Charles W. Jones

Charles William Jones (December 24, 1834 – October 11, 1897) was an American attorney and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States senator from Florida from 1875 to 1887. Jones abandoned his seat near the end of his second term, and it remained vacant for a year until a successor was elected. Jones was later diagnosed as mentally ill, and was hospitalized at a Dearborn, Michigan asylum for seven years before his death.

Early life Jones was born in Balbriggan, Ireland on December 24, 1834. His father was a British army surgeon who died when Jones was a child. He married Mary Ada Quigley of Mobile, Alabama in 1861; they were the parents of eight children, four of whom lived to adulthood. In addition, he served on the Naval Affairs and Commerce committees.

Mental decline In the spring of 1885, Jones announced he was taking a vacation in Canada and Detroit, Michigan, including a visit with former Detroit mayor William G. Thompson, a relative by marriage. By April 1886, rumors suggested that Jones had become obsessed with Palms and had become insane. By year's end, he had been evicted from his hotel room and was reportedly destitute. Jones was then taken into custody and brought to an asylum for the insane in Dearborn, Michigan where he stayed until his death. He was buried at St. Michael's Cemetery in Pensacola. In 1977, his Pensacola home, the Charles William Jones House, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.