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Senate Years of Service: 1875-1887 Party: Democrat
JONES, Charles William, a Senator from Florida; born in Balbriggan, Ireland, on December 24, 1834;
immigrated to the United States in 1844 with his mother and settled in New York City, where he
attended the public schools; moved to Louisiana in 1848 and later to Mississippi; moved to Santa
Rosa County, Fla., in 1854; worked as a carpenter and studied law at night; admitted to the bar in
1857 and commenced practice in Pensacola, Fla.; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in
1872 to the Forty-third Congress; member, State house of representatives 1874; elected as a
Democrat to the United States Senate in 1875; reelected in 1881 and served from March 4, 1875, to
March 3, 1887; was not a candidate for reelection; chairman, Committee on Public Buildings and
Grounds (Forty-sixth Congress), Committee on Revolutionary Claims (Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth
Congresses); moved to Detroit, Mich., in 1885 and was absent from the Senate for nearly two years;
died at St. Josephs Retreat, an asylum for the insane, Dearborn, Mich., October 11, 1897; interment
in St. Michael's Cemetery, Pensacola, Fla.
BibliographyEtemadi, Judy. A Love-Mad Man: Senator Charles W.
Jones of Florida." Florida Historical Quarterly 56 (October 1977): 123-37.
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