John Gabriel Jones | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1752-06-06)June 6, 1752 |
| Died | December 25, 1776(1776-12-25) (aged 24) |
| Occupation(s) | Pioneer, lawyer and politician |
John Gabriel Jones (June 6, 1752 – December 25, 1776) was a colonial American pioneer and politician. An early settler of Kentucky, he andGeorge Rogers Clark sought to petition Virginia to allow Kentucky to become a part of theColony of Virginia at the outset of theAmerican Revolution.
He was named in honor of his uncle, the noted Virginian lawyerGabriel Jones.
Born to John Jones and Elizabeth Walker, John Gabriel Jones set out for Kentucky at a young age where he lived for several years and eventually became a prominent lawyer in the region. In June 1776, after a 7-day meeting inHarrod's Town lasting from June 8 to June 15, he andGeorge Rogers Clark were elected by popular vote to represent westernFincastle County as members of theGeneral Assembly of Virginia. Shortly before the two reachedWilliamsburg however, the state legislature had already adjourned and Jones instead turned back atRichmond to visit the settlements on theHolston River while Clark continued to the capital.
On October 8, Jones and Clark were both in attendance at the fall session and they were successfully able to use their influence to have Kentucky constituted as a county of Virginia by reconstituting Fincastle County intoMontgomery,Washington andKentucky counties,[1] however they were not recognized as members of the assembly. While in Richmond, Clark visited GovernorPatrick Henry and managed to acquire 500 pounds ofgunpowder from Virginia which was ordered to be shipped toPittsburgh. They later helped ship the gunpowder down theOhio River and hid the cargo 11 miles outside of present-dayMaysville, Kentucky.
In December, Jones and ColonelJohn Todd gathered a group of ten men to retrieve the gunpowder. On December 25, as they marched along the Ohio River, they were ambushed near theLower Blue Lick by a group of warriors led by theMingo chieftainPluggy with Jones and several others being killed in the fighting.[2][3][4]