John Jones (346)

John Jones (6 July 1747–18 July 1792) was a naval officer and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1774. He was born John Paul Jones in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland and began his sailing career as a merchant’s apprentice when he was thirteen years old. By twenty-one, he was in charge of a vessel sailing to the West Indies, and by twenty-eight he was an officer in the U.S. Navy. The newly formed military branch lacked formal structures, and, as a result, Jones’s maneuvers were rarely well-planned in advance. On a 1777 voyage upon a ship called the Ranger, he intended to kidnap and hold hostage the Earl of Selkirk, but, finding the nobleman was not home, stole his household silver instead. He later sent a letter of apology to the Earl’s wife. By Jones’s own admission, his military feats did little to contribute to the war’s outcome, but they were sensational—humiliating to the British and rousing to the Americans. Jones’s colorful Navy career—characterized by acts of heroism and daring—contributed to his already controversial reputation. In 1770, on a voyage to Tobago, he was charged with murder for beating a sailor who then died, and, in a separate incident, he killed a mutinying crewmember in what he claimed was self-defense. After the American Revolution, Jones joined the Russian navy, and in 1789 was accused in St. Petersburg of raping a young girl. He managed to evade serious repercussions for his actions in each case. Jones thrived on the basis of his powerful connections: he joined the Freemasons as a young man in Scotland, and formed long-lasting and advantageous friendships with Robert Morris and Benjamin Franklin. He spent the last years of his life in Paris, living peacefully and largely ignoring the French Revolution. He is now buried in an ornate crypt, fit for his legendary stature, on the campus of the United States Naval Academy. (ANB, DNB)