Black, Kidnapped in the '60S, No Big Deal

by McFerrel Jones

Overview

My story takes place in Green Cove Springs, Florida, a small town in Clay County, resting on the western banks of the historical St. John's River.

Seeing Green Cove from across the river in St. John's County, it looks like a lush green paradise, full with oaks and peppered with tall pines reaching for the sun as they shade the banks with their thick foliage.

Our town is located on the St John's at a point where the river makes a 90-degree bend as it flows northward to the Atlantic Ocean. This bend forms a huge cove, where fish and wildlife are abundant.

Up the banks near the downtown area is a huge natural spring that constantly flows thousands of gallons of crystal clear water into the St. John's.

Conveniently, the public pool, with its surrounding park, was constructed in the path of the flowing spring water.

Green Cove is a quiet town with a rich history. She can tell you stories of her past that will keep you spellbound for hours. I am proud to have been born and raised there.

Green Cove also has a past that most people would never have known about... that is, until now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781414083094
Publisher:	AuthorHouse
Publication date:	04/16/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	178
File size:	706 KB

About the Author

Born in Green Cove Springs, Florida, on September 18, 1950, McFerrel Jones became the first child of Annie Louise Jones, who was 16 years old at the time.  Because of his mother’s young age, his grandparents Frank and Rosa Jones mostly raised him. Rosa was a devout Christian, and it was through her love and guidance that he learned about God and the highest of moral values at an early age.  Church and Sunday school were musts under the Jones’ rules.

The years McFerrel lived with his grandparents were precious and very dear to him.  So much so, that after reaching adulthood, he spent many hours longing for those days living as one of his grandparents’ sons—his uncles Warren, John Arthur, and Earnest Jones, who treated him as their little brother.  All of the Joneses are very good hunters and fishermen, so it is no wonder that McFerrel never got enough of these two sports.  Of the two, however, fishing is what he enjoys the most.

McFerrel’s hometown was a very small place when he was growing up there.  It had only five traffic lights in the entire city.  He graduated high school at the age of 17, and at 18 enlisted in the US Navy’s one-year delay entry program.  Having to go to the recruit processing station in Jacksonville, 21 miles away, gave him his very first opportunity to ride on a Greyhound bus.  This was so amazing to him.  McFerrel had lived his whole life in this country town and had never gone anywhere or even ridden on a Greyhound bus.  And now, at age 19, in 1969, he found himself on an airplane with orders to report to New Orleans, Louisiana, for duty.

McFerrel served in the US Navy for 20 years, from May 1969 through April 1989, as an Aircraft Refueler.  He served aboard the Aircraft Carriers USS John F. Kennedy CV67 and USS Saratoga CV60, as well as other shore-based commands.

Now retired from the Navy, McFerrel is proud to say that he works at the US Postal Service as a letter carrier.  (He prefers to be called a mailman, but understands that that’s no longer politically correct.)  He’s proud because as a mailman, he brings many smiles to his customers’ faces on a daily basis.  Having a genuine love for all people, this brings him great joy.

In 1972 McFerrel met Mattie Jackson in Green Cove.  She later became his wife, and through her, the Lord has blessed him with four children of his own: two boys and two girls.

McFerrel didn’t move back to Green Cove Springs after retiring from the military.  Instead, he made his home in another small town 149 miles south of Green Cove—a little place called Orlando, Florida—and it is here that McFerrel plans to retire permanently.