JONES, George Wallace

George Wallace Jones

JONES, George Wallace (Vincennes, IN, Apr. 12, 1804--Dubuque, IA, July 22, 1896). "Iowa's Godfather." Jones spent much of his early life in slave states. He attended Kentucky's Transylvania University and became friends with Jefferson DAVIS who later served as the president of the Confederate States of America. (1) Jones graduated in 1825 and began practicing law. He lived in the Wisconsin area of Michigan Territory and developed business interests in LEAD MINING, smelting, and merchandising near Sinsinawa Mound. (2) With two others, he discovered what became the Karrick Mine two miles from the center of the community of Dubuque. (3) During the BLACK HAWK WAR he served as an aide to General Henry Dodge, father of Augustus C. Dodge, another Iowa senator. Dodge and Jones later became well-known for supporting proslavery initiatives while representing Iowa. (4)

Jones was elected a territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839 first for Michigan and then from Wisconsin. He convinced Congress to create a new territory-which he named Wisconsin-from land remaining after Michigan became a state. Jones was by then a successful businessman and owner of the ferryboat right, which in 1837 had an estimated value of $25,000.

On July 7, 1838, through Jones' efforts, $2,000 was appropriated by Congress for the survey of land for a railroad from Milwaukee to Dubuque.

Jones' service in Congress ended on January 14, 1839, and he was named Surveyor General for the Territories of Wisconsin and Iowa by President Van Buren on January 29, 1840. He was removed by President Tyler on July 4,1841, but was reappointed by President Polk on January 3, 1846. He then settled permanently in Dubuque. (5) Jones held the position, having his headquarters in Dubuque, until December 1848. He was usually called "General Jones."

During this time Jones lived in a mansion he called 'Alta Vista' (High View) at the northeastern corner of Alta Vista Street and University Avenue. This house, used by the Visitation Sisters in 1875, was torn down in 1904 to allow room for an addition to ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION (THE). JONES JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL later occupied the same site.

In 1848, two years after Iowa achieved statehood, Jones left for Washington, D.C., as one of the state's first elected senators. Within days of his arrival, Jones mounted an unsuccessful effort to pass another railroad bill that would have built lines south from Dubuque. It was Jones who successfully had a railroad bill designed for Illinois amended to bring the ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD past Galena to the shore of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. This ended Galena's dreams of being the terminal of the line and opened up Dubuque and the Tri-State region to an era of tremendous growth. He also helped win federal lands grants for several railroads to cross Iowa from east to west. (6)

Jones' early southern influences, however, came to haunt his political leadership. While living in Iowa, Wallace had owned slaves. He had supported the harsh Fugitive Slave Act and the Kansas-Nebraska Act which opened the slavery question along Iowa's western border. He also supported the Lecompton Constitution, a failed idea that would have made Kansas a slave state. (7) Years later, he was one of a few Northerners who attended the funeral of Jefferson Davis. As a Democratic politician with political ties to Southern leaders, Jones was given the status of a "doughface," a free state leader who supported proslavery positions. (8)

In part because of his proslavery activities, Jones was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1858. He had, however, remained loyal to the Buchanan administration. Jones was appointed Minister Resident of the United States to New Granada by President Buchanan on March 8, 1859. (9) He served in Bogota until recalled by President Lincoln in July 1861. Before Jones returned with his family to the United States, two of his sons left Dubuque to fight for the Confederacy.

Arrested in New York City, Jones was jailed for sixty-four days on charges of treason. Secretary of War, William Seward, used as evidence a letter Jones had written to his old friend Jefferson Davis in May 1861. (10) Lincoln hoped the jailing of Jones and newspaper editor Dennis MAHONY would quiet what he felt were other proslavery supporters in Dubuque.

Jones returned to Dubuque where he was given a very formal and cold reception. Jones' southern heritage, his sons fighting for the Confederacy, and his attitude toward slave states meant that he would never again serve in elective office. While living in retirement on West 14th, Jones was approached by Senator William Boyd ALLISON to sell the Illinois Central several acres of land. A shrewd negotiator, Jones received five thousand dollars and a pass on the railroad for himself and his family for as long as he lived.

Jones' political clouds eventually disappeared. He was granted a pension by Congress of twenty dollars per month for his first jobs in the public sector: drummer boy in the War of 1812 and a small role in the Black Hawk War. Congress also voted to pay him for debts he had as United States ambassador to Columbia. Both pension bills began in the Senate Pension Committee that Jones had once chaired.

Long overdue honor for Jones came in April 1894, when the Iowa Legislature invited him to Des Moines for a day-long celebration. The Iowa House and Senate set aside April 4, 1894, in his honor. Governor Frank Jackson escorted Jones to the legislative chambers where members of both houses, meeting in rare joint session, recounted Jones' many contributions to the state. (11) Not to be outdone, the Dubuque City Council issued a grand statement in his honor. (12)

On news of his death, the Council called itself into a rare special session in his memory. Overflow crowds packed SAINT PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH as a final tribute to Jones was said by Archbishop John HENNESSY. The State of Iowa named Jones County in his honor. (13) Dubuque remembered this prominent Iowan by naming a street and Jones Junior High School in his honor.

He is buried in MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY.

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Source:

1. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. "George Wallace Jones." Online--http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000221

2. Parish, John Carl. "George Wallace Jones, 1804-1896, Iowa City, Ia, The State Historical Society of Iowa, Online-http://archive.org/stream/cu31924032767158/cu31924032767158_djvu.txt

3. General George Wallace Jones. Extracted from: Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, Iowa, 1894. Reprinted by Higginson Book Co., Salem, Massachusetts, p. 151. Dubuque County Genealogy hosted by RootsWeb. Online--http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iadubuqu/biographies/gwjones.html

4. Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren. p. 270

5. Dictionary of Wisconsin History. "George Wallace Jones." Online--http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2742&search_term=jones%2C+george

6. Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren. p. 270

7. Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren. p. 271

8. Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin; Horton, Loren. p. 271

9. Dictionary of Wisconsin History.

10. United States House of Representatives. George Wallace Jones Online--http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/J/JONES,-George-Wallace-%28J000221%29/

11. Wikipedia. "George Wallace Jones." Online

12. Dubuque County Genealogy hosted by RootsWeb

13. Wikipedia.