278:. In his job as Commissary General Jones had made several trips to the Kaskaskia area. In March, 1791 his land holdings increased again as he was awarded a land tract near Vincennes by the U.S. Congress in appreciation for his military service. It was also in 1791—on his birthday February 11 in fact—that Jones married for a second time, to Mary Barger. While still maintaining his property and law practice at Vincennes, by the early 1790s Jones had moved his family to Kaskaskia. Fluent in French, Spanish, and English, Jones was able to draw on legal clients from all the white inhabitants of the area and would sometimes act as emissary or go-between for the various nationalities. Early settlers often being cash-poor, Jones would accept land parcels as payment for legal work and became one of the territories largest landowners. It was also in the late 1790s that Jones made his first forays into what would eventually become
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one of his dissenting opinions he remarked that he had not " been in the practice of the law for some time." (Holmes v. Elliott, 1 Mo. 41, 45.) Whether it is that circumstance which induced the large proportion of dissents and the comparatively small number of majority opinions, or whether the wholesome lesson is to be drawn that a judge prone to elaborate dissenting opinions is thereby clogged in writing opinions that are to stand for the law, is a question beyond the scope of this sketch. In Brown v. Ward, 1 Mo. 209, Judge Jones apologized for the brevity of his opinion because of "the very weak state of health which I have been in for these weeks past." This illness seems to have terminated fatally, for he was not on the bench after
November, 1823.
319:. With the reorganization of the territory came a new job for John Rice Jones in 1805 as Governor Harrison appointed him to the territory's Legislative Council, where he served until 1808. In 1808 Jones attempted to be named territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, however a political and personal falling out with Harrison over slavery and the latter's dismissal of the Legislative Council scuttled Jones' bid to represent Indiana in Washington D.C. Perhaps John Rice Jones longest-lasting impact on Indiana came in 1807 when he helped in the founding of
340:. It began in December, 1808 when his son Rice Jones was murdered in Kaskaskia. The younger Jones had been involved in a heated political dispute with Shadrach Bond Jr. which led to a duel. Neither party was wounded in the affair of honor, but Bond's second, Dr. James Dunlap remained unsatisfied and allegedly arranged for the assassination of Rice Jones on a Kaskaskia street. The murderer was never apprehended. Soon after, Federal authorities ruled against many of John Rice Jones' land claims in Illinois, causing some financial loss.
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363:. Once the Missouri Territory was organized, Jones served on the legislative council, as he had before in Indiana. In June, 1820 John Rice Jones was a delegate to the Missouri constitutional convention, his legal expertise often called upon in the drafting of the new states laws and regulations. With statehood came two United States Senators and ones very much desired to be one.
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He participated in the decision of about one hundred and forty cases, and seems to have been the dissenting judge of his day. Fifteen dissenting, or non-concurring, opinions by him are reported. In twenty-eight of the one hundred and forty cases mentioned, he delivered the opinion of the court. In
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organized his administration in early 1801 he appointed Jones as the first
Attorney General. The following year Jones, a pro-slavery advocate, participated in a conference that urged the U.S. Congress to repeal or suspend certain slavery portions of the 1787
230:. He returned to Wales within the year to bring his wife and son, Rice Jones (1781-1808), back to America, though leaving behind his infant daughter, Maria. While in Philadelphia he became friends with prominent Americans
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championed the cause of splitting the
Illinois counties out of Indiana Territory into their own governing entity. This goal was reached on March 1, 1809. However, Jones found nothing but considerable heartache in the new
262:. Jones was joined by his family at Vincennes, but tragedy soon befell them as Eliza died in childbirth on March 11, 1787. The child, named Myers Fisher Jones for his Philadelphia friend, died soon afterward.
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while practicing law with noted early attorney Myers Fisher. After two years in
Philadelphia hearing tales of the opportunities awaiting in the new American west, in 1786 he moved to
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After his falling out with
William Henry Harrison in 1808, John Rice Jones left Vincennes for good, choosing to relocate his law practice and family to Kaskaskia. There he and
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As a consolation prize of sorts, but really a position much better suited to his temperament and training, John Rice Jones was named one of the three judges appointed to the
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165:(February 11, 1759 – February 1, 1824) was a Welsh-born, American politician, jurist, and military officer. He helped establish the territorial governments in
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Jones married Eliza Powell, daughter of
Richard and Mary Powell. He remained in Brecon setting up as a solicitor, with chambers at Thanet Place in London.
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was a first ballot selection to claim one of the seats, while Jones and four others vied for the remaining position. By a margin of one vote it went to
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In 1810 Jones, already with considerable business holdings across the
Mississippi River—namely his lead mining venture—left Illinois Territory for the
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in 1821. On the bench Judge Jones often cast dissenting votes and opinions on the various issues brought before the high court:
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and settled around Mine a' Breton. For the next several years he largely concerned himself with lead mining and
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197:, the eldest of fourteen children to John Jones, an excise officer. He received his college education at
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John Rice Jones: a brief sketch of the life and public career of the first practicing lawyer in
Illinois
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In the late 1780s John Rice Jones began to invest in land, both around
Vincennes and
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Jones died without completing his first term on the court, on
February 1, 1824.
242:. In September, of that year, he joined the frontier Virginia army, of General
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421:. Chicago, Illinois: Fergus Printing Company. Fergus' Historical Series #82.
511:. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Centennial Commission. pp. 426–427.
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470:, Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 61, pg. 58–82
493:. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. pp. 440–441.
489:
Christensen, Lawrence O.; Foley, William E.; Kremer, Gary R. (1999).
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The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans
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254:. As part of the ongoing conflict, a garrison was established at
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310:. When territorial Governor (and later U.S. President)
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in exploration of lead mining areas west and north of
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Missouri Supreme Court justice, later life, and death
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Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1904).
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177:. John Rice Jones was the father of U.S. Senator
547:. Vol. VI. Boston: The Biographical Society
246:, in the campaign to quash, an uprising by, the
954:Members of the Missouri Territorial Legislature
439:The Dictionary of Welsh Biography, Down to 1940
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944:Members of the Indiana Territorial Legislature
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468:John Rice Jones: Citizen of many territories
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904:Alumni of the University of Oxford
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979:19th-century Missouri politicians
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974:19th-century Indiana politicians
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491:Dictionary of Missouri Biography
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138:Eliza (Powell) Jones (1781–1787)
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909:People from Kaskaskia, Illinois
140:Mary (Barger) Jones (1791–1824)
914:People from Vincennes, Indiana
45:Missouri Supreme Court Justice
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555:– via Internet Archive.
523:The Supreme Court of Missouri
939:Illinois Territory officials
507:Alvord, Clarence W. (1999).
298:Indiana Territorial official
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274:, in what would become the
258:, with Jones appointed its
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228:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
919:Indiana attorneys general
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594:Indiana Attorneys General
417:Jones, W.A. Burt (1889).
282:. In 1797 he accompanied
218:Frontier military officer
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531:(1891), Vol. 3, p. 166.
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376:Missouri Supreme Court
312:William Henry Harrison
266:Lawyer and businessman
466:Burgess, Charles E.,
899:Vincennes University
321:Vincennes University
240:Louisville, Kentucky
205:In January, 1781 in
179:George Wallace Jones
884:People from Mallwyd
357:after June 4, 1812)
350:Louisiana Territory
317:Northwest Ordinance
308:Northwest Territory
244:George Rogers Clark
128:St. Louis, Missouri
889:People from Brecon
369:Thomas Hart Benton
355:Missouri Territory
338:Illinois Territory
276:Illinois Territory
260:Commissary General
252:Wabash Confederacy
189:Jones was born in
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236:Dr. Benjamin Rush
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639:(since 1855)
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602:Territorial
549:. Retrieved
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365:David Barton
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284:Moses Austin
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123:(1824-02-01)
73:Succeeded by
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18:
969:1824 deaths
964:1759 births
753:Stotsenburg
658:J. G. Jones
618:J. R. Jones
181:from Iowa.
63:Preceded by
878:Categories
788:S. Jackson
783:O. Jackson
678:Williamson
333:John Edgar
185:Early life
97:1759-02-11
848:S. Carter
833:P. Carter
808:McManamon
758:Stansbury
551:April 30,
272:Kaskaskia
250:, of the
145:Signature
135:Spouse(s)
57:1821–1824
53:In office
838:Modisett
713:Michener
653:McDonald
648:Morrison
361:smelting
302:In 1800
280:Missouri
175:Missouri
171:Illinois
853:Zoeller
828:Pearson
768:Gilliom
748:Milburn
738:Bingham
723:Ketcham
708:F. Hord
703:Baldwin
698:Woollen
693:Buskirk
673:O. Hord
191:Mallwyd
167:Indiana
104:Mallwyd
863:Rokita
823:Sendak
818:Dillon
813:Steers
798:Emmert
793:Beamer
733:Miller
728:Taylor
668:Kibbey
637:State
173:, and
130:, U.S.
803:Foust
773:Ogden
743:Honan
718:Smith
688:Denny
683:Hanna
663:Usher
613:Parke
525:, in
391:Notes
195:Wales
108:Wales
858:Hill
778:Lutz
763:Lesh
553:2022
234:and
118:Died
91:Born
67:none
880::
499:^
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371:.
294:.
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586:e
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95:(
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