James Kimbrough JONES, Congress, AR (1839-1908)

JONES, James Kimbrough, a Representative and a Senator from Arkansas; born in Marshall County, Miss., September 29, 1839; moved with his father to Dallas County, Ark., in 1848; pursued classical studies under a private tutor; served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; returned to his plantation in Arkansas; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1874 and commenced practice in Washington, Hempstead County, Ark.; member, State senate 1873-1879, and served as president of that body 1877-1879; chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1896 and 1900; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1881-March 3, 1885); had been reelected to the Forty-ninth Congress but tendered his resignation February 19, 1885, having been elected Senator; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1885; reelected in 1891 and 1897 and served from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1903; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; Democratic caucus chairman 1899-1903; chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Fifty-third Congress), Committee on Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia (Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses), Committee on Private Land Claims (Fifty-fifth Congress); resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C., and died there June 1, 1908; interment in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Newberry, Farrar. James K. Jones, the Plumed Knight of Arkansas. Arkadelphia: Siftings-Herald Printing Co., 1913.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present