De Garmo Jones
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = De Garmo Jones
| image =
| smallimage = DeGarmoJones.jpg
| caption =
| office = Mayor of Detroit
| term_start = 1839
| term_end = 1839
| predecessor = Asher B. Bates
| successor = Zina Pitcher
| birth_date = {{birth date|1787|11|11}}
| birth_place = Albany, New York
| death_date = {{death date and age|1846|11|14|1787|11|11}}
| death_place = Detroit, Michigan
| constituency =
| party =
| alma_mater =
| spouse = Catherine Annin
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| footnotes =
}}
De Garmo Jones (November 11, 1787 – November 14, 1846) was a businessman, state senator, and mayor of Detroit.
Biography
De Garmo Jones was born in 1787 in Albany, New York;{{citation|title = THE HISTORY OF DETROIT AND MICHIGAN |author = Silas Farmer| year = 1889 |page = 1031|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yl06VbZ-RfwC&pg=1031}} the first name of his father is unknown but his mother was Rachel De Garmo, daughter of a prominent Albany family. He served as a sutler during the War of 1812, during which time he passed through Detroit. In March, 1818, Jones married Catherine Annin. The couple immediately moved to Detroit, arriving in 1819.{{citation |title = The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 2|author1 = William Stocking| author2 = Gordon K. Miller |editor = Clarence Monroe Burton | publisher = The S. J. Clarke publishing company| year = 1922 |page = 1381| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1RgVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1381}} De Garmo and Catherine Annin Jones had seven children, of which three survived them: Matilda Cass Jones (born 1833, married Augustus Porter Thompson), De Garmo Jones (born 1835, married Caroline Sauger), and Alice Kercheval Jones (born 1838, married Albert M. Steele).
De Garmo Jones purchased a farm near the city of Detroit, located between what is now Third Avenue and the alley east of Fourth Street.{{NRHP url|id=64500270|title=Cass Farm MPS}} from the National Park Service Over time, Jones increased the value of the farm, making him and his heirs wealthy. Jones had a diverse portfolio of business interests: he was one of the first stockholders in the Bank of Michigan, one of the first directors of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad (later the Michigan Central Railroad), and developed copper mines near Lake Superior.{{citation|title = Early history of Michigan: with biographies of state officers, members of Congress, judges and legislators |author = Stephen D. Bingham |publisher = Thorp & Godfrey, state printers| year = 1888 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st4iAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA380|page = 380}} He also owned interests in shipping, warehousing, and construction companies, and built the first capitol building on the state of Michigan.
Jones was a member of the Whig Party, and served several times as an alderman of the city of Detroit (1827, 1830, and 1838), and was elected mayor in 1839. He also served as Adjutant-General of the state of Michigan in 1829 and as a state senator in 1840-1841. His contemporary George C. Bates said of him:
:Sudden and quick in quarrel, with a temper requiring a curb bit, Mr. Jones was a sort of western Vanderbilt, with a great big head, enlarged views, interesting industry, who saw far ahead into the future, and had he lived longer, would have cut deeper and deeper into the tablet of time his career, for he was a most public spirited, enterprising, go ahead man.{{citation|title = Historical collections| publisher = Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society| volume = 22|contribution = By-Gones of Detroit|author = George C. Bates|year = 1894| page = 338| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=opYUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA338}} (Originally published in the Detroit Free Press, 1877-1878)
De Garmo Jones died on November 14, 1846, leaving an estate valued at $250,000.{{citation|contribution = Deming and Jones Families in Early Detroit |author = Neil Carothers| title = Magazine of the Detroit Society for Genealogical Research| year = 1960| volume = 23| pages = 141–146| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3LjAAAAMAAJ&q=Deming+and+Jones+Families+in+Early+Detroit}} His wife Catherine died in 1865, leaving an estate valued at $500,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=500000|start_year=1865}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).
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{{s-bef | before=Asher B. Bates}}
{{s-ttl | title=Mayor of Detroit | years = 1839}}
{{s-aft | after=Zina Pitcher}}
{{end}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DetroitMayors}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, De Garmo}}
Category:Michigan state senators
Category:Detroit City Council members
Category:Politicians from Albany, New York
Category:19th-century mayors of places in Michigan