John Alexander Janes was born July 15, 1822 in Rutherford County, North Carolina and died September 4, 1876 in Forsyth, Taney County, Missouri. He married Susan Catherine derry November 2, 1850 in Fulton County, Illinois. They had the following children: Sarah Jane, John Jr., Maria Angeline, Mary Ida, Ruth Anna, Melinda, Abigail Isadore, Elizabeth, Edmund, Isaac Henry, William Lewis, and George Washington.

John served as a wagoneer in Company D of the 151st Illinois Volunteen Infantry from February 15, 1865 to august 22, 1865. He mustered in at Quincy, Adams County, Illinois.

He had been afflicted with chronic pain and problems he acquired while serving in the Civil War. He was buried at what is now the Bull Shoales Dam. All bodies that were buried there were supposed to have been removed. John was supposed to have been removed to Springfield National Cemetery, Springfield, Missouri, but I do not know that he was.