W I LM I N & TON , N
J u niu s D avis
E sq
,
Feb
.
5 , 19 06
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D EA R S I R — The undersigned your fellow citizens ha v ing
read with great interest and satisfaction your admirable con
&
i
r
to
t
C
arolina
history
entitled
S ome F acts
r
i
u
t
o
n
N
o
h
t b
Ab out John Paul J ones p u blished in the S outh Atlantic
”
&uarterly and desiring th at this unique elucidati on of the
mystery of Che v alier Jones ad opted name be p
u blish e d in
pamphlet form in order that it may be placed in public libra
ries and in pri v ate collections for future guidance m ost cor
d ial
l
y felicitate you up on its pr oducti on and request your
permission f or its more extended circulation
& ours faithfully
A M WAD D ELL
JO HN D T A & L O R,
O P M E A RE s
RO B ERT S TRAN & E
E S M A RT I N
W B M C& O&
G G T H O MAS
CLA& TON & I L E S
C W WO RTH
J G D E R HA M I LTON
J A M E S S P RUNT
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( MR
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D
AV I S RE P L & )
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F ebruary 7 19 06
D EA R S m s :—& our courte ous r equest f or permission to
republish in pamphlet form my article on Pa ul
Jones which
recently appeared in the South Atlantic &uarterly has
bee n received and as Mr E dwin Mims one of its edi tors ,
has cordially approv
e d this prop osal on being app r ize d there
of I have to add with this permission my gratefu l tha nks f or
your kind appreciati on of my work
& ours truly
J UN I US DA V I S
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S om
F acts A b out J ohn P au
e
lJ ones
B& J U N I U S DAV I S ,
M
em
b e r of the
W il m
ington N
,
.
C., B ar .
Thanks to the generous and untiring zeal of ou r late ambas
sador to F rance the grave of John Paul Jones has recently
been discovere d in Paris and his remains ha ve been removed
by the governm ent to this coun try for interment at Annapolis
This discovery has re v ived the interest w hich our p eople have
always taken in the career of this illustrious captain of the
s e as and has of lat e pro v oked much discussi on in the maga
zines and newspapers of the v ari ous incidents in his life and,
in particular of the reas on for his change of name The
reas on f or this change of nam e has e ve r been a puzzle to his
bi ographers M ost of them pass it by with the mere state
ment that he changed his name for unkn own reas ons
Some few attempt to account f or it upon the ories which
i
while they m ay b e plausible yet do not appeal t o the intel
l
gent reader O f these there are three which perhaps seem
most plausible and which one or an other ar e generally
a ccepte d as true by most pe ople I will proceed t o gi ve these ,
and the reas ons which occ u r to me f or re j ecting them as nu
s ound and without anything but conj ecture to supp ort them
S herbourne w ho was I belie v e the first Am erican b iogr a
pher of Jones says on page 1 0 : O ur adventurer being at
leng th fre e d from the trammels of ap p
renticeship made
several voyages to foreign parts and in the year 1 773 again
went to Virginia to arrange the a ff airs of his brother w ho
had died there without leaving any family & and about t his
time in additi on to his original surname he assumed the
patronym ic of Jones his fath e r s Christian name having be en
J ohn T his cust om which is of classical auth ority has long
been prevalent in Wales and in v ari ous other countries and
hav ing built up his edifice to this p
oint he immediately pro
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SO ME FA C TS
6
A B OU T
J O HN P A UL J ONES
.
in the next breath to demolish it with the naive remark ,
al th ough it is not practi ced in that part of the island in
which he was born
T his idea was not original with Sher
b ourne but was taken by him fr om an articl e in the E din
burgh Encyclopedia which Sherb ourne says in a n ot e on page
learned fro m Mr L owden the nephew of Jones a
1 1 he
respectable merchant now ( 1 82 5 ) resident at Charleston
S C was written from the lips of Mr L owden s mother for
N or did
that w ork by Dr Duncan of Dumfries Scotland
it come from the lips of Mr L owden s mother as is plainly
app arent from the context in Sherbourne and from the account
given in the life of Jones c ommonly ascribed to his niece Miss
J annette Taylor but it was developed in the imagination of
D r Duncan
Now whoever heard of a Scotchman rummaging among
the tr aditions and customs of the Welsh in a search for a
change of his name ? And who ever heard of such a custom
being prevalent in any part of Scotland ? Besides at this
period of his life Jones was a matured man twenty six years
of age had come to settle definite ly in America had turned
h is back forever on his n
ative land, and was never again to
In fact it was in 1 771
s e e a single member of his family
*
i
o
r
that he saw his r el
the last time
No
at ons in Sc otland f
one can read his lif e and his correspondence with out b eing
impressed by the fact that his interest in his family was
prompted more by duty and sentiment than by any real love
or a ff ection
He was often in England after 1 771 but he
never went near his family or evinced the least desire to see
any of th em
In truth he had risen far above the humbl
e
gar d ener his father and while he at times c orresponded wit h
his family he moved in a diff erent world in which they had
no part If it was filial affection wh ich induced the patro
h ymie of Jones is it not c ertain that his family would have
know n it ? Would he not out of the same l
ove have haste ned
to tell it t o his m other w ho was then living if not to his
ceed s
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Tay l o
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23 .
S O ME FA C TS A B OUT JO HN P A UL J ONES
7
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siste rs ? The mere fact that he did not d o so that he studi
ou sl
y conceale d it from them is to my mind t he strong es t
refutation of this surmise of Dr Duncan It must be remem
bered also that when he took up on himse l
f the name of J ones
ra
en
omen John and
or sh ortly afterwards he dr oppe d the p
usually c alled himself Paul Jones
In the life of Jones by his niece Jannette Taylor the only
menti on of this event is as follows ( page 3 1 )
At the time
when Paul settled ( or more properly supp osed he meant to
settle ) in Virginia it would seem that he assumed the addi
surn ame of Jones Pre v i ous t o this date his letters
tional
We ar e l
ef t to con
ar e signed J ohn Paul
j ectu r e the r eas on
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f
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this ar bitr ar y
nge
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His
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l
ation
w er e
s
never
ab
lto
e
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th e re is no al
u s ion to the circumstanc e in the
ts which he left and tr adition is s il
t on the su b
m an
us cr ip
en
The italics are mine
j ect
&
I t ake it that trad iti on
as here used meant tradition
among the family in Scotland and as so used I admit the
tr u th of it But that traditi on was silent in N orth C ar olina
I den y th ough it had not at that time spr e ad beyond he r
border W e w ere e ver pr oud of ou r traditions in this State
b u t clung to them so tenaci ously that we were l oath to let
them stray abr oad and be kn own to oth er pe ople
lbut one which
An oth e r the ory and the wildest of them al
als o has its belie v ers is that J ohn Paul came to America and
took the name of Jones t o conce al his identity and a v oid arrest
N ow when Pa u l
f or the murder of the carpenter Maxwell
flogged Maxw e l
l f or his m utinous c onduct he was in com
m and of the ship J ohn on his sec ond v oy age in her
He dis
charged Maxwell at the I sland of T obago in May 1 770
Maxwe l
l immediately had Paul haled b efore the Vice
Admiralty Court for assault but the c omplaint was dismissed
as fri volous L ater on in E ngland in 1 772 he was charged
with the mur der of Ma xwell and it seems that an indictment
presumably for mur der or manslaughter was found against
assign one &
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F A C TS
S O ME
8
A B O UT J OHN P A UL JO NES
.
him A comple te and perfect contradiction of this calu m ny
is to be found in Bra dy pages 9 and 1 0 and Miss Ta ylor s
book pages 1 8 and 20 where S he gives the affi
dav it of t he
Judge of t he Vice Admiralty C ou r t w ho heard the complaint
of Maxwell and of the master of the ship on which Ma xwell
died
So that it seems abundantly proven not merely that P aul
did not flee England on this account but positively that he
disdained t o fly and m et and boldly confronted the charge
In a let ter written by P aul to his mother and S isters spe aking
of this occurrence dated L ondon Septe mber 4 1 772 he says :
I stake d my honor life and fortune f or S ix long months on
the verdict of a British j ury notwithstandin g I was sensible
of t he general pre j udices which ran a
gainst me &but after a ll,
none of my accusers had the courage to confront me
Anoth e r theory is the one fi
rst advanced by Bu ell in his
&
L ife of Jones
This book is one of the latest attempts at
an ext ended history of Jones and in spite of some errors is
an exce e dingly interesting work Though wr itten more than
one hundred years after the death of Jones and after numer
ou s writers had seemingly e xh auste d every available source of
light and information he gives many incidents , and i nterest
ing ones too in the career of J ones that were never heard of
before Some of these are highl y co lored and se emingly
very improbable and som e without support in fact But it
is no part of this article to cri t icis e Buell s book save that
part which refers to the re ason f or J ones s change of name
Buell says page 1 that John Paul s old er brother W illiam
was adopted in 1 743 by a relative named W illiam Jones , a
well to do V irginia planter , while he was on a visit to & irk
be an Parish and that William then took t he name of Jones
On p
age 6 he says : O ld William Jones died in 1 76 0 and
by the terms of his will had made John Paul the residuary
lega te e of his broth e r ( William ) in cas e the latter should die
with out issue provided that J ohn Paul would assume as his
brother had d one the patronym ic of Jones O n his visit to
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S OME
F A C TS
A B O U T J OHN P AUL J O N E S
9
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in 1 76 9 , Captain John Pa ulle gally qualified
under the provisions of the will of William Jones by record
ing his assent to its requirements in due form
Naturally the reader would pres ume that the statement of
an his torical fact so positiv ely made was base d on record
e v idence & but not so The entire statement is without sup
p ort in every particular I have a duly cer tified copy of the
will of William Paul dated March 2 2 1 772 proc ured in
May last from the clerk of the C ircuit C ourt of S p
ott syl
vania
C ounty Virginia , and taken from the records on fi
l
e in his
office
It begins thus : I William Paul of the town of
vania in Virginia
F r ed er icksbu r g and county of S p
ottsyl
being in perfectly sound memory thanks be to Almighty
& od
etc etc The third clause of the will is in these words :
It is my will and des ire that my lots and h ouses in this tow n
he s old and c on v e rte d into money f or as much as they will
bring that with all my other estate being sold and what of my
outstanding debts that can be collected I give and bequeath
unto my beloved sis te r Mary & oung and her tw o eldest chil
dren in A r b igl
and in Parish & irkbean in the Stewartry of
Galloway and their heirs forever And I do hereby em
po w er my executors to sell and convey the said lots and
houses and make a fee S imple therein and I d o appoint my
friends Mr William Templeman and Isaac Hislop my exec
u tor s t o see t his my will exec uted c onfirming this to be my
las t will and testament
This sister Mary & oung afterwards married a Mr Wil
liam L ow den who remo v ed to this country and was a mer
S C as late as 182 5
B oth of the
c hant in C harlest on
and one J ohn Atkinson was appointed
e xe cutors renounced
administra tor and ga ve bond in the sum of five hundred
pounds the am ount fixed by the court The will was admit
It is subscribed & William
te d to probate December 1 6 1 774
Paul ” and the attes tation clause is— William Paul having
heard the above will distinctly read declared the same to be
”
his last will and testament in t he presence of us
Thre e
Rap
pahanock
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S O ME FA C TS A B O UT J OHN P A UL J ONES
10
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several times in the will does the testator s olemnly declare
his name to be William P aul and the n ame of his brother
&
J ohn Paul is not menti oned within the four corners of the
instrument But this is not all In June last I wrote to
vania C ounty that
ot tsyl
the clerk of the Circuit C ourt of S p
it was asser ted that one William Jones planter died in Fred
e r ick sb u r g ab out 1 76 0 leaving a will in which he d evised all
of his pr operty including a plantation on the R ap
pahanock
to W illiam Paul or J ohn P aul and asking him if this was
true I n reply he wrote me that William J ones did not men
ti on the names of William P aul or J ohn P aul in his will and
that the only tract of land owned by him so far as the records
showed s ome 3 9 7 acres had been sold in his lifetime These
facts would see m to be a complete refutation of Buell s state
ment & et very nearly all of the many writers who have of
late be en filling the newspapers and magazines wi th articles
ab out Paul Jones have adopted Buell s theory and asserte d
it p ositively and con fi
dently without even g i v i ng Buell the
credit of the discovery L et us take one instance of the
reckless manner in w hich these articles are written A
sk etch of Paul Jones written by Alfred Henry L ewis is now
itan In the Augu st , 1 9 0 5 num ber
running in the Cos m op
ol
Mr L e w is g ives the same account as does Buell f or Paul s
change of name He says that in the m onth of April 1 773
mark t he date—Paul landed on the R ap
pahanock at the foot
iam J ones plantation wh e re his brother William
of the W il
l
was then li v ing &that he found him on his death bed and his
la st words were that his name had been William P aul Jones
since he inherit e d the p
l
ant ation from William Jones and
th at he J ohn must tak e the n ame of J ohn Paul Jones at his
death with the plantati on I n the S eptember number is
printed with the continuati on of his article a cut of W illiam
P aul s t ombstone bearing the name of William Paul—not
William Paul J ones—inscribe d upon it and the date of his
death as 1 774
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S O ME FA C TS
A B OUT
JO HN P A UL JO NES
11
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l
iam
Is it not very singular to say the least that if \Vil
J ones was a rel
ati v e of P aul s and while on a v isit t o & irk
bean adopted William Pa u l w ho then t ook the name of J ones
this fact was not kn own and well known t o all of t he membe rs
ow could su ch an imp ortant event in the
of the family ? H
quiet secluded life of their humble h ome have been forgotten
A nd yet it was not known to his niece Miss Tayl or w ho as
said bef ore came t o thi s country t o c ompile and write the life
of her uncle nor w as it heard of until it was told to Buell by
the great gr andnephew of J ones in 1 873
T he Re v Cy r u s T own s end Brady in an article which ap
pe ar e d in the J u ly 1 9 0 5 num ber of M u ns ey s M agazine
challenges this statement of Buell exp oses its fallacy and
decla r es his belief in the N orth C arolina tradition And he
gi ves s trong and conv incing reas ons f or his v iew of the matter
He says Buell wr ote him that he got his information from one
Willi am Lowden wh om he met in St L ouis in 1 873 and w ho
was a great grandnephew of Paul Jones Against this b e
sides the r ecord evidence ab ove qu oted we hav e the equally
p ositi ve st atemen t quoted hereaft e r made by William L ow
den the nephew of J ohn Paul to Mr Hu b ard of Virginia
in 1 84 6 that he to ok the name of J ones ou t of afi
ec t ion f or
Willie and Allen Jones of N orth Car olin a Which of the
t w o sta te ment s S h ould carry the more weight to the unbiased
mind— the sta tement of the nephew made in 1 846 to a lineal
descendant of Willie Jones or the one m ade years later by the
gre at grandnephew to B u ell ? The questi on suggests but one
answer B u t to m y m ind the grandnephew gives testim ony
in supp ort of my contenti on He says that John Paul J ones
t ook the name of Jones from William J ones and the lane
from William t o Willie is but sh ort I admit this but the
re st of his state m ent is utterly dispr oved by the cold dispas
s iona
t e evidence of a court of rec ord
I ha v e thus endeavored to sh ow how utterly unreliable how
entirely unfounded is the voice of history L et us see now
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S OM E
12
F AC TS
A B O U T J OH N P A UL J O N ES
.
what traditi on as it has c ome down to us in No rth C arol in a
from ou r forefathers may have to say It w ill be conceded,
I believe by all who knew him that my father, the late Hon
George D a v is , was one of the most le arned most p ainstaking
an d intelligent students of the hist ory and traditions of our
State
To these he devoted a very large p orti on of his leisure
moments , with much labor keen delight and untiring study
Soon afte r I began the practice of law in his office, a bout
1 870 or 71 he told me as a fact well known t o and accept ed
by the m en of the older generation in the State from whom
it had c ome to him that soon after coming to Virginia in
1 773 Paul met Willie J ones and p aid him quite a long visit
at his home , The Gr ove
in Halifax County N C that he
conceived a great attachment for Jones and his most accom
is he d wife and out of aff ecti on for them add e d Jones to his
pl
name
The following is an extract fr om a lette r dated S aratoga
Buckingham County Virginia , F ebruary 2 2 1876 first pub
l
is he d in the B altimore S u n and afterwards in the C harleston
While no r evolutionary biography
N ew s and Cou r ier
can boast more public events of vivid and intense interest
than that of Paul Jones none is so bare and meagre in per
sonal detail & even the fact that he has immortalized a name
which was his only by selection and adoption is slurred over
in hi story with a calm statement that he ch anged his name
As the reasons were not unknown
f or unknown reasons
and h owever difficult to obta in later were then easily a ccessi
ble it app e ars to have been rath er a lack of careful and
intelligent investigation than of facts which caused their
suppression
In 1 773 the de at h of his brother in V ir
ginia wh ose heir he was induced him t o settle in Virginia
It was th en he add e d t o his name and h enc eforth was known
’
as P aul Jones
This was don e in compliment to one of the
most noted state smen of that day and in the love and grati
tude it shadows forth is a reproach to a people w h o could
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SO ME FA C TS AB O UT JO HN P A UL JO NES
13
.
neglect in life and forget in d eath It appears that before
permanently s et tling in Virginia m ov ed by t he restlessness
of his old seafaring life he wandered ab out the country
finally straying to N orth Carolina There he bec ame ac
They
q u ainte d with two br others W illie and Allen J ones
were both leaders in their day and wise and honored in their
generation Allen J ones was an orator and S ilv er tongued
\Villie J ones the foremo s t man of his Stat e and one of the
m ost r emarkable men of his time
His h ome The
Gro ve near Halifax was not only the resort of the cultivated
and refined but the h ome of the h omeless
And it was
here the young adventurer J ohn P aul was first touched by
those gentler and purer influences which changed not only his
name but himself from the rough and re ckless mariner into
the polished man of s ociety who was the companion of kings
and the li on and pet of Parisian salons
The al
most worship
ing love and rev erence , awakened in his hitherto wild and
untam ed nature by the generous kindness of the brother s
found expressi on in his ad option of their name The truth
of this acc ount is not only attested by the descendant s of
Willie J ones but by the nephew and descendant of P aul
J ones Mr L owden of S outh Car olina This ge ntleman in
1 846 was in \Vashington awaiting the passage of a bill by
congress awarding him the land claim of his distinguished
u ncle Paul Jones which had been allowed by the Executive
Hon E W Hubard then a member of con
of Virginia
gress from Virginia had in 1 844 prepared a report on Vir
ginia land claims in which the committee end orsed that of
Paul J ones This naturally attracted Mr L owden to him
and learning that Mrs Hubard was a descendant of Willie
Jones he repeated both to CO1 Hubard and herself the cause
of his uncle s change of name and added that amongst his
”
pictures hung a portrait of Allen Jones
I have quoted largely from this interesting l etter be cause
so many of the statemen ts contained in it are true beyond
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S OME F A CTS AB O UT J OHN P A UL J ONES
14
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contradiction , and because it is so stron gly corroborative of
the tradition I am seeking to sustain C ol E W H ubard,
of V irginia , married Miss Salli e E ppes , w ho was a grand
daughter of Willie Jones He was a m embe r of the 2 9 th
c ongress , and in 1 846 a bill was intr oduced in that body for
the relief of the repres entativ es of P au l Jones , w h ich p assed
both houses This bill, how ever was b y som e mischance lost
in the s enate , and did not become a law In the next con
gress it was again introduced and fi
nally p assed in March
As ear ly as 1 787 congress had recommende d the set
1 84 8
&
p ay advances , and expenses
tl
e m en
t of J ones s claim for
amounting to £ 9 784 1 6 s 1 d but a full h al
f century elapsed
b e fore j ustice was permitte d t o b e done to th e memory of
one who had rendered such invaluable and illustrious services
t o this country
W h at a commentary upon the grati t u de of
republics &
Paul Jones s will was execute d in Paris on July 1 8, 1 79 2
the day of his death A duly exemplified copy of it was ad
m itte d to probate in Philadelphia on M ay 25
1 848 and
F rances E L owden appointed admin istratrix d e hene esse
cu m
tes tam ento annexo and the government p aid to her the
sum of
for J ones s S hare of the prize money from
the ships Betsey, U nion and C harmin g P ol ly, captured bvhis
squadron off th e co ast of England his pay from J une 2 1,
1 781 to M ay 1 788,
and
for moneys ad
vanced by him for the government a gg re g atin g the sum of
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Ag ain I have before mentioned t h e fact that Jones had a
nephew named L owden w ho lived in C har l eston , S C in
Now , what more natural and reasonab l e t h an that
this neph ew should be in Washington w h en this bill cla imed
the attention of c on g ress t o give his personal ai d and atten
ti on towards its passage and t he fi
nal accomp lis hm ent of a
tardy act of j ustice
’
It may seem strange that this cause for P au l s ch ange of
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See
Sh
e r b ou r
ne note
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to p
age 10.
M
i s Tay lo
s
r.
a e 14.
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,
S OME FA C TS A B O UT JO HN P A UL J O N ES
15
.
name should be know n to Mr L owden and not to Mrs Tay
lor J ones s sister and her children But the n there were
many strange and at this p e riod unaccountable incidents in
the life of this singular man It woul
d seem th at th ere was
not much love lost bet w een the L owdens and the Taylors and
theref ore little or no corresp
The
ondence between them
following is an extract from a l et ter from Jones to his sister
Mrs Taylor , dated Paris December 27, 1 79 0 and taken
fr om M iss Taylor s book page 5 1 9 : I duly rec eived m y
d ear M r s T ay l
or your lette r of the 1 6 th Au gust but ever
since that time I have been unable to answer it, not having
been capable to go out of my c hamber and having been for
I shall not conceal
the most part obli ged to keep my bed
fr om you that your family discord aggravates infinitely all
my pains My grief is inexpressible that two sisters , whose
happ iness is so interesting to me , do not live together in tha t
mutual tendernes s and affe cti on which would do so much
h onor to themselves and to the memory of their worthy rel a
ti ons
Tho u gh I wish t o be the instrument of making
family peace which I flatter myself would tend to prom ote
the happiness of you all yet I by no means desire you t o d o
violence to your own feelings by taking any step that is con
t r ary to your own j udgment and inclination
Miss T aylor gives no explanati on of this bitter feeling b e
tween the t w o sisters and this letter is the only allusion to it
in her book I venture t o s ay that it was caused by the will
of William Paul and the fact that he ga v e all his estate to his
sister Mary who afterwards married William L owden E very
l
aw yer of experience w e ll kn ow s that there is nothing so well
calculated to create bitterness and discord in a family as an
unequal distribution of his estate by one of its members
Mr L owden moved to this country at what tim e is u n
known to me and lived in S outh C arolina , while the Taylors
remained in Scotland I t is easy t o see that he may well have
heard of this tradition ab out which I am writing after he
Tay lo t o hi h t h ab ov i anan i not p b li h d in
T h l tt
f o M
M i Tay l o
b ook
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S OME FA C TS A B OUT J OHN P A UL JO NES
16
.
came to this country and have convinced himself of the truth
of it &and at the same time that it S hould not be known to the
family w ho remained in Scotland
That distinguished and accomplished gentleman the late
dwallader J ones of Rock Hill S C w ho died in
ColC a
1 89 9 at the age of 86 years in his genealogical history of the
Jones family p age 6 says : Willie J ones lived at The
Grove near Halifax These old mansions grand in their
pr oportions were the homes of abounding hospitality In
this connection I may mention that when J ohn P aul Jones
visit e d Halifax th en a young sailor and stranger , he mad e the
acquaintance of thos e grand old patriots Allen and W illie
Jones He was a young man but an old tar, with a bold
frank sail or bearing that attract e d th eir attention He
be came a freq uent visit or at their h ouses , where he was al
ways welcome He soon grew fond of them and as a mark
of his esteem and admiration he adopte d their name s ayin
g
that if he l
ive d he w ou l
r ou d o it
Thus John
d m ake them p
f
P aul became Paul Jones—it was his fancy He named his
ship the B on Homme Richard in com pliment to F ranklin &
he named himself Jones in compliment t o Allen and Willie
J ones When the first notes of war s ounde d he obtain ed
letters from th ese br others t o Jos eph H e wes member of con
gress fr om N orth C arolina and through his influence recei v ed
his fir st commission in the navy I am now the oldest living
descendant of General Allen J ones I remembe r my aunt
Mrs Willi e Jones w ho survived her husband many years
and when a boy I heard these facts S poken of in both fam
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The distinguished hist orian of South C arolina the late
General Edward M cCr ady of C harlest on S C in a letter
dated April 3 19 0 0 says : Mrs M c Cr ad y was the grand
daughter of Gen Wm R D avie of re volutionary fame who
marrie d the d augh ter of Gen Allen Jones of M ount Gallant,
N orthampton N C Traditi on in her branch of the family
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SO ME FA C TS AB O UT JO HN P A UL JO NES
18
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Carolina was a mos t ind efatigable gatherer and collector of
While not
t he traditi ons and historical e v ents of this Sta t e
always strictly accurate in his details yet his w orks are of
ackn owledged value and high auth ority I n his r em inis
cences p age 1 9 8 he says : T he daring and celebrated John
Paul J ones whos e real name was John P aul , of Scotland
when quite young visited Mr Willie Jone s at Halifax and
became s o fascinated with him and his charming wife that
he a dopted this family s name In this name ( John Paul
J ones ) he offere d his ser v ices to congr ess and was made
lieutenant D ecember 22 1 775 on the recomm endation of
W illie Jones
I n Applet on s Encycl opedia volume 3 p age 4 6 2 is a Sketch
of Allen and Willie Jones and of Mary M ontford wife of
Willie J ones I qu ote from this : I t is said that it was in
aff ectionate admiration of this lady ( Mrs Willie Jones )
J ohn Paul J ones whose real name was J ohn Paul added
Jones to his name and und er it by the recommendation of
Willie offered his services t o congress
In the article on J ohn Paul Jones in Harper s Encycl opedia
of U nite d Stat es Hi s t ory
volume 5 page 1 89 the writer
says : Jones c am e to Virginia in 1 773 inheriting the estate
of his brother w ho di e d there O ff ering his ser v ices to con
gre ss , he was made first lieut enant in the navy in Decemb er
1 775 when out of gratitude to G en e ral J ones of North
C ar olina he assumed his name Before that he was Johu
Paul
O ne of the latest work s on the life of J ones is that w r itten
by the Re v C T Brady and published in 1 9 0 0 He had
access not only to all previous works on this sub j ect but als o
to a large numb e r of rare bo oks p amphlets and manuscripts
not a v ailable to e arlier write rs
He als o says that in none
of the corresp ondence of Jones w hi ch now remains does he
al
l
u d e t o his change of nam e
He says page 1 0 : & V ery
little is kn own of his life from this period —
that is afte r his
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S O M E F A C T S AB O U T J OH N PAUL J O N E S
19
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— until his entry into the public service
c om ing t o Am e ri c a
of the U nited S t at e s
During thi s period h owe ve r he
took that st e p w hich has be en a puzzle to s o m any of his
biogra p
he r s and w hich he n ev e r expl ain e d in any of his
He cam e to Am e ri ca under
cor re sp ond en ce t h at r em ain s
er iod of
the n am e of J ohn P aul & he r e appeared afte r this p
obs cu r ity und e r the n am e of J ohn P aul Jones
Mr B r ady m enti on s the cl aim ad v anced by the d es cend ant s
of W illi e and Allen Jone s t h at it w as ou t of affec t i on f or thi s
f am ily th at P aul ch anged his n am e &and w hile he m e ntion s it
w ith out any expr ess i on of his b e lie f or di sbe li ef yet he gi v es
W h at I h ave alw ay s con s id e r e d a s trong r e ason for its support
No thoughtful s tu dent can foll ow the c ar eer of P aul with out
b e ing struck by the alm ost m agic tr an s form ati on in a sh ort
p e riod of the r ough s ailor into the p oli sh e d gentlem an and
of m ann e r
c ourti e r w ho se e as e and gra ce of per s on and char m
m ade him
d is t ingui she d e v en in t he aristocrati c cir cle s of
P ari s W h at brought about thi s m ar ve lou s r e incarn ation
of t he m an? He went t o se a an apprenti ce at the age of
t welv e and a f e w y e ar s later w as engage d in the sl av e tr ade
in whi ch he con t inued rising t o the p os iti on of first m ate of
one ye ar s of age
a sl av e r until 1 76 8 w h e n he w as tw en ty—
S o t h at during t he for m ati v e p e ri od of his life w hen t he
n ature of a m an is m os t su s ce ptibl e and wh en it is gener ally
fl
u
and m o s t e as ily s h ap e d and m ould e d by t he s urr ounding in
we fi
nd him eng age d in the m ost
en
ces of his d aily life
brut alizing and degr ading of se rv ice s one w ell cal cul ate d
lt he gentle and
not m er ely to blunt and se ar but to kill al
r efining t endenci es whi ch & od m ay h ave im pl ant e d in his
soul S o w e m ay w ell ask what wrought thi s tr ansform at i on ?
W hen he q uit the sl ave tr ad e he s till continu e d t o foll ow the
So far w e find in his
se a until he c a m e to V ir gini a in 1 773
life no expl an ati on of this ch ange I t m us t h av e t aken pl ace
during th at pe riod of obscurity which followed until he
stepped forth in the full bl aze of public notice as the Senior
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S O M E F A C TS A B O U T J OH N PA UL
20
J am
s.
ir st L i eu tenant of the Continental N avy in Decem b er, 1 775
As I sai d b efore , Mr B rady gives , what has ever seeme d to
me, the true exp l anation Sp e aking of the frien d s h ip w h ich
sprang u pb et w een W illie Jon es and P aul, and t h e invitation
from W illie Jones to P aul to visit at his p l antation ( p a g e
he says : & The lone ly fri e ndle ss little Scotchman g rateful
l
y
accepted the invit ation—the society of gentle peop l e always
d eligh te d him , he ever loved to m ingl
e w it h great folk t h roug h
’
out his life, an d pa sse d a long period at The Grove in Ha l i
fax C ounty, the r e sidence of W illie an d at M t Ga ll ant in
Northampton C ounty the h om e of All en Whil e there , he
was thrown much in the soci ety of the wife of W illie Jones,
a l a dy note d an d rem e mbe red for h er grace of min d an d
pers on
The Jone s b roth e rs were m en of cul ture an d
refinement They were E ton boys an d ha d completed t heir
e d ucation by travel and observ ation in E urope That they
sh oul d have b e com e s o att ached to the y oun g sai l or as to h ave
ma d e him their g uest for long period s an d cheri she d t h e high
est reg ar d f or h im sub se q u ently is an evi d ence of the chara c
ter an d q uality of the man Prob ably for th e first time in
h is life P au l was intro duce d to the s oc iety of the refine d an d
cultivate d A new h orizon opene d b e fore him
an d he
b reathe d as it were anoth e r atm os p h e re L ife for him
assume d a new complexi on A lways an interestin g persona l
ity wit h his hab its of th ought assidu ous stu dy, couple d with
the responsi b i lities of com m and he ne e de d b ut a l ittl e contact
with gent le peop l e an d polite society to add to his c h aracte r
t h ose graces of m ann e r, whi ch ar e the final crown of t h e gen
tl
em a
n an d which the best conte m por aries have b or ne te sti
mony he d i d not lack T he im pres s ion m a d e upon h im by
t he privile ge of this assoc iation w as of the d eep est, an d h e
g ave to h is new friends and to Mrs Jones especia lly, a warm
he arte d a ff ec tion and devoti on am ounting to veneration ”
No other of J ones s bi ogr aph e rs so far as my l imite d
l i b rary has a ffor d e d me the m e ans of re se arch h as ever at
F
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S O M E F A C TS AB O U T J OHN PAU L J ON E S
21
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p ted to account for thi s phase of his character C ertainl
y
the argu m ent advanced by Mr B rady is not only very pl au s i
ble but is re asonable and grounded up on well atteste d tradi
tion Since this article w as w ritten Mr B rady in an article
before m entioned give s his voi ce in favor of the tr adition I
h ave rel ate d
The re is anoth e r event by f ar the m o s t i m port ant and r e
which his bi ographers have
m ark abl e in the life of Jon es
p asse d by with b are m enti on and s o f ar as I h ave b een able
t o as ce rtain with out any attem pt at explan ati on
How by
wh at m e an s and influe nce did he obt ain his com m is s ion as
the S e nior F irst L i e ut enant of the Contin ent al N avy ?
Hill in his Tw enty six Hi s toric Ship s p age 1 2 s ays
He ( that is P aul Jone s ) w as fain to content him self with a
F ir st L i eu ten ant s c om m i ss ion d at e d Dec em ber 7 1 775 which
w as h and e d to him
in I ndep endence H all by John H ancock
in p e r son on De cem ber 22 1775
P aul J on es was thu s the
first office r of the C ontin ental N avy t o receive his com m is
sion
Jone s s aut obi ogr ap
hy w as first publi sh e d in thi s country
I beli e v e in N il
es s R egis ter
the fir s t inst al m ent app e aring
in the w eekly num b e r of June 6 1 81 2 I t co m m ence s ab
ru p
tl
y w it h his conn ec tion with the C on t inental N avy and
cont ains no allu s i on to the pr eviou s e v ent s of his m os t e vent
ful life
At the com m encem ent of the Am eric an
w ar ( during the ye ar 1 775 ) I w as e m ploye d to fit out the
ittl
l
e s q u ad r on which t he Congr e ss had placed unde r C om m o
dore Hopkins w ho w as appoint e d to the com m and of all t he
arm e d v es s el s app e rt aining to Am eric a& and I h oi sted with
nd s the Am e r ican flag on bo ard the Alfr e d w hich w as
m y ha
th en di splayed f or the fir st tim e I at the s am e tim e ao
ar ticu
q u aint e d Mr He wes a m em b e r of congr ess and m y p
l
ar fr iend with a pr oj ect f or seizing the i sl and of St H e l en a
Mr Hew es w as th en a m em be r of the congre ss from
e tc
e tc
North Carolin a and a m em ber of the C om m itte e on Marine
tem
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S O M E F A C T S A B O U T J OH N PA UL J O N E S
22
.
Affairs I will later on allud e t o him and the cause of the
frie ndship which P aul claim e d with him
Th ese things m u st arrest the att enti on of the thoughtful
re ad e r and prom pt him to in q uire what br ought ab out this
sudden rise of P aul fr om Ob s curity t o s uch signal honors
How did it com e t h at thi s adventur e r of hu m bl e origin and
p oor est ate without apparent fri ends or influence who had
p assed his life in t he m e rchant servi ce afte r a s c ant tw o
years re s iden ce in thi s c ountry, and that spe nt in anOb scurity
not p e ne trate d by any of his nu m er ou s bi ograph e r s a chieved
such high rank over the he ads of s o m any able Am e rican
se a
m e n e agerly s e eking t he po s ition
I m ake bold to s ay that
it w as his fri ends , W illie and All en J one s who bringing al
l
th e ir powe rful influ ence to be ar on his b e half with th e ir inti
m a
t e fri end Hewe s w ho w as a m e m b e r of the Co m m itt ee on
Marin e Aff airs secured him the comm ission I n the inti
m at e assoc i ati on which gr e w u p be twe e n t he two brothers
and P aul during his long st ay at T he Grove and & Mount
G allant it is only re as on abl e to assum e that the c ons t ant
and ove rsh ad owing th em e of di s cus s i on betw een th em
s
w a
t he critical conditi on of a ff airs in the coloni e s the b attle of
L exington the M ecklenburg D ecl ar ation of I ndep e ndence
the re solv es of the Pr ovin ci al and C ontinent al C ongr e sses
the em bodying of the m iliti a all pointing to one in ev itable
d— w ar
en
The l e ade r s of t he p eople were at that time
ac tive passing fro m p oint to p oint in the State and g at hering
for coun sel at the ho m es of the influenti al I t is cert ain th at
m any su ch g atheri ngs and conference s wer e h ad at & The
&
e
a
n
d
Gro v
Mount G all ant & and with ou r knowle dge of
P au l s ch ar act e r w e can b e w ell a ss ur e d that he was a for
lof th em
w ard and e ager p articip ant in al
I n the coming
co nfli ct he for es aw the Opp ortunity his am bitious s oul had
b een cr av ing for—r ank di s tin ction hom age f am e power
and w e can see him w ith all the v igor of his powe rf ul m ind
his strong and force ful p e r sonality his con s um m ate knowl
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S O M E F A C T S A B O U T J OH N P A UL J ON E S
23
.
edge of his sub j ec t unfolding his pl ans to an att entive audi
en ce of an Am eri can n av y to be cre ate d and com m anded by
hi m self whi ch w ould de s troy the co m m e rce of E ngland levy
he av y tribu t e upon her s e aport ci t i es w r es t fr om her w hos e
pr oud bo as t w as
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T hat not a s ai l
w
ithout perm
n Spread s
is sio
”
,
ls end the n am e of
the supre ma cy of the se as and ab ov e al
P aul J on es ringing throughout the ci v ilized w orld &
He re at The Grove Hewe s w as a fre q uent and wel com e
vi s itor and h e r e he m et and bec am e acq u ain te d with P aul
He wes li v e d in E denton , and w as a m e rch ant of c on s iderable
He w as an e d u
m e an s
e xte n s ively eng aged in s hipping
c ate d gentl em an
t he int i m at e fri e nd and as soci at e of John
H ar vey S am uel J ohnst on ( to w h ose s i s t e r he w as e ngage d at
I r e de ll B uncom b e H arnett the
the ti m e of he r d e ath )
J ones es and al
lthe oth er le ading m e n of the St ate He had
be en a m e m b e r f or ye ars of the Gene r al A ssem bli es w as a
m e m ber of the Pr ov incial C ongre s se s w ith W illie Jone s and
w as one of t he del egat e s fr om
t hi s State to the fir s t se cond
and third C ontine nt al C ongr e s ses and w as one of the s igners
on be half of thi s S t ate Of the D eclar ation Of I nd ep endence
In D ecem ber 1 773 he w as app ointe d by the Gene r al A s
sem b lone of the C om m ittee Of C orr es p ond en ce f or the St ate
y
T he chie f du ty of thi s c om m it te e w as to k eep in com m u nica
tion and touch with the oth e r col oni es upon t he i ssues of the
As a m em be r of this im p ort
d ay and t he com m on de fense
ant body he w as brought into an acq u aint ance w ith all t he
leading m en thr ough out the country and wh en sent later as
a deleg ate to the C ontinent al Congr ess he we n t not as a
on
d of
but
s tr ange r to a stran e body
a
e w ell kn own an
s
g
influ ence in his Sta t e
He w as a m e m be r Of the M arine Co m m ittee of the F ir st
Contin ent al C ongress which had in charge the wh ole naval
d ep artm ent and w as the ch airm an of th at com m ittee in the
He w as virtually the firs t S e cretary of the
s e c ond congr ess
N avy
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S O M E F A C TS A B O U T J OH N PAUL J O N E S
24
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H e re we fin d the reason of P aul s friendship with Hew es ,
and the tru e gr ound of his appointment as S enior F ir st L ieu
othe
tenant of the C ontinent al Navy There is no other hyp
S O l ong as Hewes
s is up on which it can be a ccounted for
w as on t he Naval C o m m ittee and in a po s ition to assist in
his adv ance m ent w e find m any letters from P aul to him
so m e explaining his action s in certain matters and o thers com
pl aining of the inj ustice done him in the a d vancem ent over
ce rs his j uniors in d ate of appointm ent
him of offi
W e g ather from th e s e lette rs that he reli e d on Hewes not
lm at
only f or aid in his pro m otion but f or a s si s t ance in al
ters in whi ch he might b e brought in conflict with the n avy
dep artm ent I gi v e here in th e ir entirety three letters writ
ten by P aul Jon es whi ch m ay b e of inter es t to the readers of
th e &U AR T E R L& and which tend to S h ow the great oblig ations
which he was und er to Mr Hewes :
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C A P T A IN
JON E S
L I EU T E NA N T S POO NER
TO
AL
OFF
—& o
T
FRE D
,
.
Novem b er
12th
HE COA S T
,
1 776
CA P E B RE T ON
OF
.
.
h ere by app oint e d com m and er of ou r p ri ze the b ri g
ro
anti ne A ct i ve from L i ver p ool f or H al ifax
& ou ar e d i rec t e d t o p
cec d with al
lp os s i ble d es p atch f or t he S tate of N orth Carol ina and
t o d e l i v er y our ch ar g e ( t he b r i g ant i ne A ctive with m y l e tt ers ) un
to
R ob ert Sm ith E sq the agent at E d ent on I re q ues t y ou t o b e very
car e fu l t o k ee p a good l ook ou t t o p r e v en t y ou r b e in g s urp r i s e d or
re tak en & and y ou m us t by no m eans b re ak bul k or d es troy any
p art of the car go or s t ores exce pt wh at m ay b e ab s olu t ely neces sary
f or y our sub s i s tence d ur ing t he p as s age
nd it im p os s i bl e
I f y ou fi
t o reach and get i n t o N or th Carol i na y ou ar e at l i b e rt y t o go in to
any oth e r of t he U nite d S t ates of North Am er i ca I wi s h y ou a
s afe an
d s p ee dy p as sage and am
s ir y our m os t ob e d i ent v e r y hu m
bl
JOHN P AU L JON E S
e s e r vant
T o M r W al t e r S p oone r L i eut enan t of t he Ship of w ar t he A l
f r ed
and Com m and er of the A l
f r ed s p ri ze the b r i gantine A ctive
Sa
m
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ar e
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N B —Wh en off t he b ar of Ocr icoc k y ou ar e t o hoi s t a j ack or
i lot
ens i gn on the un d e r p ar t of y our j ib r oom
as a S i gnal f or a p
and h oi s t y our ens i gn uni on d own
.
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,
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S OME
26
F A C TS
A B O UT JO HN PA UL JO NES
.
pr omote d by Willie and Allen Jones , H ewes ha d conc eive d
a strong friendship for Paul Jones an d a thor ou gh ap
pre
it es and pr ofound kn owledge of
ciation of his masterly ab il
the science of his calling He was acti ve in bringing him to
the n otice of t he Marine C ommittee of Washington himself
and the leading m emb ers of the congress At a meeting of
the Marine or Naval Comm ittee h eld June 24 1 775 upon the
moti on of Hewes J on e s was invited to app e ar before the
c ommittee and give it such advice and information as he
might think would be useful The invitation was e agerly
ad el
accepted by him and in respons e he soon went to P hil
phia A list of inquiries in writing was given him b y the
c ommittee first as to the prop e r qualifications of na v al oth
cers and second the kind or kinds of arme d vessel
s mos t
desirable for the service of the U nite d C ol onies keeping in
V i e w the limited res ources of the c ongress
I W ish that I had the sp ace to gi v e in full J one s s letters in
reply to th e se two inquiries They cl e arly sh ow the transcend
ent genius of the man
Belkna pin his preface t o Hill s m ost interesting b ook says :
Equally fortunat e was it too when the creation of a navy
was be coming a qu e stion of vital concern t o the country that
P aul Jones the masterly se aman and consummat e naval
commander of the Re v olution was at hand to lay before the
Marin e C omm ittee his luminous letters emb odying his views
as t o the material and personnel of t he navy—letters so strong
and forceful so illuminating and instructive that the one
This
pertai ni ng t o personnel may well stand for all time
letter on personnel was addressed to Hewes , who b e fore sub
mitting it t o t he c omm i ttee showed it to Gen Washington
whose c omment upon it was : Mr Jon es is clearly not only a
master mariner within the scope of the art of na v i g ation but
he al so holds a strong and pr ofound sense of the political and
military weight of command on the sea His powers of use
f ul
ne ss ar e great and must be constantly kept in v iew ”
The senior officers of the new navy wer e recom men d ed by
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S OME FA C TS A B O U T JO HN P A U L J ONES
27
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the Marine C omm it te e early in December 1 775 to the con
gress and appointed by it The committee placed Paul
J ones at the he ad of the first lieutenants Buell says there
was a very bitter and heated debate in the committee over
this placement of Jones between Hewes and J ohn Adams
Hewes e arnestly urged the app ointment of Jones as a captain
W hile Adams bitterly Opp
osed it and championed Saltonstall
of New England
In speaking of this debate Hewes says :
The attitude Of Mr Adams was in keeping with the always
imperi ous and often arrogant t one of the M assachu s etts pe ople
at that time They contended that they had shed the first
blood b oth th e ir own and that of the enemy They urged
that they had already yielded everything t o Virginia and
Pennsylv ania in the organizati on and command of the army &
that they representing the principal maritime colony were
entitled t o the leading voice in the creati on of the nav al
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Here we ha ve a fair illustration of the same petty bicker
ings small j eal ousies and pl ace hunting f or fa vorites at
the expense of the good Of the country which ha v e in time
of war even to this date disgraced this republic
T he N e w England influence was h owever t oo great for
Hewes and he could o nl
y Obtain the p ositi on of seni or lieu
ten ant f or Jones O f the five captains at this time appointed
by congress all save the gallant but ill fat ed B iddle proved
m iserable failures and t w o at least Esek H opkins and Salton
stall were forced t o retire fr om the navy in d isgrace But
the w onderful genius for na v al warfare subsequentl
y s0 sig
nally displayed by J ones marks the prescience of Hewes his
clear j udgment of men and keen insight into character It
is intere s ting to note here that J ohn A d am s was forced t o ad
mit in later years the grievous error that he had made When
Jones was afterwards June 26 1 781 app ointed to the fine
7O gun ship America , which was built at P ortsm outh under
his supervisi on and whi ch h owe v er he was destined never to
command Adams wrote him :
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S O M E F A O T s A B O U T J OHN P A UL J O NE S
28
.
The command of the America could not have bee n
more j udiciously bestowed, and it is wi th impati ence that
I wish her at sea where she will do hono r t o her name
ine of
Indeed if I could see a prospect of half a dozen l
battle ships under the American flag, comm anded by C ommo
dore Paul J ones engaged with a British force equal or not
h opelessly superior I apprehend the event would be so glo
and would lay so sure a f ou nda
r iou s for the U nited States
ti on f or the prosperity of its navy that it would be rich com
In reply to this
pens ation f or the con tinuance Of the war
letter J ones could not resist a v ery neat thrust under the ribs
He wrote : I f I had a squadr on of ships lik e the America
commanded each by a captain like M anly Dale Biddle
B arney or Cottine au I sh ould let fly the ge neral signal for
closer acti on , and leave th e resul
ts t o take care of itself But,
to
if I had captai ns like L andais or s om e other s not ne ed fu l
nam e I should conte mplate the probable outcom e with a
”
shudder
I n his letters to H ewes Jones acknowledges that he was
indebte d to him for his appointment I give tw o extracts
ou t of many to support this
In a letter to H ewes of May
The great individual Obligation I
2 2 1 778 he says :
ow e you makes it more than ever my duty to keep you per
l
I nee d not assure you that
s onal
y advised of my movements
this is a welcome duty much as I d eplore the cause of it for
the reason that I know there is no person living to whom news
of my success can bring more satisfaction th an to yourself
And you are surely entitled to such satisfaction becaus e you
m or e tha
n any other p
er s on hav e labored to p l ac e the in
st r u
”
ments of success in my hands
Again writing Hewes under date of Novemb er 7 1 778
he says : O f one thing in spite Of all , you may definitely
assure yourself and that is I will not accept any command
or enter into any arrangement that can in the least brin g in
question or put out of sigh t the regular rank I ho l d in the
”
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S OM E
F A C T S A B O U T J OHN PAUL J ONES
29
.
States Na v y for which I now as a lways acknow ledge
my debt to you more than to any other person
Thes e ex
tracts fully esta b lish the t r uth of the st ate ment b efore made
that Hewes p
rocured Jones his appointment in the navy a
fact which I think is now conce ded by every one w ho has
made a study Of his care er
There is another fact which goes to corroborate the reas ons
I have adv anced for his change Of name and that is that
Paul J ones was app ointed to the C ontinental Navy from the
State of North C arolina In the 2 1st volume of the Colonial
and State Records page 5 27 is a letter fro m Hon Robert
Burton of Granville C ounty then a member of Congress to
Governor Samuel Johnston dated January 2 8 1 789 It is
as follows :
U nited
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Dear S ir :
As
thos e
not b e
am on
g
h ave f ou gh t and b l e d f or u s in t he l ate contes t can
h e l d in t oo h igh es teem and as Ch eval ie r J oh n P au l J ones is
w
ho
,
f or e m os t w ho d er ived their ap
poi ntm ent f r om this S tate
th at d es er ves t o b e h e l d in r em em b r ance t o t he l atest A ges I tak e
t he
,
the
l ib er ty
M agis t r at e
u at e
his
g
of Off e r in
,
m
t he B u s t of t h at
please inf orm
e
m
gr eat
I f y ou d o
b y a line ”
or y .
em
t t
t o t he S a e as a
m
m
an and
t he
e
prese nt th r o
’
h onor
good
to
h
y ou , it s c ie f
ldi er
accep
t it
to
so
,
pe r pet
y ou
w
ill
.
this , Gove r n or Johnston replied under date of F eb ru
ary 1 9 1 789 that he would readily accept the bust on behalf
of the State and communicate Mr Burton s letter to the
next General Assembly f or its order Soon after this No
vem ber 2 7 1 789 G overnor Johnston was elected t o the
Senate of the American Congress and I cannot find that
he or his successor Gov ernor Martin, communicated Mr
nd among the corr espond
Burton s letter to the Assembly I fi
*
ence of J ones a letter to Je ff erson dated Paris March 20
1 79 1 in which he says that Mr Burton had asked for his bust
in behalf of the State of North C arolina and that he had
re and for ward it by the first ship
ordered Hou d on to prep a
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e r b ou r
ne . page
,
S O ME F A C TS A B O U T J O HN PA UL JO NES
30
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.
efi
er son
addre
sed
J
t
o
s
,
fr om H avre de Grace to Philadelphi a
and he asked him to give it to the North Carolina dele g ates to
forwa rd t o the governor of that State Je ff e rson answered
t h is letter unde r date of August 3 1 1 79 1 but made no ans w er
Af ter much inqui ry, I am
or reference t o this request
forced to the conclusion that the matter dropped right here,
and as P aul Jones died J u l
y 1 8 1 79 2 that the bust was
never presented t o the State
Al
lof J ones s biographers I beli eve a gree that he came to
—
t
h
o
s
e
se
l
f
Am e rican in 1 773 and most Of them cer t ainl
styled
y
historians w ho have written sketches f or the newspapers and
magazines assert that he came t o take over the estate of his
br other , William P aul Even his niece Miss Taylor in her
bo ok p age 3 1 0 says :
He ha d recovered as I know from
the best sources several thousand pounds from the w reck of
his br other s fortune in V irginia
This statement cannot
be reconciled with the indisputable facts that William Paul
left his entire estate to his sister , Mary L owden and her tw o
eldest children that William Paul did not die and his will
was not admitted to probate , until lat e in the year 1 774, at
least a year after Jones came to America and that a stranger
was allowed to administer upon it I am informed by the
clerk of S p
otts yl
vania C ounty that no account of the adm in
is tr at ion or distribution of this estate can be found among the
records of his c ourt but as a b ond of only £5 00 was required
of the administrator the pers onal estate could not have ex
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ce e c e d
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J ones himself ascribes an other reason for his coming to
America and as it tends to support the fact I am striving to
pr ov e I shall give it In a letter t o Robert Morris date d
September 4 1 776 he says :
I conclude that Mr Hewes
has acquainted you with a very great misfortun e which befell
me some years ago and w hich br ou ght m e into N or th A m er ica
I am under no concern whatever that this or any other past
circumstance of my life will sink me in y our Opinion
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S O ME F A C T S A B O U T JO HN PA UL JO NES
31
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Sherbourne in comment ing on this letter m ost tr uly Says :
i
The misfortune of which he speaks could not have im p
l
cat e d his moral ch aracter or he would not have en j oyed the
confidence Of the Hon orable M r He w es to wh om as Jones
informed Mr Morris the particulars were known
I have
no doubt that this misfortune to which J one s all u des was the
death of Maxwell &which was charged against him in England
as murder
There is still an other fact lightly touched up on by the
writers , which supp orts my views I n a letter to Mr Stuart
1 777 and given in full by
M aw ey Of Tobago dated May
Miss Taylor in her book page 2 5 J one s says : After an
unprofitable suspense Of twenty months ( ha v ing subsisted on
£ 5 0 only during that time ) when my hopes Of relief were
entirely cut off and there remained no possibility Of my
recei v ing w herewithal to subsist up on from my e ff ects in your
i sland or in England I at l
as t had r ecou r s e to s tr anger s f or
that aid and com f or t which w as deni ed me by thos e friends
who m I had entrusted with my all The good Ofi
i ces which
are rendered to persons in their extreme nee d ought to make
deep impressions on grateful minds & in my case I feel the
truth of that sentiment and am b ound by gratitude as well
as honor to f ol
l
ow the f or tu nes of m y l
ate benefactor s
I wish to disbelie v e it although it seems too much of a
piece with the unfair adv antage which to all appearance
ty m onths a
he took of me w hen he l
ef t m e in ex il
e f or tw en
anchol
This period of unprofitable
pr ey to m el
y and w ant
suspense during w hich he eked ou t existence f or twenty
months on bare £ 5 0 and which d oubtless was as gall and
wormwo od to his proud spirit must have been that period
Of obscurity
between 1 773 and 1 775 which was as a sealed
book to all of his b i ographers save Buell and the peri od of
which he S pent a large part at the h omes Of Allen and Willie
Jones I think I am j ustified in saying that they were the
&
benefactors to whom he alluded and that his declarati on s
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S OME FA C T S A B O U T J O HN PA UL J ONES
32
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”
th at he was bo und by g rat itude as well as honor to fo llow
their fortunes was intended as an explanation Of his having
adopted the cause of the colonies as his ow n If Jones had
acquired that valuable plantation in Virg inia from his brother
and William J ones as Buell sa y s he did could he have com
plained that he had been left in exile for twenty months a
”
prey to melancholy and want with but £5 0 f or his subsistence
during that period and have spoken only Of his p rope rty in
Tobago and England
Having treate d him with such gross neglect and base ingrat
itu d e during his life it is but a fittin g sequel that this great
republic S hould now surround his last interment with all that
pomp and gl ory which would have been so grate ful to him in
life Neglected in life and exalted after death—such , alas is
too often t h e tardy and empty tribute awarded by our p eople
to our great men
In a few modest words J ones has summed up the value
Of his services to this country Miss Taylor ( page 5 4 8) says
the following in his ow n handwr iting, was found after his
death am ong his papers :
In 1 775 I P aul Jones armed
and embarked in the first American ship Of war In the
Revolution he had 2 3 battles and solemn r ecou ntr es by sea &
made seven descents in Britain and her colonies &took of her
navy two ships of equal and two of far superi or force many
store S hips and others & constrained her to for tify her ports &
suff er the Irish volunteers ( meaning the embodying of the
militia in Ireland not before allowed J
desist from her
cruel burnings in America and exchange as prisoners of war,
the American citizens taken on the oce an and cast int o pris
ons in England as traitors pirates and felons In his peril
ous situati on in H olland his conduct drew the Dutch into the
war and eventually abridge d the Revolution
W hat more fitting epitaph f or the grand column Of marble
which wil l be erected over his ashes at Annapolis can be
prop osed than this ? He has written his own epitaph and
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S OME F A C TS A B O U T J OHN
34
P A UL
—
J ONES
.
C ong ress wh ich met at New Bern in 1774 &ove r nor Mar
tin had disso lved the &eneral Assembly and determ i ne d not
to ca ll it to gether again This determination h ad been com
’
eston
m un
icate d by Martin s private secretary B iggl
, to H ar
vey, who was the Speaker Of the H ouse S aunders , in his
p refatory notes to vol 9 , C oloni al Records , p ag e 2 9 say s :
Harvey s reply to this was Then the peop l e will convene
one themselves
O n t h e 3 d Of April 1 774, H arvey con
ferred with W illie Jones at Ha l ifax, and on the 4 th, w ith
S amuel Johnston and C ol Buncombe at the house of t he
”
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latter in Tyrrell C ounty
He was n a ver y v olent mood ,
says J ohnston , in a l etter written to W ill
iam H ooper on the
next day & and declared h e was f or assemb ling a convention ih
dependent of the governor, and that he w ou l
d l
ead the w a
y and
am e
Mo ore, in his H istory,
l
issu e hand bil
s over his ow n n
vol 1 page 1 6 2, in writin g of the sam e matter, say s : Harvey
r s t soug ht the counsel and aid
left New Bern at once and fi
of W illie Jones I n him he reco gnized a kindred S pirit , and
r o osed April 3
rst p
1 774 that C ol H arvey,
to him it was fi
p
as Speaker of the H ouse Of Assembly , should ca ll a convention
Of the pe op le at New Bern
W i ll ie Jones g ave hi s h earty
adhesion to the S cheme He was to North C arolina wh at
”
Thomas Je fferson was to V irgini a
&
ve characte rs of th at
Jones says, pa ge 124
The re were fi
day w hose ex tr aor d inar y services in the cause of the fi
rst
P rovincial C ong ress deserve to be p art icularly noticed J ohn
ie I ones S amue l Johnston and
l
H arvey Will i am H ooper, Wil
J ames Iredell, were the principa l p ioneers in t h at great an d
”
S O t hat we fi
pe rilous undert a
king
nd Harvey to whom the
w h o le State looked as its l eader singl ing out Will ie Jones as
the fi
rst man in the State w it h w h om he wou l d couns el as to
the grave momentous an d ex treme ly peri lous step he was
t h en intendin g to propose and advocate—a step so grave , so
fu ll of per il and da nger to the l ife and property of al
lits
advocates t h at the count ies of C h ath am Edgecombe , &u il
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S O ME F A C T S A B O U T JO HN P A UL JO NES
35
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ford Hertford Surry and Wake and the b oroughs Of Hills
bor o Salisbury Brunswick T own and Campbellt own Shrunk
from electing delegates t o the conv enti on
When Martin fled from New Bern there were no courts
and no laws and it bec ame nece ss ary t o provide s ome system
and budding State The Con
Of government f or the n
ew
gr ess on August 2 0 1 775 app ointed a c ommittee Of which
Willie Jones was one f or that purp ose and ou t Of its delibera
ti ons w as e v olved the Pr ov incial Council consisting Of thir
teen member s which was to be the supreme executive Of the
State when the C ongress w as not sitting This council was
composed as follows : Samuel J ohnston chairman & C ornelius
Harnett Samuel Ashe Thomas J ones Whitmell Hill Abner
l
ie
Nash James C oor Th omas Pers on J ohn & inchin Wil
l
J ones Thomas Eaton Samuel Spenc e r and W aights til
Avery all hist oric names and the deeds a d fame Of the men
who wore them still shine d own to us through the ages of the
past
The Pro v incial Congress which met at Halifax in April
1 776 aboli s hed the Provincial C ouncil and created in its
stead a State Council of Safety O f this c ouncil Willie
Jones was chairman and SO during its life was virtually gov
cruor of the State O n N ovember 1 2 1 776 a congres s met
at Halifax which had bee n called and the delegates t o it
l
ected
f or the p u rp ose Of framing and adopting a B ill Of
Rights and a C onstituti on and appointed a comm itte e to
draft these instruments Of which Willie Jone s w as a member
The Bill of Rights was ad opted December 1 7 1 776 and the
C onstituti on December 1 8 1 776
Jones says ( p age
Thus were the Bill Of Rights
and the C onstitution of the Stat e formed They are said to
have c ome from the pen Of Th omas J ones aided and assisted
by Willie J ones
Again onpage 1 3 9 J ones says : Thomas
Jones Of Ch owan w as a lawyer Of s ome distincti on in those
days and carried the Skill and prudence Of his profession t o
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S O ME FA C TS A B O U T JO HN PAUL J ONES
36
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the American cause Between this man and Willie Jones
rests the honor of having written the C onstitution Of North
C arolina I speak upon the authority of a deceased fri end
( the late Judge Murphy ) when I ascribe the distinction to
Thomas J ones although I do not deny the claim Of the other
They were m ost und oubtedly t h e framers Of the instrument &
and it bears in so many in stances the stamp Of the peculiar
services of Willie J ones that I cannot gi v e up the conclusion
which I formed so many years since that he had a material
agency in its compositi on as well as its adoption
This
was that grand and sublime chart of our liberties which was
handed down from one generation to another unaltered for
S ixty years and but slightly changed or amended until it
was soiled by the foul touch Of the hand of reconstruction
In the light Of these facts graven up on the history of ou r
State who can say with truth that Willie Jones was in 1 775
without po w er or p olitical influence in the State ?
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