George  Jones


          George S. Jones  the eldest son of  William P. and  Sarah Jones, was born near the town of Jonesville, in Lee County, Va., June 12, 1840.  His boyhood was spent on the farm, and attended a select school during the winter.  By occupation his father was a carpenter, and  George S.  assisted him in that vocation for several years.  The subject of this biography is the possessor of a good common school education, and at the age of eighteen years began teaching in the public schools of Kentucky, and three years thereafter came to Shelby County, Indiana, and continued the profession of a teacher until 1863, when he enlisted in Company 1, Seventh Indiana Cavalry.  February 22, 1864, he was wounded at the battle of Okoloma, Mississippi, and was captured by the enemy and confined in the prison at Andersonville, from which he made his escape one year afterward and was honorably discharged from the service June 13, 1865, and then returned to Shelby County and resumed his former occupation.  As a teacher, he attained more than ordinary success, and has been connected with some of the best schools of this part of Indiana.  During his residence at Fairland, in Shelby County, he founded the Fairland Bulletin, which he continued for three years, and then removed the paper to Shelbyville and changed its name to the Shelby Volunteer, now known as the Shelby Times, and continued his newspaper work for three years, where he again took up the profession of school teaching and later was appointed to a position in the United States Pension Office.  The Political sentiments of Mr. Jones are that of an earnest and never tiring Democrat, and in 1886, was the nominee of his party for Congress, of the Sixth Congressional District.  Mr. Jones is a man of fine social qualities, and his political popularity was fully attested by the fact that he ran several hundred votes ahead of his ticket.  In 1870 Mr. Jones was united in marriage to  Miss Cynthia Ann, daughter of  Andrew J. and  Catharine J. Cherry, and to them were born the following:  Andrew, born October 8, 1871, and  Thomas Hendricks, born November 27, 1876.  Mr. Jones is a Mason, and Odd Fellow, and a member of the G. A. R.
History of Rush County, Chicago: Brant and Fuller, 1888.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

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