John Beauchamp Jones (March 6, 1810 – February 4, 1866) was a writer whose books enjoyed popularity during the mid-19th century. Jones was a popular novelist (particularly of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

) and a well-connected literary editor and political journalist in the two decades leading up to 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 th ...

. During the war, he served in the Confederate War Department, and is today, above all, remembered for his published diary from the war period.

Antebellum life

Born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, Jones spent his childhood in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He settled in Arrow Rock, Missouri in 1835 as a storekeeper. Jones left Arrow Rock about the same time he was married, in 1840. The following year, he became

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the ''Baltimore Sunday Visitor.'' His first novel, ''Wild Western Scenes'', was serialized in the ''Visitor.'' Jones became editor of the pro-Tyler the ''Madisonian'', later being rewarded for his efforts with the U.S. consulship at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. In 1857 he founded and edited the

proslavery Proslavery is a support for slavery. It is found in the Bible, in the thought of ancient philosophers, in British writings and in American writings especially before the American Civil War but also later through 20th century. Arguments in favor o ...

paper the ''Southern Monitor'', in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Anticipating the outbreak of the

, he abandoned the paper, left his family behind, and fled to

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

,Eicher 1997, p. 58. arriving in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

the day Fort Sumter was fired on.

Civil War

In Montgomery, Jones was employed as a high-ranking government clerk in the

Confederate States War Department The Confederate States War Department was a cabinet-level department in Confederate States of America government responsible for the administration of the affairs of the Confederate States Army. The War Department was led by the Confederate States ...

. When the Confederate government moved to

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, his family joined him. From the first day of his flight from the North, Jones kept a diary, with the expressed objective of preserving the details of these eventful times for future publication. After the war, Jones and family returned to his farm at

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...

, and prepared his manuscript for publication. In 1866, the year of his death, it was published as ''A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary at the Confederate States Capital'', although he would never see it in print. The published diary is one of the best sources of everyday life in Richmond during the war; also with details concerning the inner workings of the War Department.

James I. Robertson, Jr. James Irvin "Bud" Robertson Jr. (July 18, 1930 – November 2, 2019) was an American historian on the American Civil War and professor at Virginia Tech. Early life and academic career Robertson was born on July 18, 1930, and raised in Danville, ...

has called him "The Civil War's Most Valuable Diarist."

Literary activities

Jones's fiction and activities as an editor attracted the attention of other literary notables of the period, including

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

and William Gilmore Simms. Jones' early novels, ''Wild Western Scenes: A Narrative of Adventures in the Western Wilderness'', ''Forty Years Ago'' (1841), ''The Western Merchant: A Narrative . . .'' (1849), and ''Life and Adventures of a Country Merchant: A Narrative of His Exploits at Home, during His Travels, and in the Cities; Designed to Amuse and Instruct'' (1854), capture the picturesque and generally Edenic qualities of the West, where he spent his early years. Jones' novels commend the honesty of "the People" and predict their abiding success, based on the democratic republicanism of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

Bradford 1925, ''passim''. In ''Wild Southern Scenes. A Tale of Disunion! and Border War!,'' Jones wrote of

In popular culture

Jones appears as a humorous supporting character in Harry Turtledove's '' The Guns of the South'', a science fiction novel set in the 1860s.

Works

Novels *
Wild Western Scenes
'' Grigg, Elliot and Co., 1849 uke Shortfield, pseud. *
The Western Merchant: A Narrative. Containing Useful Instruction for the Western Man of Business
'' Grigg, Elliot & Co., uke Shortfield, pseud.1849. *
The City Merchant: or, The Mysterious Failure
'' Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1851. *
The Rival Belles; or, Life in Washington
'' T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 1878 st Pub. 1852 *
Adventures of Col. Gracchus Vanderbomb, of Sloughcreek, in Pursuit of the Presidency: Also the Exploits of Mr. Numberius Plutarch Kipps, his Private Secretary
'' A. Hart, 1852. *
Freaks of Fortune; or, The History and Adventures of Ned Lorn
'' T. B. Peterson, 1854. *
The Monarchist: An Historical Novel Embracing Real Characters and Romantic Adventures
'' A. Hart, 1853. *
The Winkles; or, The Merry Monomaniacs. An American Picture with Portraits of the Natives
'' 1855. *
Wild Western Scenes-Second Series. The Warpath: A Narrative of Adventures in the Wilderness
'' J. B. Lippincott, 1856. *
Life and Adventures of a Country Merchant : A Narrative of his Exploits at Home, During his Travels, and in the Cities, Designed to Amuse and Instruct
'' J. B. Lippincott, 1857. *
Wild Southern Scenes. A Tale of Disunion! and Border War!
'' T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 1859. *
Secession, Coercion, and Civil War. The Story of 1861
'' T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 1861. * ''Wild Western Scenes; or, The White Spirit of the Wilderness. Being a Narrative of Adventures, Embracing the Same Characters Portrayed in the Original "Wild Western Scenes." New Series,'' 1863. *
Love and Money
'' T.B. Peterson, 1865. *
Life and Adventures of a Country Merchant: A Narrative of his Exploits at Home, During his Travels, and in the Cities
'' J. B. Lippincott, 1875. Diary *
A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital
'
Vol. 2
J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1866.

References

Citations

Cited literature

* Bradford, Gamaliel (1925). "A Confederate Pepys." ''The American Mercury'', December: 470–478. *Cates, Misty (1999). "Jones, John Beauchamp (1810-1866)." ''Dictionary of Missouri Biography.'' University of Missouri Press. *Eicher, David J. (1997). ''The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography.'' University of Illinois Press. * Lapides, Frederick R (1970). "John Beauchamp Jones: A Southern View of the Abolitionists." ''The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries'', 33(2): 63–73. * Pierpauli, Jr., Paul G. (2013). "Jones, John Beauchamp." ''American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection .'' ABC-CLIO. * Jones, John Beauchamp. (1866). "A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital." ''J. B. Lippincott & Co.'' 1: 16-17

External links

* * * The Southern Historical Collection

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Beauchamp 1810 births 1866 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century American novelists American diarists American Civil War memoirs American male novelists American male journalists 19th-century American memoirists American newspaper publishers (people) American travel writers Writers from Baltimore Montgomery, Alabama in the American Civil War People of Maryland in the American Civil War Richmond, Virginia in the American Civil War Novelists from Maryland 19th-century diarists