John Rice Jones
| John Rice Jones | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Missouri Supreme Court Justice | |
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In office 1821–1824 |
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| Preceded by | none |
| Succeeded by | George Tomkins |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 11, 1759 Mallwyd, Wales, United Kingdom |
| Died | February 1, 1824 (aged 64) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Spouse(s) | Eliza (Powell) Jones (1781-1787) Mary (Barger) Jones (1791-1824) |
John Rice Jones (February 11, 1759 – February 1, 1824) was a Welsh-born, American politician, jurist, and military officer. He helped establish the territorial governments in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. John Rice Jones was the father of U.S. Senator George W. Jones from Iowa.
Jones was born in Mallwyd, Wales, the eldest of fourteen children to John Jones, an excise officer. He received his college education at Oxford University, studying both Medicine and Law. He chose Law as a career and established a practice in London, England In January, 1781 in Brecon, Wales 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.
In 1784 John Rice Jones sailed to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania He returned to Wales within the year to bring his wife and son, John Rice, back to America, though leaving behind his infant daughter, Maria. While in Philadelphia he became friends with prominent Americans Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush 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 Louisville, Kentucky. In September, of that year, he joined the frontier Virginia army, of General George Rogers Clark, in the campaign to quash, an uprising by, the Native Americans, of the Wabash Confederacy. As part of the ongoing conflict, a garrison was established at Fort Vincennes, with Jones appointed its Commissary General. 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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