Jones, George W. (Congressman)

Born: 1806-03-15 King and Queen County, VA

Died: 1884-11-14 Fayetteville, Tennessee

George W. Jones was a Tennessee politician, U.S. congressman, and Confederate congressman. As a child, Jones moved with his parents from his native state to Tennessee, settling in Fayetteville. He had some formal schooling and was apprenticed to a saddler. From 1832 to 1835, Jones served as a justice of the peace. He won election to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving from 1835 to 1839, and was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1839, serving until 1841. In 1840, Jones was appointed a county court clerk, a position he held until 1843. He won election, as a Democrat, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1843 to 1859. Jones was a delegate to the peace convention in Washington in 1861, but he chose not to attend. Once Tennessee seceded from the Union, Jones supported the Confederacy, and served in the Confederate House of Representatives from 1862 until 1864.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 1302; Gravestone, Rose Hill Cemetery, Fayetteville, TN.