James I. Jones

Jones was born on August 25, 1786, in New York. He was the third son of John Jones (1755–1806) and Eleanor (née Colford) Jones (1755–1824), who were both of English descent. His elder brother, John Jones Jr., died without issue, and his younger sister, Sarah Jones, was married to Peter Schermerhorn (the uncle to James' eventual wife).{{cite book |last1=Bergen |first1=Tunis Garret |title=Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation, Vol. I |date=1915 |publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company |location=New York |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-kpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA163 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}} James' cousin, Edward Renshaw Jones (the son of merchant Joshua Jones),{{cite web |title=Joshua Jones (1757-1821) |url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/joshua-jones-1757-1821 |website=www.nyhistory.org |publisher=New-York Historical Society |access-date=January 22, 2019}} was married to Elizabeth Schermerhorn (the aunt to James' eventual wife of the same name), and was the grandfather of Edith (née Jones) Wharton and Frederic Rhinelander Jones.

Jones "took an active and efficient interest in the military establishment of New York, in which he held the rank of major general of the third division of infantry."{{cite book |title=Documents of the Senate of the State of New York |date=1844 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TaclAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA32-IA12 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}} He was previously a Brigadier general with the 59th Brigade of Infantry.{{cite book |last1=Senate |first1=New York (State) Legislature |title=Documents of the Senate of the State of New York |date=1831 |page=[https://archive.org/details/documentsofsenat1343newy/page/n11 6] |url=https://archive.org/details/documentsofsenat1343newy |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |title=New York Military Magazine: Devoted to the Interests of the Militia Throughout the Union |date=1841 |publisher=Labree and Stockton. |page=254 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c0c5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA254 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}} He also served as a trustee of the savings bank, the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company, the New York Hospital and was a vestryman of Trinity Church.

He was an ally of Philip Hone (the mayor of New York City from 1826 to 1827 today best known for his extensive diary) in the creation of Washington Square Park.{{cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Luther S. |title=Around Washington Square: An Illustrated History of Greenwich Village |date=2003 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=9780801873416 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K8aMN50YOvkC&pg=PA98 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}}

{{main|Jones's Wood}}

After his father's death in 1806, the family farm, known as Jones's Wood, was divided into lots among his Jones and his siblings, with James retaining the main house and its lot.{{cite book |last1=Court |first1=New York (State) Supreme |title=Abstract of Title of the Louvre Farm: Formerly the Property of John Jones, Esq., Deceased |date=1855 |publisher=Wm. C. Bryant |url=https://archive.org/details/abstractoftitleo00newy |page=[https://archive.org/details/abstractoftitleo00newy/page/28 28] |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}} James' sister Sarah, who had married the shipowner and merchant Peter Schermerhorn,{{cite news |last1=Schneider |first1=Daniel B. |title=F.Y.I. {{!}} Envying the Joneses|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/15/nyregion/fyi-561436.html |access-date=January 22, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=February 15, 1998}} received the parcel nearest to the city where the Schermerhorns first inhabited a modest villa overlooking the river at the foot of today's 67th Street.{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Henry Collins|last2=Council|first2=New York (N Y. ) Common|title=Valentine's Manual of Old New York|date=1917|publisher=Valentine's manual, Incorporated|page=155|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1zE5T_OA20C&pg=PA155|access-date=May 24, 2018|language=en}} James and Peter controlled land beyond their shares as trustees for other family members.{{Cite Central Park History|page=539}} Later in life, Jones led the opposition to using his family's lands for the city's main park, thereby "paving the way for the creation of today's Central Park".

In 1838, Jones was married to Elizabeth Schermerhorn (1817–1874),{{cite news|title=DIED. Jones|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1874/08/23/79228649.pdf|access-date=January 14, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=August 23, 1874}} the daughter of Abraham Schermerhorn and Helen Van Courtlandt (née White) Schermerhorn.{{cite book|last1=Moffat|first1=R. Burnham|title=The Barclays of New York: Who They are and who They are Not,-and Some Other Barclays|date=1904|publisher=R. G. Cooke|page=[https://archive.org/details/barclaysnewyork01moffgoog/page/n154 142]|url=https://archive.org/details/barclaysnewyork01moffgoog|access-date=January 14, 2018|language=en}} Elizabeth's younger sister was Caroline Schermerhorn (also known as the "Mrs. Astor"), who married William Backhouse Astor Jr.{{cite news|title=William Astor Is Dead; Stricken Suddenly at the Hotel Liverpool, Paris. He Leaves a Fortune of Many Mill- Ions -- John Jacob Astor Will Inherit It -- the Body Will Be Brought Home for Burial.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/04/27/104125908.pdf|access-date=January 14, 2018|work=The New York Times|date=April 27, 1892}} of the Astor family.{{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Cuyler|title=Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation|date=1914|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn/page/1410 1410]|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn|access-date=January 14, 2018|language=en}} Together, they resided at 5 Washington Place, located at the northeast corner of Washington Place and Mercer Street in New York City, which Jones built in 1842 and which became a "center of society comparable to Mary Mason Jones's home nearby on Broadway". James and Elizabeth were the parents of:

• Eleanor Colford Jones (1841–1906),{{cite news|title=Mrs. Eleanor Colford Morris|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/04/27/101776575.pdf|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 27, 1906}} who was married to Augustus Newbold Morris (1838–1906), a descendant of Declaration of Independence signor Lewis Morris,{{cite journal|title=The Commercial and Financial Chronicle|date=1906|page=542|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bkk9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA542|access-date=October 15, 2017|publisher=National News Service, Incorporated|language=en}} and who was a manager of the Home for Incurables at Fordham, a director of the Zoological Society, and a vice-president of the Plaza Bank.{{cite news|title=A. Newbold Morris Dead. He Was A Descendant of Noted Family Which Owned Morrisania|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/09/03/104789086.pdf|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=September 3, 1906}}
• James Henry Jones (1846–1919),{{cite news |title=Died. {{!}} JONES |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20621547 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=October 30, 1919 |page=13 |language=en}} who graduated from West Point in 1868 and who did not marry.
• Cordelia Schermerhorn Jones (1849–1920),{{cite news |title=MRS. CORDELIA S. STEWARD |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/64389943 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |work=New York Herald |date=July 30, 1920 |page=7 |language=en}} who married John Steward Jr. (1847–1943).{{cite book |last1=Browning |first1=Charles Henry |title=Americans of Royal Descent: A Collection of Genealogies of American Families Whose Lineage is Traced to the Legitimate Issue of Kings |date=1891 |publisher=Porter & Costes |page=552 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dIUaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA552 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}}

In 1839, Jones was sculpted by Thomas Crawford, who is today best known for his numerous contributions to the United States Capitol. His wife's portrait was painted by Irish portrait painter Charles C. Ingham.

Jones died on September 3, 1858, in Basel, Switzerland.{{cite book |title=Annual Obituary Notices of Eminent Persons who Have Died in the United States: For 1857-[1858]. |date=1859 |publisher=Phillips, Sampson |page=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0wTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA183 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |language=en}} His widow Elizabeth died in Lenox, Massachusetts, in August 1874 and was buried alongside her husband in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.

Through his daughter Eleanor, he was the grandfather of Eleanor Colford Morris (1863–1863), who died young; Augustus Newbold Morris (1868–1928){{cite news|title=NEWBOLD MORRIS DIES IN HIS SLEEP; President of Metropolitan Club, Trustee of Columbia and Lawyer. WITH PERSHING IN THE WAR Lieutenant Colonel on General Staff --Family One of Most Illustrious in United States.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/12/21/95686678.html?pageNumber=25|access-date=September 28, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=December 21, 1928|language=en}} who married Helen Schermerhorn Kingsland (granddaughter of New York City Mayor Ambrose Kingsland);{{cite news|title=MRS. MORRIS, MOTHER OF NEWBOLD MORRIS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/13/archives/mrs-morris-mother-of-newbold-morris.html|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 13, 1956}} Eva Van Cortlandt Morris (1869–1947),{{cite news|title=MRS. EVA M. HAWKES|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/06/archives/i-mrs-eva-m-hawkes.html|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=December 6, 1947}} who married Emile McDougall Hawkes{{cite news|title=DIED. Hawkes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/03/24/archives/obituary-7-no-title.html|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=March 24, 1929}}{{cite news|title=FRENCH HERE MOURN M'DOUGALL HAWKES.; Bishop Lloyd and Rev. J. D. Farris Hold Ceremonies for French Institute's Founder|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/03/26/archives/french-here-mourn-mdougall-hawkes-bishop-lloyd-and-rev-jd-farris.html|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=March 26, 1929}}{{cite news|title=DIVORCES E. McD. HAWKES.; Wife of New York Lawyer Got Paris Decree Last October.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/04/02/archives/divorces-e-mcd-hawkes-wife-of-new-york-lawyer-got-paris-decree-last.html|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=April 2, 1923}}{{cite news|title=MORRIS SHARES IN ESTATE; Aunt Wills Bulk of $2,790,065 Fortune to 3 Nephews|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/09/archives/morris-shares-in-estate-aunt-wills-bulk-of-2790065-fortune-to-3.html|access-date=October 15, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=August 9, 1950}} William Henry Morris (1871–1871), who also died young; and Lewis Morris (1873–1875), who also died young.

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• {{Find a Grave|170405574}}

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Category:1786 births

Category:1858 deaths

Category:American people of English descent

Category:American militia generals

Category:American militiamen in the War of 1812

Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery