Robert Strettel Jones (133)

Election date: 1768 (Elected to the revived American Philosophical Society.)
APS Office(s): Secretary of the APS (1771-1777)

Robert Strettel Jones (21 July 1745–16 March 1792) was a merchant and public official, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. Born into a prominent Philadelphia family—his father, APS member Isaac Jones, was the city’s mayor—he studied at the Academy of Philadelphia and then enrolled at the College of Philadelphia. However, a disagreement with the College’s acting head, APS member Francis Alison, prevented Jones from receiving his degree. Returning from abroad, the College’s provost, APS member William Smith, put the matter to rest by granting Jones an honorary master’s degree. Jones then began an import business with APS member Stephen Watts. A promoter of American improvements, Jones was a founder of the Silk Society, a manager of the United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American Manufactures, and an active member of the APS. He presented the Society with a wine sample made with American grapes and served on a committee that encouraged the production of paper from silk. He was also a director of the Philadelphia Contributionship, a manager of the Pennsylvania Hospital, a director of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and an organizer of the Society for Relieving the Distresses of Prisoners. With the outbreak of the American Revolution, Jones was named secretary of the Committee of Inspection and Observation for the City and Liberties. But despite taking the oath of allegiance in 1778, he was charged a year later with high treason. Following the Battle of Germantown, Jones had allegedly toured his neighborhood confiscating patriot guns, but he pled mistaken identity and was found not guilty. He removed to Burlington, New Jersey, where he amassed a sizeable library and established a garden. He died in 1792 after serving in the New Jersey legislature from 1787 to 1790. (PI)

---