Major Thomas Jones

For other people of the same name, see Thomas Jones.

Major Thomas Jones
Born	ca. 1665 Ireland
Died	1713 Long Island, Province of New York
Nationality	Irish
Known for	Early settler of American colonies
Spouse(s)	Freelove Townsend
Parent(s)	(unknown)

Major Thomas Jones (ca. 1665 – 13 December 1713) emigrated to Rhode Island from Strabane, in Ireland. There he married Freelove Townsend, daughter of Captain Thomas Townsend, and would go on to serve as a privateer, and later be an influential figure on Long Island.

History

Thomas Jones was born about 1665. He fought in the Battle of the Boyne, Aghrim, and at the capitulation of Limerick, serving under William III of England and under James II of Ireland. For this service he attained the rank of Major.

Major Thomas Jones emigrated to America where he met and married Freelove Townsend, daughter of Captain Thomas Townsend, while in Warwick, Rhode Island. After that he was outfitted as a privateer and absent for three years, during which time he made many captures. His father-in-law Captain Thomas Townsend moved to Oyster Bay with his daughter Freelove.

Freelove Townsend was a woman of great intelligence and ability. Following Major Thomas Jones death, management of his estates was given over to her, as well as the education of their children. She was baptized in 1702 by the famous George Keith and the Rev. John Thomas, who were sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

In 1688 Captain Thomas Townsend had bought of the Massapequa Indians a piece of land at South Oyster Bay, after which he gave it in 1695 "unto Thomas Jones of Oyster Bay, my son-in-law, and to Freelove his wife, my daughter." In 1696 Major Thomas Jones built the first house of bricks so far east on Long Island.

Thomas Jones was admitted an associate freeholder under the original patent of Oyster Bay, granted by Governor Andros, September 29, 1677. Lord Cornbury, the Governor of New York, commissioned him to be Captain of Militia in Queens County, October 20, 1702. Two years later, on October 14, 1704, he was appointed High Sheriff of Queens, and on April 3, 1706, was made Major of the Queens County Regiment. Governor Hunter appointed Jones the "Ranger General of the Island of Nassau", the legal name then referring to Long Island. This commission started September 4, 1710, made him an officer of the Crown, with "Royal rights" or franchises of waifs, estrays, hunting, royal fish, treasure trove, mines, deodands, forfeitures, and the like.

Major Jones died 13 Dec 1713, and was buried on a slight elevation on the let bank of the Massapequa. His tombstone made of hard red sandstone of Rhode Island, bore an inscription written by himself (with original spelling preserved):

Here Lyes Interred The Body of
Major Thomas Jones, who came from
Strabane, in the Kingdom of Ireland,
Settled here, and Died, December, 1713.
From distant Lands to this Wild Waste he came,
This Seat he chose, and here he fix'd his Name.
Long May his Sons this Peaceful Spot Injoy,
And no Ill Fate his Offspring here Annoy.

Famous descendants

Judge David Jones, son of Major Thomas Jones and Freelove Townsend, was born 16 Sept 1699. He became Judge of Queens County in 1734, and in 1763 was the 2nd Justice of the Supreme Court of New York, where he sat for ten years.

Judge and historian Thomas Jones (1731-1792) was son of David Jones and Anna Willet. He was born 30 Apr 1731 at his father's house in Fort Neck. He became Recorder of the City of New York and Judge of the Supreme Court, which later office he held until the close of the Revolutionary War, when he was forced to leave the country for England. There, he wrote his History of New York During the Revolutionary War, which recounts: during the Revolutionary War, a party of rebels from New England broke into and plundered his house at Fort Neck in November 1779.

Namesakes

Jones Beach State Park on Long Island is named after Jones.