Calvin Jones (physician)
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Calvin Jones (April 2, 1775 – September 20, 1846) was an American physician and politician who served as the Intendant of Police of Raleigh, North Carolina (present day Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina) from 1807 to 1809. Previously, he served in the
North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...
as the representative for Johnston County from 1799 to 1802 and
Wake County Wake County, officially the County of Wake, is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake Count ...
in 1807.NC Manual of 1913
/ref> During the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
; he commanded the state's seventh militia division, having previously served as the adjutant general of North Carolina. Jones also helped found the North Carolina Medical Society, served as a trustee of the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
from 1802 to 1832 and the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina from 1817 to 1820. He claimed to know
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
and the first lady "very well personally" in a letter he wrote to a cousin in 1828.


Early life and education

Calvin Jones was born on April 2, 1775, in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...
, to Ebenezer and Susannah (' Blackmore) Jones. His father was a soldier in the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. He received his medical license in 1792, and then moved to Smithfield, North Carolina in 1795. Jones was elected to the
North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...
twice from Johnston County, once in 1799 and again in 1802. He was the first physician in North Carolina to practice the
inoculation Inoculation is the act of implanting a pathogen or other microbe or virus into a person or other organism. It is a method of artificially inducing immunity against various infectious diseases. The term "inoculation" is also used more generally ...
of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
. He was a founder of the North Carolina Medical Society in 1799 and a trustee of the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
from 1802 to 1832. In 1803, Jones moved from Smithfield to Raleigh. He served in the House of Commons for
Wake County Wake County, officially the County of Wake, is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake Count ...
in 1807, and was elected Intendant of Police of Raleigh, North Carolina the same year. In 1808, he became an editor with the ''Raleigh Star'', an early local newspaper. He sold his shares to his partner, Thomas Henderson, in 1815.


Military service

In 1798, Jones served in the Johnston Regiment, North Carolina Militia. The regiment received a signed letter from
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John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
in 1798, thanking them for their preparedness to serve during the
Quasi-War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in ...
. After the ''Chesapeake–Leopard'' affair in 1807, President
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
called for 7,003 troops from North Carolina. Jones, now a captain, organized the Wake Troop of Cavalry. After the troops were deemed unnecessary, he continued to train them. His efforts were recognized when he was appointed adjutant general of North Carolina in 1808. After the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
broke out, Jones was given command of the seventh militia division and promoted to the rank of major-general of North Carolina Militia. When the Royal Navy attacked
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
and
Ocracoke Island Ocracoke ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection website at the
with a 74-gun
man-of-war In Royal Navy jargon, a man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a powerful warship or frigate of the 16th to the 19th century, that was frequently used in Europe. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually rese ...
, six
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
s, two
privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
s, two
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
s, and up to 70 smaller vessels in July 1813, he and his North Carolina militia mustered enough force to send the British landing party off after five days of raids.


Later life

In 1820, Jones relocated out of Raleigh to what is now Wake Forest, to a plantation which later gave its name to the surrounding town. He was postmaster of the small village that soon surrounded his land. The property was purchased by the North Carolina Baptist Convention in 1832 and became the first home of
Wake Forest College Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake ...
. Wake Forest was part of an envisioned network of plantations across the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, including his second farm in
Bolivar, Tennessee Bolivar, officially the City of Bolivar, is a city in and the county seat of Hardeman County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,417. History Bolivar was named for South American revolutionary leader Si ...
, named "Pontine", supposedly for the
Pontine Marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes ( , ; , formerly also ; [] by Titus Livius, [] and [] by Pliny the Elder''Natural History'' 3.59.) is an approximately quadrangular area of former marshland ...
near Rome, or perhaps, for the pons network of the brain, representing his idea of network of plantations. After the sale of Wake Forest, Jones moved to Bolivar, where he died in 1846.


Personal life

Jones was first engaged to Ruina J. Williams, daughter of Major William Williams of Franklin County. Ten years after she died in 1809, Jones married her sister, Temperance Boddie Jones, widow of Thomas Jones of Warrenton. Their children were: * Montezuma Jones (1819 – 1922), married Elizabeth Wood. * Octavia Rowena Jones (1826 – 1917), married Edwin Polk. * Paul Tudor Jones (1828 – 1904), married first Jane M. Wood and second Mary Kirkman. Of the known portraits of Jones, one is held at the Historical House and the other is in
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
with his descendants.


Legacy

The main dwelling on his Wake Forest plantation, built circa 1820, is now a museum for the Wake Forest College Birthplace Society. The museum is known as the Dr. Calvin Jones House, and features exhibits about the history of Wake Forest College and the town of Wake Forest, including the Wake Forest College Sports Hall of Fame. The Society also maintains historic archives about the college and town that are available to researchers by appointment. In 2016, the house was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. A highway in the Wake Forest area, the N.C. 98 Bypass, was renamed in his honor in 2010.Wake Forest Gazette: Dr. Calvin Jones gave Wake Forest its name


References


External links

*

at
The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

Calvin Jones House — Wake Forest Historical MuseumCalvin Jones Papers
at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Calvin 1775 births 1846 deaths 18th-century American politicians 18th-century American physicians 19th-century American physicians 19th-century mayors of places in North Carolina Adjutants General of North Carolina American military personnel of the Quasi-War American militia generals American militiamen in the War of 1812 Masonic grand masters Mayors of Raleigh, North Carolina Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives People from Bolivar, Tennessee People from Great Barrington, Massachusetts Politicians from Berkshire County, Massachusetts People from North Carolina in the War of 1812 People from Smithfield, North Carolina People from Wake Forest, North Carolina Physicians from North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill people