Wylie Jones (1741 - 1801)

Born 25 May 1741 in Surrey, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Montfort) Jones — married 27 Jun 1776 in North Carolina

Descendants

Died 8 Jun 1801 at age 60 in Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Willie Jones is Notable.

Willie Jones was a North Carolina colonist.

Wylie "Willie" Jones was born in Surrey County, Virginia on May 25, 1741 to Robin Jones Jr. and Sarah Cobb. The family then moved to Northampton County, North Carolina, six miles from Halifax, North Carolina.

Wylie was educated in England, at Eton (his father's old school), from 1753-1758. He toured Europe for a while before coming back to Halifax, North Carolina.

He married Mary Elizabeth Montfort (1760-1826) on June 22, 1776. They had five children.

Children (13, only 5 lived to maturity):

1. Joshua Jones
2. Martha Jones
3. Sarah Welch (Jones) Burton (1791-1872)
4. Mary Montfort Jones (1788-1791)
5. Claudie Hamilton Jones

Jones was a planter who, in 1790, held 120 slaves. He was eccentric and had fine stables. He was a states rights advocate and opposed the US Constitution because he opposed a powerful central government. He held a variety of offices in the Province and State of North Carolina. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780.

He died on Jun 18, 1801 in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.^[1]

At his own request, Wiley Jones was buried in an unmarked grave in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.

Political Work

Willie Jones was first elected to represent Halifax, North Carolina in 1774.

• First Provincial Congress that met Aug. 25-27, 1774 in New Bern
• Second Provincial Congress that met Apr. 3, 1775 in New Bern
• For a brief time in 1776 (Sep. 27 to Oct. 25), as the head of North Carolina's Council of Safety, he was the President of the state's revolutionary government, until Richard Caswell was elected as Governor.

In 1777, Willie Jones was first elected to represent Halifax town in the NC House of Commons of the:

• 1st General Assembly that met from Apr-May and Nov-Dec in 1777
• 2nd General Assembly that met from 1778-1779

In 1779, Willie Jones was first elected to represent Halifax County in the NC House of Commons of the:

• 3rd General Assembly that met in May and Oct-Nov in 1779
• 4th General Assembly that met from 1780-1781

In 1782, Willie Jones was first elected to represent Halifax County in the NC Senate of the:

• 6th General Assembly that met in Apr-May in 1782
• 8th General Assembly that met in April of 1784
• 13th General Assembly that met in Nov-Dec in 1788

He was a Memember of the Council of States in 1781 and 1887.

Willie Jones was elected to the U.S. 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, the new state capital, in 1791. He moved to Raleigh and died there on June 8, 1801. He was buried in an unmarked grave on ground that is now occupied by St. Augustine’s College.^[2]

A tablet on the chimney of the Willie Jones former house, placed there by the D.A.R., it reads:

At the fireside of Willie Jones- whose home the grove this tablet marks. He as the friend of Jefferson and most infuential leader of his dayof Nrth Carolina Democracy and John Paul Jones found here has pitality, friend-ship,Refuge and happiness- errected April 6,1933/34 by the National Society D.A.R.'s^[3]

Legacy

Jones County, North Carolina is named in his honor, as is Jones Street in Raleigh where the North Carolina General Assembly is located. Jonesborough, the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, is also named in his honor.

Sources

1. ↑ #Wikipedia, #NCPedia
2. ↑ [InternetShortcut] URL=https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_revolution_government_Willie_Jones.html
3. ↑ [InternetShortcut] URL=file:///C:/Users/davis/Downloads/p15012coll1_31562%20(1).pdf

• Jones, Willie, Blackwell P. Robinson, 1988, 25 May 1741–18 June 1801, NCPedia^[4]
• Wikipedia:Willie_Jones_(statesman)
• Ancestry Record 2204 #1026402 SAR Membership # 94947
• Find A Grave: Memorial #19935404, unmarked, unlocated grave
• North Carolina History Project, Link
• NCPedia, Willie Jones

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Jones-7255 created through the import of 2010-09-14.ged on Jul 28, 2011 by Bob Carson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Bob and others.
• WikiTree profile Jones-15251 created through the import of phillip Foltz family tree(3).ged on Jan 13, 2013 by Curtis Foltz Boyd Phillip Curtis Foltz. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Curtis Foltz Boyd and others.