A long, long history

Gertrude Fritzinger is proud of her heritage.

She remembers her mother (a Morgan) and her father (a Jones) arguing over which family the Joneses or the Morgans arrived first in Plymouth, Mass.

Her father would say that his family was there to greet hers, and her mother would argue it was the other way around.

Whichever way it happened, Fritzinger, is the fifth generation of Jones' women born in the United States.

The Morgans came over as indentured servants and worked for 20 years to repay their passage, says Fritzinger. The Jones' men carried their own heritage by serving in the armed forces, as far back as the Civil War.

"My grandmother, Mary Casper Jones, had five sons in the military at one time. All survived, but one, Bobby, who was in the Philippines when the war broke out," Fritzinger said.

Sadly, the family did not find out about Bobby Jones' fate until after the war, when a lieutenant told her grandparents he died of malaria in a prison camp.

Thomas J. Jones, an earlier relative served under David Glasgow (D.G.) Farragut during the Civil War.

Farragut, a flag officer of the United States Navy is most usually remembered for saying, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Jones' served aboard the sloop USS JR Hartford, the vessel was part of the Union fleet at the battles of New Orleans, Port Hudson, and Mobile Bay.

They also captured forts Morgan, Gaines and Powell.

Although Fritzinger claims a Welsh, English, Scottish and Irish background, she considers herself and her family to be 100 percent American.

Gertrude has lived in Catasauqua for the past three years.

Previously, she and her family were formerly longtime residents of Jim Thorpe.