| Joseph Jones | |
| Birth Date: | 1727 |
| Birth Place: | King George County, Virginia, British America |
| Death Date: | 28 October 1805 (aged 77-78) |
| Death Place: | Fredericksburg, Virginia |
| Spouse: | Mary Taliaferro (m. 1758) |
| Relations: | James Monroe (nephew) |
Joseph Jones (1727 – 28 October 1805) was an American lawyer and statesman from King George County, Virginia. He was an Anti-Federalist.
Jones was born in King George County, Virginia, part of the Northern Neck, in 1727.[1] [2] Jones was born to James Jones and Hester Lampton Jones (Davis).[2] https://www.geni.com/people/Esther-Jones/6000000004047228907, His father ran a country store and tavern and later became a successful merchant with many contacts to England.[2] Jones was educated nearby but went to England to continue his education; he went to the Inner Temple in London in 1749 and the Middle Temple in 1751, becoming a barrister.[2]
Jones then returned to Virginia and achieved success as a lawyer in the growing town of Fredericksburg.[2] In 1754, Jones become King's attorney for Fredericksburg.[2] In 1758, he married Mary Taliaferro, the daughter of Colonel John Taliaferro of Spotsylvania County.[2]
In 1772, Jones became a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the colonial legislature.[1] [2] Jones was a "cautious patriot" and served on the committee of safety in 1774-75.[1] [2] In 1776, Jones was a supporter of the Revolution during Virginia's second state committee of safety.[2] Also in 1776, Jones was elected to the Fifth Virginia Convention, which produced the Virginia Declaration of Rights.[1] [2]
Jones served as a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1777 and 1778.[1] [2] He was appointed to serve as judge of the Virginia General Court on January 23, 1778, and resigned in October 1779.[1] [2] Jones then returned to the Continental Congress, serving as a Virginia delegate from 1780 to 1783.[2]
Jones was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson.[2] Jones served in the House of Delegates in 1787, where he split with his longtime friend James Madison over the Constitution.[2] 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.[2]
Jones was a member of the 1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention, which ratified the federal Constitution.[1] [2] At the Convention, Jones was at first a supporter of the proposed constitution, but later turned against it, joining with Patrick Henry, George Mason, and others to draft proposed amendments to the Constitution.[2] Jones subsequently became "embittered over what he believed was Madison's betrayal of the rights of Virginians" and voted against ratification.[2]
Jones was then appointed once more as judge of the Virginia General Court, on November 19, 1789.[1] [2] Jones served as a major general of the Virginia militia.[1]
During the presidency of George Washington, Jones was a supporter of the Jeffersonian faction.[2] He died at his home in Fredericksburg on October 28, 1805.[1] [2] Jones was the uncle of James Monroe.[1]
His "Letters" were published in 1889.[3]