Early Years
Political Career
When Virginians voted on July 6, 1869, to ratify the new constitution, Greensville County voters also elected Jones to a two-year term in the House of Delegates. Described in newspapers as a radical Republican, he defeated his white opponent by a vote of 755 to 337. Jones was not present when the delegates ratified the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution at a short session in October 1869.
Facing only token opposition in November 1871, Jones easily won reelection to the assembly. He again sat on the Committee of Privileges and Elections, which investigated two disputed elections during the first session. He continued to advocate legislation to protect Virginians' civil rights, but his proposals did not advance. In March 1873 Jones and other African American and Republican delegates protested vigorously when the assembly elected new county court judges shortly before the session closed. They argued unsuccessfully that the next General Assembly had the constitutional responsibility to elect new judges, perhaps in the hope that Republicans could win control of the assembly in the upcoming election.
That year he easily defeated his Conservative opponent to return to the House of Delegates, garnering 63 percent of the vote. Conservatives cast doubt on his status as a resident of Greensville, however, stating that he lived in the city of Richmond, where he had purchased property in 1871 and 1872. Jones's opponent challenged the result and Jones admitted that he had paid his poll tax in Richmond, not realizing that it could affect his residency in Greensville. The General Assembly unseated Jones by a close vote on January 28, 1874, despite the attempts of some prominent Conservatives to defend him.
Jones won the special election on February 17, but the residency dispute emerged again. This time the assembly seated him. He again served on the Committee of Privileges and Elections and was also named to the Committee of Officers and Offices at the Capitol. Jones enjoyed the respect of his colleagues, several of whom had attended his wedding. A widower whose first wife's name is not known, Jones married Mary Ann E. Hope in Richmond on December 18, 1872. They had at least two daughters and two sons.
Jones won reelection by a two-to-one margin on November 6, 1875. During his final two-year term, he retained the same committee assignments. He attempted to have the Richmond Evening Journal's reporter barred from the House floor in 1876, in part because the newspaper rendered his speeches in an uneducated dialect. Jones was not a candidate for reelection in 1877, by which time he was living in Richmond. He moved to Washington, D.C., by 1881, when he was employed as a watchman at the federal pension office.
Later Years
A member of the Washington-based Virginia Republican League, Jones served as its second vice president in 1888–1889, first vice president in 1889–1890, and recording secretary in 1890–1891. He was one of the organization's representatives who met with President Benjamin Harrison in March 1889 about the distribution of patronage offices in Virginia. In February 1890 he attended a national convention of African Americans who met in Washington to protest the suppression of their civil and political rights and to call on Congress to pass legislation protecting them. Two months later Jones, who had returned to working as a carpenter, was fined $10 for attempting to lure an attorney's client to another lawyer.
Jones died in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 1895, and a memorial service was held on December 22 at the city's Second Baptist Church. He was buried at Payne's Cemetery, but was reinterred at National Harmony Memorial Park, in Hyattsville, Maryland, when the cemetery was moved in 1969.
Time Line
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May 1806 - Sometime before this date, Lucynthia Jones and Moses Jones are freed from slavery.
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ca. 1834 - Peter K. Jones is born free in Petersburg.
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1857 - Peter K. Jones, a free African American, acquires a plot of land in Petersburg for $300.
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May 1865 - Peter K. Jones joins a meeting of African Americans in Petersburg calling publicly for equal rights.
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August 1865 - Peter K. Jones attends the Convention for the Colored People of Virginia, in Alexandria.
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ca. 1867 - Peter K. Jones moves from Petersburg to Greensville County, where he is later recorded as working as a carpenter.
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October 22, 1867 - Peter K. Jones, a Republican, is elected to represent Greensville and Sussex counties in the Constitutional Convention.
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April 17, 1868 - Peter K. Jones votes with the convention's majority for the new state constitution.
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July 6, 1869 - Peter K. Jones, a Republican, is elected to the House of Delegates, representing Greensville County.
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April 27, 1870 - Peter K. Jones is injured when a floor of the State Capitol collapses. Approximately sixty people are killed.
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March 1871 - Peter K. Jones votes for the Funding Act, which pledges to pay Virginia's antebellum public debt.
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November 1871 - Peter K. Jones, a Republican, is reelected to the House of Delegates, representing Greensville County.
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1872 - Peter K. Jones is a key supporter in William H. H. Stowell's campaign to be the Republican nominee for the Fourth Congressional District.
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December 18, 1872 - Peter K. Jones and Mary Ann E. Hope marry in Richmond. They will have at least four children.
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March 1873 - Peter K. Jones and other Republican delegates protest when a lame-duck General Assembly elects county court judges.
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November 1873 - Peter K. Jones, a Republican, is reelected to the House of Delegates, representing Greensville County.
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January 28, 1874 - The General Assembly unseats Peter K. Jones based on an investigation of his residency.
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February 17, 1874 - Unseated in the General Assembly, Peter K. Jones, a Republican, wins a special election to represent Greensville County.
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November 6, 1875 - Peter K. Jones, a Republican, wins reelection to the House of Delegates, representing Greensville County.
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1876 - Peter K. Jones attempts to have a Richmond newspaper barred from the General Assembly in part for transcribing his speech in an uneducated dialect.
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1877 - Peter K. Jones, a Republican, does not seek reelection to the House of Delegates, representing Greensville County.
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1881 - By this year Peter K. Jones has moved to Washington, D.C., where he works as a watchman at the federal pension office.
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1888–1889 - Peter K. Jones serves as second vice president of the Virginia Republican League.
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March 1889 - Peter K. Jones is among the representatives of the Virginia Republican League to meet with President Benjamin Harrison about patronage.
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1890–1891 - Peter K. Jones serves as recording secretary of the Virginia Republican League.
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February 1890 - Peter K. Jones attends a national convention of African Americans in Washington, D.C., to lobby for better civil rights legislation.
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April 1890 - Peter K. Jones is fined $10 in Washington, D.C., for attempting to lure an attorney's client to another lawyer.
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December 6, 1895 - Peter K. Jones dies in Washington, D.C.
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December 22, 1895 - A memorial service is held for Peter K. Jones at the Second Baptist Church, Washington, D.C. He is buried at Payne's Cemetery.
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1969 - The remains of Peter K. Jones are reinterred at National Harmony Memorial Park, in Hyattsville, Maryland.
References
Further Reading
External Links
Cite This Entry
- APA Citation:
Jones, B. L., & the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Peter K. Jones (ca. 1834–1895). (2018, April 19). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Jones_Peter_K_ca_1834-1895.
- MLA Citation:
Jones, Brittany L. and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. "Peter K. Jones (ca. 1834–1895)." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 19 Apr. 2018. Web. READ_DATE.
First published: May 18, 2015 | Last modified: April 19, 2018
Contributed by Brittany L. Jones and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.