Thomas McKissick Jones

Background

Thomas Jones was born on December 16, 1816 in Person County, North Carolina, United States. He was the son of Wilson and Rebecca McKissick Jones.

Education

Thomas received his education at Wirtenburg Academy in Pulaski, Tennessee, prior to graduating from the University of Alabama in 1833 and from the University of Virginia in 1835.

Career

On 14 June 1836 Thomes Jones enlisted in the First Tennessee Mounted Volunteers. He also began to practice law and became interested in several business ventures. From 1842 to 1855 he was a director of a regional turnpike company; in 1855, a director and eventually president of the Nashville and Decatur Railroad; and a director of two local banks. By 1860 he owned fifty-four slaves and property valued at $91,500.

Jones was often mayor of Pulaski and on occasion was a member of the General Assembly; in 1847 he was a member of the Tennessee Senate. He was also a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1856, 1860 (Charleston), and 1880. In 1861 Jones was a representative from Tennessee to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States where he served on the committees for Flag and Seal and Naval Affairs. In the congress he spoke in opposition to martial law and demonstrated an interest in the welfare of soldiers. He was not a candidate for reelection. When Federal troops captured Pulaski in 1863, Jones was taken prisoner and sent to Nashville. Governor Andrew Johnson paroled him, however, on condition that he did not communicate with members of the Confederate Congress or Confederate military commanders. After the war he resumed his law practice.

In 1870 Jones was a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention. Interested in judicial questions, he urged that judges and chancellors be appointed by the governor so as to remove the judiciary from politics. In 1872 Jones was appointed for ten months as a judge of the Court of Arbitration for Middle Tennessee. At various times he also served as a special judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Achievements

• Thomas McKissick Jones distinguished himself as a prominent Tennessee politician. He represented Tennessee in the Provisional Confederate Congress. He was a delegate from Tennessee to the Confederate Provisional Congress and to the Tennessee State Constitutional Convention.

Religion

Thomas was a vestryman in the Episcopal church.

Politics

Jones was a lifelong Democrat. He supported the Davis administration.

Membership

In 1843 Thomas joined the Masons and became Master Mason, Royal Arch Mason, and Knight Templar.

Connections

On 25 December 1838 Jones married Marietta Perkins and they became the parents of nine children: Calvin, Charles P., Thomas Wilson, Hume Field, Harriet, Edmund S., Lucy Anne, Lee Walthal, and Nicholas Tate. His second wife was Anne Perkins Wood, but they had no children.

Father:

Wilson Jones

Mother:

Rebecca McKissick Jones

late wife:

Marietta Perkins Jones

1820-1872

Son:

Calvin Jones

Son:

Charles Perkins Jones

1844-1937

Son:

Thomas Wilson Jones

Daughter:

Hume Field Jones

Daughter:

Harriet Jones

Son:

Edmund S. Jones

Daughter:

Lucy Anne Jones

Son:

Lee Walthal Jones

Son:

Nicholas Tate Jones

Wife:

Anne Perkins Wood Jones

References

• Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy
  1977