|
|
James Alfred Jones, LL. D.
Facts and Events
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Barringer, Paul Brandon; James Mercer Garnett; and Rosewell Page. University of Virginia: its history, influence, equipment and characteristics, with biographical sketches and portraits of founders, benefactors, officers and alumni. (New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1904)
1:373.
JONES, James Alfred, 1820-1894
Lawyer. Final Year, 1839.
James Alfred Jones, for so many years one of the leaders of the Virginia Bar, was born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and passed his early life upon an old plantation.
He was educated in the private schools of his neighborhood, and in 1836 entered the University of Virginia. In 1839 he was graduated therefrom with the degree of Master of Arts. After leaving the University he studied Law and settled in Petersburg, Virginia, to practice his profession. At that Bar, which has always been distinguished for its ability, he met Gholson, Joynes, Patton, Daniel, Robinson, Baldwin, and others. In course of time he came to Richmond and soon acquired a large practice. This consisted in the main of Appellate Court practice, where he stood in the foremost ranks of his profession. His mind was strong, vigorous and well trained. As a scholar his learning was not confined to the Law, but he drew from the fields of literature as well as from those of jurisprudence. Before Courts and juries alike he was strong and effective. His arguments were clear and simile. Among his brethren of the Bar he was highly esteemed for his courtesy and consideration. For years before his death he had retired from the practice, it being alleged by his friends to be owing to his disapproval of the Appellate Bench of his State, which had been changed in the vicissitudes of politics. He died February 26, 1894, leaving one daughter, Mrs. D. Gardner Tvler.
- ↑ Henry, William Wirt, and Ainsworth Rand Spofford. Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia of the nineteenth century: with a concise historical sketch of Virginia by Hon. William Wirt Henry and of the District of Columbia by Ainsworth R. Spofford. (Madison, Wisconsin: Brant & Fuller, 1893)
488.
This prominent citizen of Richmond, Va., the son of James B. Jones, of the county of Mecklenburg, Va., and Judith Bailey, his wife, was born in that county, June 3, 1820. ... The mother of James Alfred Jones, Judith Bailey Hall ...
... James Alfred Jones, on the 4th of July, 18.^9, at the age of nineteen, graduated at the university of Virginia with the degree of master of arts. He has since received the title of LL. D. from Richmond college. Commencing the study of law, in connection with his academic studies, in the university, he continued this study for a year after graduating, in the city of Richmond, under the guidance of the eminent lawyer, Conway Robinson; and was licensed to practice, in the courts of Virginia, in "July, 1840. In April, 1841, he located in Petersburg, Va., and began the practice of law, which he has followed ever since, removing to Richmond in 1857. He has now been engaged in the successful practice of his profession fifty years. In 1850, he was elected a member of the convention, called to consider the amendments to the state constitution. This convention assembled in October, 1850, and, excepting an interval from October to January, 185 1, continued in session until July, 1851. The proposed amendments met with no favor from Mr. Jones, nor the constitution, which was framed by that body and adopted by the people. He was, indeed, the only conservative in its true sense, in that body.
In 1853 he was elected a member of the state senate from the Petersburg district, and served one term, which ended in the spring of 1857, removing to Richmond very soon after it expired. Prior to coming to Richmond, his practice was in the courts of Petersburg and the adjacent counties. His practice in Richmond has been, for the most part, confined to the supreme court of appeals. It was discriminately written of him, when spoken of as a suitable person to fill a seat on the court of appeals bench: "He is learned in the laws; has an extensive reputation as a sound lawyer; is a logical and concise legal debater; and his learning, discrimination, judgment and pure moral characacter justify the prediction that he would make an excellent judge of the supreme court." He has never served in any political capacity since his removal to Richmond, which was made to devote himself exclusively to his profession. Educated in the doctrine of states' rights, at the university of Virginia, he has steadily adhered to it throughout his life. Durinp the more active portion of his career Mr. Jones has served as director and counsel of some of the railroads and banks of the state. He is now a trustee of Richmond college.
On June 30, 1858, in Mobile, Ala., he married Mary Henry, daughter of James G. and Lavinia C. Lyon, of that city, and a niece of the late Francis Strother Lyon, a distinguished citizen of Alabama, of which he was a representative in the congress of the United States before that state seceded, and afterward in the congress of the Confederate States; but who was perhaps most distinguished as manager of the finances of the state of Alabama during its trouble in the forties. For nearly twenty-eight years this lovely woman adorned his house and charmed his life. She died March 30, 1886, leaving an only child, Mary Morris Jones, who survives to cheer the evening of his days, inheriting the sweetness of her mother's nature, and her active benevolence and charities.
|
|
