Ephraim Jones (April 17, 1750 – January 24, 1812) was a soldier, judge, and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. He was born in

Weston, Massachusetts Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851. Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protection of the town's historic resourc ...

, in 1750. His father, Elisha, and five of his brothers served with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. He was taken prisoner in the Saratoga Campaign of 1777 and later served with Edward Jessup's Loyal Rangers. He was named in the

Massachusetts Banishment Act The Massachusetts Banishment Act, officially named the "Banishment Act of the State of Massachusetts", was passed in September 1778 "to prevent the return to this state of certain persons therein named and others who have left this state or either o ...

of 1778. After the war, he settled west of the Ottawa River in the area of Augusta Township. He married Charlotte Coursolles, a French Canadian from Vercheres, Quebec, on March 4, 1779, at the Anglican Christ-Church, in Montreal. He moved to the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

area and became justice of the peace there in 1786. In 1788, he became a justice of the peace in the new Lunenburgh District and received a large land grant in Augusta Township. He operated a mill and iron foundry on the

Gananoque River The Gananoque River is a river in Leeds and Grenville United Counties in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Shows the course of the river highlighted on a map. The river is in the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Saint Lawrence R ...

. Jones served on the land board for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

& Grenville and was a judge in the district courts. He was elected to the

1st Parliament of Upper Canada The 1st Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 17 September 1792. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in August 1792. All sessions were held at Navy Hall in Newark, later Niagara-on-the-Lake. This parliament was dissolved 1 July 1796. T ...

representing Grenville. He introduced a bill introducing trials by jury and supported the 1793 act prohibiting the further introduction of slaves into Upper Canada. Jones suffered from frail health in his later years and died in Augusta Township, Leeds, Ontario, Canada, in 1812, aged 61. His sons

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one o ...

and Charles both served in the legislative assembly. His daughter Charlotte married

Levius Peters Sherwood Levius Peters Sherwood (December 12, 1777 – May 19, 1850) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born at St. Johns in Lower Canada, the son of Justus Sherwood. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1803. In ...

and his daughter Eliza married Henry John Boulton; both of these men became members of the assembly and judges. His grandson, Henry Sherwood, became Joint Premier of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ephraim 1750 births 1812 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada People from Leeds and Grenville United Counties People from Weston, Massachusetts United Empire Loyalists Upper Canada judges Canadian justices of the peace Canadian slave owners