Thomas Jones (April 20, 1731 – July 25, 1792) was a lawyer and politician of

colonial New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Unit ...

who also wrote a history of New York after being compelled to flee to England.

Early life

Jones was born at Tyrone House in

Fort Neck A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, then in Queens County, now in Nassau County. He was the grandson of

Major Thomas Jones Thomas Jones (c. 1665 – 13 December 1713) emigrated from Strabane, in Ireland, to Rhode Island. There he married Freelove Townsend, daughter of Captain Thomas Townsend, and went on to serve as a privateer. He later became an influential figure ...

, the son of Judge David Jones (1699–1775) and Anna (Willett) Jones (1704–1750), and the first cousin of New York Comptroller Samuel Jones. Thomas graduated

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1750, after which he studied law and was admitted to the bar.

Career

In 1757, he was appointed Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Queens County, but left the office the next year. From 1769 to 1773, he was

Recorder of New York City The Recorder of New York City was a municipal officer of New York City from 1683 until 1907. He was at times a judge of the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Special Sessions, and the New York Court of Common Pleas; Vice-President of the Boar ...

. From 1771 to 1773, he was also Corporation Counsel of New York City. In 1773, he was appointed to the Provincial Supreme Court and held the office until the end of the colonial administration. Opinion in the colony was sharply divided in 1775 when Massachusetts rebelled against British rule, and Judge Jones came down squarely on the side of loyalty to Crown authority. For his disaffection from the rebellion he was kidnapped and exchanged for

Gold Selleck Silliman Gold Selleck Silliman (1732–1790) was a Connecticut militia General during the American War for Independence. Biography Silliman was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, graduated from Yale University and practiced law and served as a crown attorney ...

of opposing opinions. On October 23, 1779, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

passed an

Act of Attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and punishing them, often without a trial. As with attai ...

which included ex-Judge Jones's name. His estate was confiscated, and he was forced to sail with his wife to England, remaining in exile until his death. There he wrote a ''History of New York During the Revolutionary War and of the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at That Period''. The book supplied details about the battle for ''Brookland'' (as he called it or

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

) and complained about the generosity of the

Treaty of Paris (1783) The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of George III, King George III of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and representatives of the United States, United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the Ame ...

and consequent mistreatment of

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

s. Jones singled out for particular attention the evacuation of the village of Hempstead, the recovery of escaped slaves by their Rebel owners, and the abandonment of Britain's

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

allies in northern New York. The manuscript lay almost a hundred years on a closet shelf until it was discovered and published.

Personal life

On December 9, 1762, he married Anna DeLancey (1746–1817), daughter of Lt. Gov.

James DeLancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and education De Lancey was born in New York City on November 27, 170 ...

, but they had no children. Jones left the US and died in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon is ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England.

Sources

''The Jones Family of Long Island: Descendants of Major Thomas Jones (1665-)''
by John Henry Jones (pages 86 to 96)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Thomas People of the Province of New York Loyalists in the American Revolution from New York (state) 1732 births 1792 deaths Townsend family New York City Recorders Yale College alumni People from Massapequa, New York People from Hoddesdon De Lancey family