Jones, Walter

Born: 1776-10-07 Virginia

Died: 1861-10-14 Washington, D.C.

Flourished: Washington, D.C.

Walter Jones was a lawyer, U.S. district attorney, and militia officer. Raised at "Hayfield," the family home in Northumberland County, Jones received his education from tutors. In the 1790s, he read law in Richmond and reputedly earned admission to the Virginia bar before the age of twenty-one. He commenced his legal career in the local courts in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. Jones soon ascended to the top of the Virginia legal profession. He relocated to Washington, DC, and in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him U.S. attorney for the District of the Potomoc. In 1804, he became the federal attorney for the District of Columbia, a position he would hold until 1821. As district attorney, he participated in a number of high profile cases, including the prosecution of two of Aaron Burr's alleged co-conspirators for treason in 1807, a case that brought him much fame and acclaim. The Justice Department allowed Jones to continue in private practice, in addition to his work as district attorney, and Jones soon became a fixture before the Supreme Court, arguing appeals before the Court in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), Charles River Bridge Company v. Warren Bridge Company (1837), Groves v. Slaughter (1841), and other important constitutional cases. His appellate work introduced him to Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other prominent lawyers and politicians. President Jefferson relied on Jones as a confidant, and Jones developed close friendships with James Madison and Clay. Though a staunch supporter of first the Jeffersonian Republicans and later the Whigs, Jones never sought political office, content to involve himself in civic and reform organizations that promised to improve society. He was a charter member of the American Colonization Society and an officer of the Washington National Monument Society. Washingtonians often referred to him as "general" because of his long tenure as commander of the District of Columbia militia. Although most of his duties were ceremonial, he did lead the militia in battle during the War of 1812 at Bladensburg, Maryland, and helped quell postwar riots over slavery and other contentious issues. In 1808, Jones married Anne Lucinda Lee, with whom he would have fourteen children, twelve of whom survived to adulthood. The marriage brought Jones extensive property in Alexandria, Virginia, and other parts of the commonwealth and numerous slaves. Poor money management over the years eventually forced Jones to sell most of his property, including his home near the U.S. Capitol. Indebtedness forced him and Anne to live in the home of one of his daughters during the last fifteen years of his life. Though a loyal Virginian, Jones opposed the secession movement, seeing it as treason both to the United States and the constitution.

Gravestone, Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC; E. Lee Shepard, "Jones, Walter," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 12:253-55; Herbert F. Wright, "Jones, Walter," Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1964), 5:1:203-4.