Willie Jones (statesman)

Willie Jones
BornMay 25, 1741
Surry County, Virginia
DiedJune 18, 1801 (aged 60)
Raleigh, North Carolina
Occupation(s)Planter and statesman
Political partyWhig, Anti-Federalist
SpouseMary Montfort

Willie Jones (pronounced Wiley Jones,[1][2] May 25, 1741 – June 18, 1801) was an American planter and statesman from Halifax County, North Carolina. He represented North Carolina as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780. His brother Allen Jones was also a delegate to the congress.

In 1774, 1775 and 1776, Jones was elected to represent either the county of Halifax or the town of Halifax in the North Carolina Provincial Congress.[3] For a brief time in 1776, as the head of North Carolina's centralized Council of Safety, he was the head of the state's revolutionary government. Richard Caswell took over after being elected as governor.

Thereafter, Jones was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons and the North Carolina Senate. He was elected to the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787 but declined to accept his seat. He led the faction that opposed North Carolina's ratification of the Constitution in 1788 because he feared that the national government would be too powerful.

Among his last public roles was helping to determine the site for the new state capital in 1791, which was named Raleigh. He moved to Raleigh and lived there until his death in 1801. He was buried in an unmarked grave on ground that is now occupied by St. Augustine's College.[4]

Jones Street in Raleigh, where the North Carolina General Assembly building is located, is named for him, as is Jones County in the state.[4]

  1. ^ Bingham, Warren L. (2016). George Washington's 1791 Southern Tour, Arcadia Publishing, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. ISBN 1625857535,9781625857538
  2. ^ Powell, William S. (1996). "Willie Jones", Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.
  3. ^ Connor, Robert Diggs Wiberly, ed. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina Issued by the North Carolina Historical Commission for the Use of Members of the General Assembly Session 1913 (PDF). pp. 322, 343, 412, 422, 424, 636–638, 673, 882, 909.
  4. ^ a b Amis, Moses Neal (1902). Historical Raleigh from Its Foundation in 1792. Edwards & Broughton. p. 29. OCLC 06450965.