George Washington Jones (September 5, 1828 – July 11, 1903) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 10th lieutenant governor of Texas and was a Greenback member of the United States House of Representatives from 1879 to 1883.
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Early life
George Washington Jones was born to William Dandridge Claiborne Jones and Rachel Burleson Jones on September 5, 1828, in Marion County, Alabama. He moved with his parents to Tipton County, Tennessee, and then to Bastrop, Texas. Jones studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1851, and commenced practice in Bastrop.
He owned slaves.
Early elected office
He narrowly lost a seat for the state legislature in 1856.
From 1858 until 1860, he served as Bastrop county attorney.
Civil War
Although a supporter of the Union, Jones served in the Confederate States Army, eventually attaining the rank of colonel as commander of the 17th Texas Infantry Regiment.
Public service
He was a delegate to the Texas state constitutional convention in 1866. Jones was elected lieutenant governor in 1866, with James W. Throckmorton as governor. Both Jones and Throckmorton were removed from office in 1867 by General Philip Henry Sheridan for being obstructions to Reconstruction.
Congress
Jones ran an unsuccessful campaign for congress in 1876, but in 1878, Jones was elected as United States Congressman for the Texas 5th Congressional District. He was reelected in 1880 and served from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1883. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1882. Instead opting to run an independent campaign for governor. His campaign was backed by both the Greenback and Republican parties, but he lost to former Texas Supreme Court Justice John Ireland. Jones ran against Ireland again in 1884, but saw his support fall as this time he did not have the backing of the Republican party.
Jones left politics until he attempted to run for congress as a member of the Populist Party in 1898, but he was again unsuccessful.
Personal life and death
On August 1, 1855, he married Ledora Ann Mullins in Bastrop.
Jones died on July 11, 1903. Ledora Jones died on August 31, 1903. They are both interred at Fairview Cemetery in Bastrop.