James Jones was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Early life

Jones was born in Nottoway Parish, Amelia (now Nottoway) County

Amelia County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,400 people, 4,240 households, and 3,175 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 4,609 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

, Virginia, Jones graduated from Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...

, Virginia, in 1791, and the Jefferson Medical College

Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University is a private health sciences university in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. The university consists of six constituent colleges and schools, Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, Jefferson School of Health...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. He earned a degree in medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 from the University of Edinburgh Medical School

University of Edinburgh Medical School

The University of Edinburgh Medical School is part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of the University of Edinburgh. Established nearly 283 years ago, Edinburgh Medical School is one of the oldest medical schools in Scotland and the UK...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1796. He returned to Amelia County, where he practiced medicine and also engaged in agricultural pursuits.

Political career

Jones served as member of the Virginia House of Delegates

Virginia House of Delegates

The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

 from 1804 to 1809, and as privy councilor of Virginia from 1809 to 1811, when he resigned. He served in the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

 as director general of hospital and medical stores. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1818.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Fifteenth Congress

15th United States Congress

-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Daniel D. Tompkins * President pro tempore:** John Gaillard , elected March 4, 1817** James Barbour , elected February 15, 1819- House of Representatives :*Speaker: Henry Clay -Members:...

 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Peterson Goodwin, but was elected as a Democratic-Republican

Democratic-Republican Party (United States)

The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party was an American political party founded in the early 1790s by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Political scientists use the former name, while historians prefer the latter one; contemporaries generally called the party the "Republicans", along...

 to the Sixteenth

16th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:During this congress, one House seat was added for the new state of Alabama and one seat was reapportioned from Massachusetts to the new state of Maine. For the beginning of the next congress, six more seats from Massachusetts would be reapportioned to...

 and Seventeenth Congresses

17th United States Congress

The Seventeenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1821 to March 3, 1823, during the fifth and sixth...

 (March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823).

Jones again became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1827 to 1829, and subsequently resumed agricultural pursuits. He died at his home, "Mountain Hall," near Nottoway, Virginia

Nottoway, Virginia

Nottoway, or Nottoway Court House, is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Nottoway County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 84. Since desegregation, the village's public high school now serves the entire county's population. Nottoway was...

, April 25, 1848. He was interred in the family burying ground on his estate.

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