Willie Jones (statesman) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Willie Jones was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

planter and statesman from Halifax County, North Carolina

Halifax County, North Carolina

-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:-Demographics:[[Image:HalifaxCountyCotton.wmg.jpg|left|thumb|A cotton field blooms in Halifax County....

. He represented North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

as a delegate to the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

in 1780. Allen Jones

Allen Jones (delegate)

Allen Jones was an American planter and statesman from Northampton County, North Carolina. During the Revolutionary War he was a Brigadier General in the state militia. He was a delegate for North Carolina to the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780...

, his brother, was also a delegate to the congress.

In 1774, 1775 and 1776, Jones was elected to represent either the county of Halifax or the town of Halifax

Halifax, North Carolina

Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 344 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County...

in the North Carolina Provincial Congress

North Carolina Provincial Congress

The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government.-First Provincial Congress:...

. For a brief time in 1776, as the head of North Carolina's Council of Safety, he was the head of the state's revolutionary government, until Richard Caswell

Richard Caswell

Richard Caswell was the first and fifth governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina, serving from 1776 to 1780 and from 1784 to 1787....

was elected as Governor.

Thereafter, Jones served in the North Carolina House of Commons and the North Carolina Senate

North Carolina Senate

The North Carolina Senate is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly.Its prerogatives and powers are similar to those of the other house, the House of Representatives. Its members do, however, represent districts that are larger than those of their colleagues in the House. The...

and was elected to the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787 but declined to accept his seat. He led the faction that opposed North Carolina's ratification of the Constitution in 1788.

Among his last public roles was helping to determine the location of Raleigh

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

, the new state capital, in 1791. He moved to Raleigh and died there in 1801. He was buried in an unmarked grave on ground that is now occupied by St. Augustine’s College

St. Augustine's College (Raleigh)

Saint Augustine's College is a historically black college located in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The college was founded in 1867 in Raleigh, North Carolina by prominent Episcopal clergy for the education of freed slaves.- History :...

.

Jones County, North Carolina

Jones County, North Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,381 people, 4,061 households, and 2,936 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile . There were 4,679 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...

is named for him.

Family

Willie Jones , revolutionary leader and ‘Father of Jeffersonian Democracy

Jeffersonian democracy

Jeffersonian Democracy, so named after its leading advocate Thomas Jefferson, is a term used to describe one of two dominant political outlooks and movements in the United States from the 1790s to the 1820s. The term was commonly used to refer to the Democratic-Republican Party which Jefferson...

in North Carolina’ was born in Surry County, Virginia, May 25, 1741, the son of Robin, Jr., and Sarah Cobb Jones. Sometime prior to 1753, the Joneses moved to Northampton County, North Carolina

North Carolina

, settling about six miles from the town of Halifax

Halifax, North Carolina

Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 344 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County...

. Jones attended his father’s alma mater, Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

, from 1753 to 1758, after which he made the grand tour of the Continent. When he returned to Halifax

Halifax, North Carolina

Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 344 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County...

, he was described as a ‘peculiarly thoughtful and eccentric man.’ His home, the Grove, which he built at the southern end of town, became the center of social life and political activity for the region. He had one of the finest stables in the south and in 1790 owned one hundred and twenty slaves. On June 22, 1776, forsaking his vow of celibacy, he married the charming Mary Montfort. The couple had thirteen children. Only five of them lived to maturity, and none to carry on the Jones name.

The Willie Jones and John Paul Jones Tradition

Willie Jones lived at "The Grove," near Halifax

Halifax, North Carolina

Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 344 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County...

. These old mansions, grand in their proportions, were the homes of abounding hospitality. When John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to...

visited Halifax

Halifax, North Carolina

Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 344 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County...

, then a young sailor and a stranger, he made the acquaintance of those fine old patriots, Allen and Willie Jones; he was a young man but an old tar with a bold, frank sailor-bearing that attracted their attention. He became a frequent visitor/at their house, where he was always welcome. He soon grew fond of them, and as a mark of esteem and admiration, he adopted their name, saying that if he lived he would make them proud of it. Thus John Paul

John Paul

-People with forenames John Paul and known only by forenames:* Pope John Paul I* Pope John Paul II* John Paul Puthusery Malayalam Screenwriter usually simply known as John Paul-People with surname Paul:* John Paul * John Paul...

became John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones

— it was his fancy. He named his ship the "Bon Homme Richard," as a compliment to Franklin; he named himself Jones as a compliment to Allen and Willie Jones. When the first notes of war sounded he obtained letters from these brothers to Joseph Hewes, member of Congress from North Carolina, and through his influence received his first commission in the navy.

Political career

Between 1774 and 1775, he completely reversed his attitude about England’s relationship to the colonies and became a convert to the Whig cause. Historians have long speculated as to why he changed his views. While an aristocrat in social life, Jones fervently believed in political democracy. He interpreted the struggle with Great Britain as a democratic movement and was determined to embody its revolutionary ideals in the government of the state and nation. His later opposition of the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

was inspired by his fear of a government that might become too powerful.
From the beginning of the quarrel with England he was an ardent supporter of colonial rights, and probably nothing else could have drawn him into politics. In 1774 he was recommended by the Board of Trade for a place on the colonial council but was not appointed because of his radical views. He served instead as chairman of the Halifax

Halifax, North Carolina

Halifax is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 344 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County...

Committee of Safety

Committee of Safety (American Revolution)

Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...

. He supported the call for a provincial congress in 1774. This body remained in session for only three days, but during that time it fully launched North Carolina into the revolutionary movement. Jones was elected a member of each of the five provincial congresses, but he could not attend the fourth because the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

had appointed him superintendent of Indian affairs for the southern colonies. After a fifth provincial congress, with a liberal majority behind him, Jones served on the committee to draft the state constitution and bill of rights. He used his influence in shaping the state constitution. When it was completed, it was a compromise satisfactory to all but the conservative extremists.

During the next twelve years, Jones was politically the most powerful man in the state. He was a member of the House of Commons from 1777 to 1780, and a state senator for three terms between 1782 and 1788. In 1781 and 1787 he was a member of the Council of State. In 1780 he was elected to the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

and served one year.

Jones was elected a delegate to the federal Convention, but did not accept. When the Constitution was submitted to the state, he led the opposition to its ratification at the Hillsboro Convention of 1788. At this convention he wanted to adjourn the first day. He said, ‘all the delegates knew how they were going to vote,’ and he did not want to be guilty of ‘lavishing public money’ on a long and tedious discussion in support of the Constitution

United States Constitution

and its immediate ratification in advance of amendment. After eleven days of debate, by a vote of 184 to 84, the Anti-Federalists carried a resolution neither rejecting nor ratifying the Constitution

United States Constitution

.

Jones favored a delay in ratification but public sentiment ran the other way. The Federalists carried on an effective campaign of education for a second convention to act on the Constitution

United States Constitution

. Jones was elected to the Convention of 1789, which met in Fayetteville and ratified the Constitution

United States Constitution

by a vote of 195 to 77, but he did not attend. His public career was over.
A street in Raleigh and a county in North Carolina bears Jones’s name. He died in Raleigh after a long illness on June 8, 1801. At his own request, he is buried there in an unmarked grave.

External links

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