Horatio Jones (1763–1836) was a soldier in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and an early European-American settler in the Genesee Valley of

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

. Jones was born in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

on February 7, 1763. As a child he moved to

Bedford County, Pennsylvania Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. The county is part of the Southwest region of the commonwealth. History 18th century According to ...

. At age 16 he joined a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

unit, the "Bedford Rangers." In 1779 the company was ambushed by Seneca Indians, and Jones was captured and taken to Caneadea, New York. He was adopted into a Seneca family and became fluent in the language. During the remainder of the war he is said to have been instrumental in helping to rescue others taken prisoner by the Seneca, including Major Moses Van Campen. After the war,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

appointed Jones agent and interpreter for the Six Nations. In this capacity he served as interpreter at the negotiations for the

Treaty of Canandaigua The Treaty of Canandaigua (or Konondaigua, as spelled in the treaty itself), also known as the Pickering Treaty and the Calico Treaty, is a treaty signed after the American Revolutionary War between the Grand Council of the Six Nations and Presi ...

in 1794 and the

Treaty of Big Tree The Treaty of Big Tree was a formal treaty signed in 1797 between the Seneca Nation and the United States, in which the Seneca relinquished their rights to nearly all of their traditional homeland in New York State—nearly 3.5 million acres. I ...

in 1797. In 1784 Jones married Sarah Whitmoyer (or Whitmore) from

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

, also a former Seneca captive. They established a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

Waterloo, New York Waterloo is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 7,378 at the 2020 census. The town and its major community are named after Waterloo, Belgium, where Napoleon was defeated. There is also a village called Wate ...

, then called ''Schanves'', where their eldest son, Colonel William W. Jones, was born. In spring 1790 the Joneses moved to the Genesee Valley, settling near Beard's Creek in what is now the town of

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. In 1791, Jones officially purchased the lot of land in Geneseo on which his homestead, Sweet Briar, was constructed.Ontario County Clerk. "Horatio Jones from Eleazer Pomeroy." 28 Dec. 1791. Deeds Liber 2, p. 427. Sarah W. Jones died in 1794, and Horatio Jones married Elizabeth Starr from Groveland, New York in 1795. He died in Geneseo 1836. He is buried in Temple Hill Cemetery in Geneseo. Elizabeth died in 1844 and is buried in Temple Hill Cemetery.

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* 1763 births 1836 deaths People from Livingston County, New York People from Chester County, Pennsylvania {{NewYork-bio-stub