Mr. Alexander. While still a young man, Jones secured employment to work on the construction of the locks on the western division of the Pennsylvania Canal. Prior to this, he had worked on the construction of the dam at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, one of the first large reservoir dams ever constructed in this country. After completing the engineering work on the Erie Canal, Jones then moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he established a store in the city and engaged in lumber manufacturing.
Around 1835/1836, Enoch Jones arrived in Texas and first settled on the Brazos River. He then moved to San Antonio and entered into a partnership with John William Smith who was a San Antonio businessman and politician involved in banking, a mercantile business and a brokerage contracting business. Smith was a noted Texas revolutionary veteran, a civil engineer and surveyor and was the mayor of San Antonio for three terms, 1837-1838, 1840-1841, and 1842-1844. Jones and Smith engaged in land speculation and began buying large amounts of land in many counties. Texas land was available and inexpensive especially for those with financial resources.