View source for John Winston Jones

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = John Winston Jones
| image               = JohnWinstonJones.jpg
| imagesize           = 200px
| smallimage          = 
| caption             = Portrait of Jones ({{circa|1835}})
| order1              = 16th
| office1             = Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
| term_start1         = December 4, 1843
| term_end1           = March 4, 1845
| predecessor1        = [[John White (Kentucky politician)|John White]]
| successor1          = [[John Wesley Davis|John W. Davis]]
| office2             = Leader of the [[House Democratic Caucus#Caucus Leader|House Democratic Caucus]]
| term_start2         = December 4, 1843
| term_end2           = March 4, 1845
| predecessor2        = [[James K. Polk]]
| successor2          = [[Howell Cobb]]
| office3             = Member of the<br />[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br /> from [[Virginia]]
| term_start3         = March 4, 1835
| term_end3           = March 3, 1845
| predecessor3        = [[William S. Archer]] (3rd)<br />[[Walter Coles]] (6th)
| successor3          = [[Walter Coles]] (3rd)<br />[[James Seddon]] (6th)
| constituency3       = [[Virginia's 3rd congressional district|3rd district]] (1835–43)<br />[[Virginia's 6th congressional district|6th district]] (1843–45)
| office4             = Chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]]
| term4               = March 4, 1839 &ndash; March 3, 1841
| predecessor4        = [[Churchill C. Cambreleng]]
| successor4          = [[Millard Fillmore]]
| order5              = 22nd
| office5             = Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
| term_start5         = January 4, 1847
| term_end5           = December 6, 1847
| governor5           = [[William "Extra Billy" Smith|William Smith]]
| predecessor5        = [[William Goode (politician)|William Goode]]
| successor5          = [[James F. Strother]]
| office6             = Member of the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] from [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield County]]
| term6               = December 7, 1846 &ndash; December 17, 1847
| predecessor6        = William Winfree
| successor6          = Alexander Jones
| birth_date          = November 22, 1791
| birth_place         = [[Amelia County, Virginia]]
| death_date          = January 29, 1848 (aged 56)
| death_place         = [[Petersburg, Virginia]]
| nationality         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| otherparty          = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]
| spouse              = Harriet Boisseau
| relations           = 
| children            = Mary Winston Jones<br />James Boisseau Jones<br />Alexander Jones
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = [[College of William & Mary]]
| occupation          = 
| profession          = [[Lawyer]]
| religion            = 
| signature           = 
| website             = 
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''John Winston Jones''' (November 22, 1791 – January 29, 1848) was an [[Politics of the United States|American politician]] and [[lawyer]]. He served five terms in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1835 to 1845. He served as [[Speaker (politics)|Speaker of the House]] in both the U.S. House of Representatives (1843–1845) and the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] (1847).

==Early life and education==
Born November 22, 1791, in [[Amelia County, Virginia]] to the former Mary Anne Winston, and her husband, Alexander Jones.<ref>[[Lyon Gardiner Tyler]], Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915) vol. 2 p. 115, available at hathitrust.org</ref>  A paternal ancestor was Peter Jones, the founder of [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]]. His name honors Col. John Jones (Peter Jones' son, 1735-1793), who had served in the [[House of Burgesses]] for then-vast [[Brunswick County, Virginia|Brunswick County]], supported the American Revolutionary War, then served in the Virginia Senate (including a term as its Speaker) as well as in the [[Virginia Ratifying Convention]] of 1788.<ref>[[Lyon Gardiner Tyler]], vol. 1 pp. 267-268</ref>  This John W. Jones received an education appropriate for his class, then traveled to [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] about 1795 for further studies at the [[The College of William & Mary|College of William & Mary]]. He received a law degree from the same institution in 1813.

==Early legal career==
After admission to the Virginia bar, Jones practiced law in [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield County]] before being appointed Commonwealth Attorney (prosecutor) for Virginia's 5th Judicial Circuit in 1818. He joined [[Benjamin W. Leigh]], Samuel Taylor and [[William B. Giles]] as a delegate to the [[Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829–1830|1829–1830 state constitutional convention]], all four men representing a [[Southside Virginia|Southside]] district consisting of Amelia, Chesterfield, [[Cumberland County, Virginia|Cumberland]], [[Nottoway County, Virginia|Nottoway]] and [[Powhatan County, Virginia|Powhatan Counties]] and the city of [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]].<ref>Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 353</ref>

==Congressman==
{{Further|Presidency of Andrew Jackson|Presidency of Martin Van Buren|William Henry Harrison#Presidency (1841)|Presidency of John Tyler|19th United States Congress|20th United States Congress|21st United States Congress|22nd United States Congress|23rd United States Congress}}

Jones was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in [[1834 and 1835 United States House of Representatives elections|1835]] and served five terms. As he rose through the ranks of the House, he became chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, replacing future president [[Millard Fillmore]], and House Democratic Leader, succeeding future president [[James K. Polk]].

Fellow congressman elected Jones as [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] during the [[28th United States Congress|28th Congress]], which convened in 1843 and adjourned in 1845.

Jones declined nomination for a sixth term in Congress and returned to Virginia in 1845.

==Career after Congress==
Upon his retirement from Congress, Jones returned to his legal practice and plantation in Virginia. Among his more prominent cases, he served as lead counsel for Thomas Ritchie Jr., who in 1846 faced trial for his involvement in the infamous duel in which abolitionist John Hampden Pleasants was fatally wounded. Ritchie won acquittal on the grounds of self-defense.<ref name=HouseBio>{{cite web|url=https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/2726|title=Biography of Virginia House Speaker J.W. Jones}}</ref> In the 1830 federal census, John W. Jones owned slaves in Chesterfield County.<ref>1830 U.S. Federal Census for Chesterfield Virginia, p. 85 of 100</ref>

That same year, Jones was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and in 1847 was chosen as [[List of Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates|Speaker]]. He was elected to a second term in 1847, but did not attend the session due to illness. He resigned his seat on December 17. The vacant House seat was later filled by his son, Alexander.<ref name=HouseBio/>

==Private life==
Jones married Harriet Boisseau in 1815 and together they had three children: Mary Winston, James Boisseau and Alexander. His son-in-law was [[George Washington Bonaparte Towns|George W.B. Towns]], who was the 39th Governor of Georgia from 1847 to 1851.<ref name=HouseBio/>

Jones died on January 29, 1848. He is buried in the family cemetery at his Dellwood Plantation northwest of [[Petersburg, Virginia]].

==Electoral history==

*'''1835'''; Jones was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 68.09% of the vote, defeating Whig William Segar Archer.
*'''1837'''; Jones was re-elected unopposed.
*'''1839'''; Jones was re-elected with 58.51% of the vote, defeating a Whig identified only as Taylor.
*'''1841'''; Jones was re-elected with 69.47% of the vote, defeating Independents Junius E. Leigh and Thomas Miller.
*'''1843'''; Jones was re-elected unopposed.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite book | last = Jamerson | first = Bruce F., Clerk of the House of Delegates, supervising | title = Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1776-2007 | publisher = Virginia House of Delegates | year = 2007 | location = [[Richmond, Virginia]]}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070529042211/http://www.dellwoodplantation.com/history.htm Dellwood Plantation]
*[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000240 Biography] at the [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]
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{{succession box | title=[[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] | before=[[John White (Kentucky politician)|John White]] | after=[[John Wesley Davis]] | years=1843–1845}}
{{succession box
| before = [[William Goode (politician)|William O. Goode]]
| title = [[List of Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates|Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates]]
| years = 1847
| after = [[James F. Strother]]
}}
{{Succession box
|title=Chairman of [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]]
|before=[[Churchill C. Cambreleng]]<br>New York
|years=1839–1841
|after=[[Millard Fillmore]]<br>New York}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Virginia
| district=3
| before=[[William S. Archer]]
| after=[[Walter Coles]]
| years=1835–1843}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Virginia
| district=6
| before=Walter Coles
| after=[[James Seddon]]
| years=1843–1845}}
{{s-end}}

{{Democratic Party (United States)}}
{{SpeakerUSHouse}}
{{Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates}}
{{US House Ways and Means chairs}}
{{VirginiaRepresentatives03}}
{{VirginiaRepresentatives06}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John Winston}}
[[Category:1791 births]]
[[Category:1848 deaths]]
[[Category:College of William & Mary alumni]]
[[Category:Speakers of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates]]
[[Category:Virginia lawyers]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Virginia]]
[[Category:Jacksonian United States representatives from Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Amelia County, Virginia]]
[[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly]]