Civil War Figure. He served as Confederate President Jefferson F. Davis' personal valet and coachman during much of the Civil War. Born a free man in Wake County, North Carolina, he was a brick mason and contractor during the building season and during the winter months, hired himself out as a gentleman's servant to Raleigh, North Carolina's elite. When Mrs. Jefferson Davis and children moved to Saint Mary's in 1862 after the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia came under attack, she hired him to help them. He moved back with the family when they returned to Richmond, and became the Confederate President's servant. It was Jones who was driving the family south when Jefferson Davis was arrested at Irwinsville, Georgia the end of the war. Jones moved back to Raleigh in 1865 and participated in the Freedmen's and Constitutional Conventions to shape North Carolina's new government. He served as deputy sheriff of Wake County for over 10 years and was elected a Raleigh city alderman during the 1870s and 1880s. He drove Jefferson Davis's funeral car during a memorial service at the North Carolina State Capitol in 1893. Mrs. Davis gave Jones her husband's favorite buck horn-handled walking cane, which Jones donated along with other Davis artifacts to the North Carolina Museum of History.
Civil War Figure. He served as Confederate President Jefferson F. Davis' personal valet and coachman during much of the Civil War. Born a free man in Wake County, North Carolina, he was a brick mason and contractor during the building season and during the winter months, hired himself out as a gentleman's servant to Raleigh, North Carolina's elite. When Mrs. Jefferson Davis and children moved to Saint Mary's in 1862 after the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia came under attack, she hired him to help them. He moved back with the family when they returned to Richmond, and became the Confederate President's servant. It was Jones who was driving the family south when Jefferson Davis was arrested at Irwinsville, Georgia the end of the war. Jones moved back to Raleigh in 1865 and participated in the Freedmen's and Constitutional Conventions to shape North Carolina's new government. He served as deputy sheriff of Wake County for over 10 years and was elected a Raleigh city alderman during the 1870s and 1880s. He drove Jefferson Davis's funeral car during a memorial service at the North Carolina State Capitol in 1893. Mrs. Davis gave Jones her husband's favorite buck horn-handled walking cane, which Jones donated along with other Davis artifacts to the North Carolina Museum of History.
Bio by: ANEWLEAF
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