Joseph Jones (1727 – 28 October 1805) was an American lawyer and statesman from

King George County, Virginia King George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 26,723. Its county seat is the census designated place of King George. The county's largest employer is the U.S. Naval S ...

. He was an

Anti-Federalist The Anti-Federalists were a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles ...

Biography

Jones was born in

, part of the

Northern Neck The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas (traditionally called "necks" in Virginia) on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia (along with the Middle Peninsula and the Virginia Peninsula). The P ...

, in 1727.Jones, Joseph
''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''.Jon L. Wakelyn, "Joseph Jones" in
of the Bill of Rights: Encyclopedia of the Antifederalists
', Vol. 1: Biographies (Greenwood, 2004), pp. 99-100. Jones was born to James Jones and Hester Lampton Jones (Davis).
His father ran a General store, country store and tavern and later became a successful merchant with many contacts to England. Jones was educated nearby but went to England to continue his education; he went to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in London in 1749 and the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1751, becoming a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. Jones then returned to Virginia and achieved success as a lawyer in the growing town of Fredericksburg. In 1754, Jones become King's attorney for Fredericksburg. In 1758, he married Mary Taliaferro, the daughter of Colonel John Taliaferro of Spotsylvania County. In 1772, Jones became a member of the Virginia

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

, the colonial legislature. Jones was a "cautious patriot" and served on the committee of safety in 1774-75. In 1776, Jones was a supporter of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

during Virginia's second state committee of safety. Also in 1776, Jones was elected to the

Fifth Virginia Convention The Fifth Virginia Convention was a meeting of the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot legislature of Colony of Virginia, Virginia held in Williamsburg, Virginia, Williamsburg from May 6 to July 5, 1776. This Convention declared Virginia an ind ...

, which produced the

Virginia Declaration of Rights The Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaratio ...

. Jones served as a Virginia delegate to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

in 1777 and 1778. He was appointed to serve as judge of the Virginia General Court on January 23, 1778, and resigned in October 1779. Jones then returned to the Continental Congress, serving as a Virginia delegate from 1780 to 1783. Jones was a close friend of

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 ...

. Jones served in the House of Delegates in 1787, where he split with his longtime friend

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

over the Constitution. Jones wrote in an October 29, 1787 letter to Madison that he had "many objections" to the Constitution and wished to see a declaration of rights attached to it. Jones was a member of the 1788

Virginia Ratifying Convention The Virginia Ratifying Convention (also historically referred to as the "Virginia Federal Convention") was a Convention (meeting), convention of 168 delegates from Virginia who met in 1788 to ratify or reject the United States Constitution, whic ...

, which

ratified Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

the federal Constitution. At the Convention, Jones was at first a supporter of the proposed constitution, but later turned against it, joining with

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. May 18, 1736une 6, 1799) was an American politician, planter and orator who declared to the Virginia Conventions, Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty or give m ...

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

, and others to draft proposed amendments to the Constitution. Jones subsequently became "embittered over what he believed was Madison's betrayal of the rights of Virginians" and voted against ratification. Jones was then appointed once more as judge of the Virginia General Court, on November 19, 1789. Jones served as a major general of the

Virginia militia The Virginia militia is an armed force composed of all citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia capable of bearing arms. The Virginia militia was established in 1607 as part of the English militia system. Militia service in Virginia was compulso ...

. During the presidency of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, Jones was a supporter of the Jeffersonian faction. He died at his home in Fredericksburg on October 28, 1805. Jones was the uncle of

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

. His "Letters" were published in 1889.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Joseph 1727 births 1805 deaths Anti-Federalists Continental Congressmen from Virginia House of Burgesses members People from King George County, Virginia Virginia lawyers Monroe family People from colonial Virginia 18th-century American lawyers