James Kimbrough Jones (September 29, 1839June 1, 1908) was a
Confederate Army veteran, plantation owner, lawyer,
US Congressional Representative,
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
and chairman of the
Democratic National Committee from
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
.
Biography
Born in
Marshall County, Mississippi
Marshall County is a county located on the north central border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,144. Its county seat is Holly Springs. The county is named for Chief Justice of the United States ...
, Jones moved with his father to
Dallas County, Arkansas
Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,116, making it the fourth-least populous county in Arkansas. The county seat is Fordyce. Dallas County is Arkansas's 49th county, for ...
in 1848. He pursued
classical studies under a private tutor; he would later
study law and was, in 1874,
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
, practicing in
Washington, Arkansas
Washington is a city in Ozan Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to Historic Washington S ...
.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, Jones served in the
Confederate Army, and returned to his Arkansas
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
afterward. From 1873 to 1879, he was a member of the
Arkansas State Senate
The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...
, and was president of that body from 1877 to 1879. In 1896 and 1900, he was the
chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
![Mary Jones](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Mary_Jones.jpg)
Jones was elected as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to the
Forty-seventh and
Forty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1885); he was re-elected to the
Forty-ninth but tendered his resignation on February 19, 1885, having been elected to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
that year. Jones was reelected in 1891 and 1897 and served from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1903, unsuccessfully seeking reelection in 1902. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on
Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Al ...
(Fifty-third Congress), Committee on
Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia (Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses), Committee on Private Land Claims (Fifty-fifth Congress.)
After his Congressional service, Jones resumed the
practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the profess ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, where he died; he was buried in
Rock Creek Cemetery
Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...
.
References
Sources
Retrieved on March 24, 2010
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1839 births
1908 deaths
19th-century American politicians
American people of Welsh descent
American planters
Arkansas lawyers
Democratic Party Arkansas state senators
Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery
Confederate States Army soldiers
Democratic National Committee chairs
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas
Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas
Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
People from Dallas County, Arkansas
People from Marshall County, Mississippi
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