Governor Jones House
N 32° 22.516 W 086° 18.223
16S E 565499 N 3582245
This Historic Marker stands in front of Governor Thomas Jones home in Montgomery.
Waymark Code: WM3NVF
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 04/26/2008
Views: 26
Thomas Goode Jones was born November 26, 1844, at Macon, Georgia, and moved with his family to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1850. Jones also attended school in Virginia and eventually entered Virginia Military Institute (VMI). In 1862 he left VMI with the rest of his classmates to serve in the Confederate Army under Stonewall Jackson. During the war fought in many well-known battles in Virginia, including Petersburg and Spotsylvania, and was wounded four times. At Appomattox Major Jones carried one of the flags of truce.
Upon his return to Alabama the Confederate veteran farmed for a few years in Montgomery County. In addition, he continued studying law, a pursuit he began during the war, and was admitted to the bar in 1868.
Jones began his career as an elected public official in 1884 when he was elected to represent Montgomery County in the legislature. Jones was re-elected two years later and chosen to serve as the house speaker, and 1890 Jones was elected Governor. A talented, vigorous speaker who was often called upon to speak at memorial events in the North as well as the South, Jones' active career continued after his two terms as governor. He was chairman of the 1896 State Sound Money Convention in Indianapolis. In 1901 the former governor was elected president of the Alabama Bar Association, was a member of the Alabama Constitutional Convention and was appointed U.S. District Judge of the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama by President Theodore Roosevelt.
On December 20, 1866, Jones married Georgene Caroline Bird of Montgomery. They had thirteen children (six boys and seven girls), four of whom died in infancy. Jones died in Montgomery on April 28, 1914.
The text of the marker reads:
GOVERNOR JONES HOUSE
"Thomas Goode Jones, governor of Alabama from 1890-1894, occupied this house during his long political career which took him from the Montgomery City Council to a federal judgeship. During his two terms as governor, his home was the Executive Mansion and later frequently was used as a federal courtroom. Originally a four room cottage, the house was enlarged by Jones in the early ‘90s. His son, the noted jurist Walter B. Jones, continued to live in his family home and inaugurated Jones Law School in a house to the rear. The law firm of Webb and Crumpton restored the house in 1978."
Marker Name: Governor Jones House
Marker Type: Urban
Addtional Information::
This marker stands near the intersection of South Hull Street and Adams Avenue
Date Dedicated / Placed: 1979
Marker Number: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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