Walter was born on October 7, 1776 at "Hayfield, " Northumberland County, Virginia, United States. He was a descendant of Capt. Roger Jones who came from England with Lord Culpeper in 1680. His mother's name was Alice Flood. His father, Dr. Walter Jones, an Edinburgh-trained physician of prominence in his day, was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1788 and a congressman from Virginia in 1797-99 and 1803-11.
From a Scotch tutor named Thomas Ogilvie, Walter Jones received the classical education which characterized all his later work.
Jones read law in Richmond under Bushrod Washington and was admitted to the bar of Virginia in May 1796, before he became of legal age. He practiced first in the courts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties and in 1802 was appointed by President Jefferson, who was a friend of his father, as United States attorney for the District of Potomac, and in 1804, for the District of Columbia.
He resigned his federal attorneyship in 1821, but until his last illness continued with distinguished success the practice of law before the United States Supreme Court as well as in the courts of Maryland and Virginia. With Daniel Webster he was employed by the heirs to attempt to break the Girard Will. Although he was unsuccessful in this case (1844), in which he was opposed by Horace Binney and John Sergeant, he won great praise from Rufus Choate. He was of counsel for Myra Clark Gaines in much of the litigation over the will of her father, Daniel Clark.
The law was not his only field of achievement. He took part in the battle of Bladensburg, in 1821 was commissioned by President Monroe as brigadier-general of militia, and at the time of his death was major-general of the militia of the District of Columbia.
Late in 1816, he was associated with Rev. Robert Finlay, John Randolph, Bushrod Washington, Henry Clay, and others in founding the American Colonization Society "for the purpose of colonizing the free people of colour in the United States of America, in Africa, or elsewhere", being a member of the committee to prepare a constitution and rules for the society and a member of the committee to present a memorial to Congress requesting support of the colonization proposal.
He died at Washington after an illness of eight or ten days.
Walter Jones was known as successful lawyer, his most famous case was McCulloch vs. Maryland, argued in 1819. Other important cases in which he participated actively were Ogden vs. Saunders, 1827, in which he won the decision against Webster and Wheaton; Binney vs. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company, 1835; Mayor of the City of New York vs. Miln, 1837; and Groves vs. Slaughter, 1841, concerning the respective powers of the federal and state governments over the introduction of slaves within the border of a state. He also was the co-founder of the American Colonization Society, a founder of the Washington National Monument Society.
Although a Virginian by birth, he was devoted to the Union and held the secession movement in Virginia a double treason, first, to the United States, and second, to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Small of stature and eccentric in dress, Jones was unimpressive in the court room. He was possessed of such rare conversational powers and personal charm that he was socially in great demand, and he was generous and sympathetic to a fault.
Quotes from others about the person
Rufus Choate praized Jones for his "silver voice and infinite analytical ingenuity and resources".
A contemporary newspaper-man wrote of him: "He speaks slowly and in a low tone, but with great purity of diction and clearness of thought. There is, however, a great want of force in his manner and few listen to him. " "A rival of Pinkney, Wirt and Webster , " wrote the same correspondent, "as a common law counsellor he excelled them all in depth and variety of learning. He is universally respected, and by those who know him, warmly beloved. "
In May 1808 Jones married Ann Lucinda Lee, daughter of Charles Lee, 1758-1815, attorney-general under Washington and Adams, by his first wife, Anne, daughter of Richard Henry Lee, the Signer. From the time of his marriage, which eventually resulted in three sons and eleven daughters, Jones made his home in Washington.
