George W. Jones

This article is about the politician George W. Jones. For other people, see George Washington Jones .

George W. Jones

George Wallace Jones (born April 12, 1804 in Vincennes , Indiana , †  July 22, 1896 in Dubuque , Iowa ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Iowa in the US Senate .

Indiana-born George Jones moved to Kentucky as a young man , where he graduated from Transylvania University in 1825 before studying law . After joining the bar, he settled in Sinsinawa in the Michigan Territory , where he worked as a miner and shop owner. In 1832 he fought in the Black Hawk War against the Sauk and the Fox Indians . In the meantime, Jones also served as a judge in a local court before he sat for his territory from March 4, 1835 to March 3, 1837 as a delegate in the United States House of Representatives .

He then remained in Congress , where he now represented the Wisconsin Territory , which had been detached from the Michigan Territory, as a delegate for two more years . Another division of the territories resulted in the formation of the Iowa Territory . After its admission as a state into the Union, George Jones was one of the first two US Senators for Iowa; second representative in the Senate was Augustus C. Dodge . Jones remained there from December 7, 1848 to March 3, 1859, during which time he chaired several committees. He applied again in 1858 for the nomination of his party, but failed and had to leave the Senate.

Shortly thereafter, Jones was appointed envoy of the United States to New Granada and remained in that post until 1861. Shortly after his return, US Secretary of State William H. Seward had him imprisoned for alleged disloyalty in correspondence with his friend Jefferson Davis , president of the Confederate States , had maintained. After 64 days, Jones was released on the orders of US President Abraham Lincoln . He then retired in Dubuque, where he died in 1896. The Jones County , Iowa, and Jones County in South Dakota were named after him.

Web links

• George W. Jones in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• George W. Jones in the database of Find a Grave (English)