Paul Caruthers Jones (March 12, 1901 – February 10, 1981) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

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 ...

Biography

Born in

Kennett, Missouri Kennett is a city in and the county seat of Dunklin County, Missouri, United States. The city is located in the southeast corner (or " Bootheel") of Missouri, east of Arkansas and from the Mississippi River. It has a population of 10,932 accor ...

, Jones attended the Kennett public schools. He was graduated from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

with a B.J. degree in 1923. He served as a member of the Kennett city council from 1931 to 1933 and as mayor of Kennett from 1933 to 1935. He served as a member and president of the Kennett board of education from 1934 to 1946 and in the state

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1935 to 1937. He then served as a member of the state

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1937 to 1944. He was co-publisher of the Dunklin Democrat, a newspaper in Kennett, from 1923 until February 1953. He also served as general manager of KBOA (AM) and KBOA-FM, Kennett's first radio station, which he helped to found, from 1947 until October 1966. From August 1945 to May 1948, he served as chairman of the

Missouri State Highway Commission The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. MoDOT designs, ...

. He was appointed by Governor

Lloyd C. Stark Lloyd Crow Stark (November 23, 1886September 17, 1972) was an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 39th Governor of the U.S. state of Missouri. He was a member of the Democratic Party (United State ...

of Missouri in December 1940 to organize the Sixth Missouri Infantry, Missouri

State Guard In the United States, state defense forces are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. ...

, and was commanding officer (colonel) of that voluntary regiment until June 1946. 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 80th U.S. Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

Orville Zimmerman Orville Zimmerman (December 31, 1880 – April 7, 1948) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri. Born on a farm near Glenallen in Bollinger County, Missouri, Zimmerman attended the public schools and Mayfield-Smith Academy in Marble Hill, Miss ...

and at the same time was elected to the 81st Congress. He was reelected to the nine succeeding

Congresses A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

and served from November 2, 1948, to January 3, 1969. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1968 to the

91st Congress The 91st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1969, ...

. While Jones did not sign the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

, he voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. Jones resided in Kennett until his death on February 10, 1981. He was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Paul Caruthers 1901 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century American politicians American radio executives Mayors of places in Missouri Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri city council members Democratic Party Missouri state senators National Guard (United States) officers People from Kennett, Missouri School board members in Missouri University of Missouri alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri