The earliest recorded ancestor of the family was a woman by the name Pasty Kilgo, born approximately 1837 in slavery times. She grew up and married a man named Edom Burford. Edom was born a slave in approximately 1822 in Virginia. We don’t know what part of Virginia, but we know that he came to South Carolina and settled in the area called West Flat Rock Township located just off Highway 97 in the place now called Stonesboro, Lancaster County. Pasty Kilgo Burford had five boys and six girls, listed in order of birth in the Flat Rock Census of 1870 and/or 1880 as follows: Rebecca (Becky), Priscilla (Cilla), Samuel (Sam), Charles (Charlie), Mary, Pasty (died at infancy), Martha, Ealey (Ellie?), Joe, Lois Walter (Mack). Pasty Kilgo Burford died in 1913 at the age of 70. We do not have information about the descendants of all her children, but we have been able to compile information on Rebecca, Sam and Joe and partial information on some of the others.
The oldest daughter, Rebecca, was born in 1854 in Flat Rock Township. She lived approximately 13 years in slavery. She had nine children: three girls and six boys. The girls were Minnie, Ella and Carrie. The boys were Shelley, James, John, Rembert (Raymond), Loman and Edmon. Later in her life, Rebecca was married to Allen Johnson. She died in Kershaw in 1957 at 103 years of age. The house in which she died is still standing at the end of East Richmond Street in Kershaw, S.C.
The Flat Rock area was composed of many other families, one of whom was the Jones Family. The Jones and Burford families intermarried. The J-B Reunion families are descendants of members of these families. All people included are descendants of Pasty Kilgo and Edom Burford and/or the Richard Jones family. The South Carolina Connection of the Jones family started a family reunion in 1974. The purpose was to make sure that the family returned to the home place once a year. It expanded to become the “Descendants of Becky Burford,” finally growing to include descendants of brothers and sisters of Becky Burford, welcoming all relatives who could be discovered.
In conclusion, let us remind you that there are many facts about our family history still in need of research. Our family has only one spelling Jones, but there are many different spellings of Burford (Bertha, Birtha, Buffert, Bufford, Buffort, Burfort, and most recently, Buford). The name “Birtha” has been discovered on tombstones in the old family cemetery plot, now unused and readily accessible. We know that our ancestors did not have the opportunity to learn to spell, and the spellings have varied from whatever the original form may have been. However, you spell your name, be assured that they all are coming from the same root, and even if your last name is McIlwain, McCain, Miller, Wright, Truesdale, Cauthen, Cunningham, Mobley or another name because of marriage, we are all one family. In 1991, we began to refer to the reunion as “JB Family Reunion” to include all the spellings of all the Jones-Burford root names.
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