The story of Dora Jones, the Athens native who was kept as a slave by wealthy white woman Elizabeth Ingalls and her husband Alfred was not new to Athens author Charlotte Fulton.

Fulton’s book, “Holding the Fort,” mentions Jones and the trial of the Ingalls in San Diego in 1947. The book also examines the Jones family.

“Holding the Fort” details the history of the site of Fort Henderson and the Trinity School on Brownsferry Street in Athens.

Dora was born Theodora Lawrence Jones and was alternately called “Dora” and “Teddie.” Her parents were Plato and Lazzie Garrett Jones. Plato Jones was born into slavery in about 1846. He was a shoemaker and brick maker and passed down masonry skills to his son, Plato Jones Jr.

Fulton said she wants people to understand Dora Jones was a good girl who came from a respectable family. She explained the Jones family made wonderful contributions to the city.

Early years

Fulton said Plato Jones was a property owner, which was unusual for African-Americans at that point in our nation’s history. He bought property from Lindsay Arnold Roberts, who was the first pastor of Trinity Congregational Church.

Roberts had fought for the Union Army in the Civil War and lost an arm in the Battle of Nashville. He married here, but his wife died during childbirth. He ultimately sold his property to Jones.

Fulton said when Trinity School was built, Jones helped tear down the old school and made the brick for the new building. He used the wood from the old school to build a house on his property.

Dora was born in 1890 and was one of 11 children, Fulton said. She explained Dora’s sister, Irene, married Dillard Collier.

“Both of those families were well enough known that the local newspaper wrote a big article about them and how fine their families were,” Fulton said.

The couple first moved to St. Louis but later came back and opened a store that was in Athens for several decades.

“Dillard Collier would have been one of Athens’ earliest business owners,” Fulton said.

Dora’s sister Myrtle was a church musician who married William Turrentine, the pastor at Trinity Congregational Church for 35 years.

Connection to the Ingalls

Dora was a student at Trinity School when Elizabeth Ingalls (née Myra Elizabeth Kimball) came from Boston to teach. Fulton believes Kimball came to Athens around 1905.

“She was young and pretty and had a beau back home,” Fulton said of Kimball. “The girls would crowd around her and vie for her favor.”

Fulton said the young African-American girls at the school would ask Kimball which one she would choose to move away with her when she married. Dora was ultimately chosen.

“She probably thought that would be a wonderful opportunity, but it wasn’t the case,” Fulton said.

When Kimball married, she sent for Dora.

Elizabeth married Walter P. Harman in 1907. She gave birth to her first daughter, Ruth, in Washington, D.C. She then sent for Dora to be her housemaid and nanny.

Harman would later impregnate Dora and Elizabeth Harman arranged for an abortion for Dora. Elizabeth would ultimately divorce her husband and marry Alfred Wesley Ingalls.

Dora would continue to work for the Ingalls from 1918 until 1947. In July of that year, a jury found Elizabeth had violated Dora’s civil rights as delineated in the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude.

Fulton said Dora had returned to Athens in 1924 and spent about three weeks here. A newspaper article detailed her trip home.

“I suspect (Dora) may have come home with the intention of staying, but after being here a short time, Mrs. Ingalls contacted the family and told them Dora had done wrong and that she owed it to her to come back and work for her,” Fulton said. “The family tried to come visit Dora, but (Ingalls) wouldn’t allow Dora to get out. Mrs. Ingalls kept control over her.”

More about the Jones family and other Trinity graduates can be found in “Holding the Fort,” available for $40 from any member of the Athens-Limestone Community Association. Those would prefer a copy to be mailed should send a check for $47 (to cover cost of shipping) to:

ALCA

P.O. Box 1476

Athens, AL 35612

— Robert Fikes Jr. contributed to this report. To read the four-part series about the Ingalls trial online, visit enewscourier.com and type “Dora Jones” in the search bar at the top right of the page.