John William Jones

For the Confederate chaplain and campus minister, see J. William Jones.

John William Jones (April 14, 1806 – April 27, 1871) was an American politician and physician who served in the United States Congress. He was a Confederate surgeon during the American Civil War.

Early life

John William Jones was born on April 14, 1806 in Rockville, Maryland. His family moved to Nicholas, Kentucky, in 1810. He attended the Carlisle Semiary and studied medicine. He attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1830 to 1831, and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, later known as Thomas Jefferson University, in 1836.

Career

He began practicing medicine in Washington, Tennessee in 1826. He later moved to Monroe, Georgia, and then to Campbellton, Georgia, in 1829. He moved to Culloden, Georgia in 1833.

He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1837. He moved to Griffin, Georgia, in 1841. In 1846, Jones was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig to represent Georgia's 3rd congressional district. He did not run for reelection in 1848, serving one term from March 4, 1847 through March 3, 1849.

After his congressional service, he moved to Oak Bowery, Alabama, and practiced medicine in addition to serving on the board of the Oak Bowery Female College in 1850. The next year, he moved to Auburn, Alabama, and was a founder of the Auburn Masonic Female College (current-day Auburn High School). In 1856, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and was a professor at the Atlanta Medical College (current-day Emory University) from 1856 to 1862.

During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, he served as a surgeon in the Confederate States Army. After the war, he returned to the Atlanta Medical College and served on that faculty from 1865 until 1870.

Death

He died on April 27, 1871 in Decatur, Georgia. He was buried in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery.