Background
Jones, Charles Alvin was born on August 27, 1887 in Newport, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Alvin and Mary (Sheats) Jones.
Jones, Charles Alvin was born on August 27, 1887 in Newport, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Alvin and Mary (Sheats) Jones.
Student Mercersburg (Pennsylvania) Academy, Williams College. Bachelor of Laws, Dickinson School Law, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Doctor of Laws, Dickinson College, University of Pennsylvania, William College, Villanova U., Temple University.
He was admitted to the Perry County Bar in 1910, but soon went to Pittsburgh and began working for a large law firm. During World War I he drove an ambulance for the French Army and was a U.S. Naval Aviation Ensign from 1918 to 1919. In 1938, he ran for the governorship of Pennsylvania as the endorsed Democratic candidate, but lost to Arthur H. James by nearly 300,000 votes.
On July 14, 1939, Jones was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by John Warren Davis. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 18, 1939, and received his commission on July 25, 1939. Jones served in that capacity until his resignation, on December 31, 1944
His resignation from the Federal bench allowed him to take a seat on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on January 3, 1945.
He had been elected to that seat in November and was the only Democrat on the Court. He became Chief Justice in 1956, and served in that position until his retired in 1961, due to his deteriorating vision. He then was a senior advisor to the Philadelphia law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
He was noted for his authorship of the Court's majority opinion overturning the conviction of Steve Jones, a Communist, on state sedition charges. He died in Wynnewood, Montgomery County, on May 22, 1966. Another son, Charles Alvin Jones, Jr. was killed during World War II while serving as a Marine aviator in the Pacific.
Served in American Ambulance Service with French Army, 1917. Member American Pennsylvania State, Allegheny County bar associations.
Married Isabelle Arrott. Children: William Arrot, Charles Alvin (killed in action, Mindanao, P.I., May 30, 1945), Mistress David C. Brittain.