Thomas Jones (April 20, 1731 – July 25, 1792) was a lawyer and politician of

colonial New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to the G ...

who also wrote a history of New York after being compelled to flee to England.

Early life

Jones was born at Tyrone House in Fort Neck, then in Queens County, now in Nassau County. He was the grandson of

Major Thomas Jones Thomas Jones (c. 1665 – 13 December 1713) emigrated from Strabane, in Ireland, to Rhode Island. There he married Freelove Townsend, daughter of Captain Thomas Townsend, and went on to serve as a privateer. He later became an influential figure ...

, the son of Judge David Jones (1699–1775) and Anna (Willett) Jones (1704–1750), and the first cousin of New York Comptroller Samuel Jones. Thomas graduated A.B. from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1750, after which he studied law and was admitted to the bar.

Career

In 1757, he was appointed Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Queens County, but left the office the next year. From 1769 to 1773, he was

Recorder of New York City The recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boa ...

. From 1771 to 1773, he was also Corporation Counsel of New York City. In 1773, he was appointed to the Provincial Supreme Court and held the office until the end of the colonial administration. Opinion in the colony was sharply divided in 1775 when Massachusetts rebelled against British rule, and Judge Jones came down squarely on the side of loyalty to Crown authority. For his disaffection from the rebellion he was kidnapped and exchanged for

Gold Selleck Silliman Gold Selleck Silliman (1732–1790) was a Connecticut militia General during the American War for Independence. Biography Silliman was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, graduated from Yale University and practiced law and served as a crown attorne ...

of opposing opinions. On October 23, 1779, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

passed an

Act of Attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder, writ of attainder, or bill of pains and penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and providing for a punishment, often without a ...

which included ex-Judge Jones's name. His estate was confiscated, and he was forced to sail with his wife to England, remaining in exile until his death. There he wrote a ''History of New York During the Revolutionary War and of the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at That Period''. The book supplied details about the battle for ''Brookland'' (as he called it or

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...

) and complained about the generosity of the

Treaty of Paris (1783) The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and representatives of the United States on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized ...

and consequent mistreatment of

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

s. Jones singled out for particular attention the evacuation of the village of Hempstead, the recovery of escaped slaves by their Rebel owners, and the abandonment of Britain's

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

allies in northern New York. The manuscript lay almost a hundred years on a closet shelf until it was discovered and published.

Personal life

On December 9, 1762, he married Anna DeLancey (1746–1817), daughter of Lt. Gov.

James DeLancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) was an American politician from the colonial period who served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and educatio ...

, but they had no children. Jones left the US and died in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England.

Sources

''The Jones Family of Long Island: Descendants of Major Thomas Jones (1665-)''
by John Henry Jones (pages 86 to 96)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Thomas People from colonial New York Loyalists in the American Revolution from New York (state) 1731 births 1792 deaths Townsend family New York City recorders Yale College alumni People from Massapequa, New York People from Hoddesdon De Lancey family