Samuel J. Jones

Samuel Jefferson Jones (April 16, 1827 December 10, 1883) was a pro-slavery settler who held the position of Douglas County sheriff in Kansas Territory from late 1855 until early 1857. He helped found the territorial capital of Lecompton and played a prominent role in the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict, leading the Sacking of Lawrence in 1856.

In 1858, he moved to La Mesilla, New Mexico Territory. In September of that year, he was appointed the collector of customs at El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juárez, Mexico). In New Mexico, he was involved with the Mowry City land scam. When that settlement's prospects collapsed, he bought a ranch near La Mesilla and died there in 1883. His tombstone was returned to Lecompton in 2013.

Biography

Move to Kansas

Jones erected Constitution Hall in Lecompton, Kansas, which he rented out to the local pro-slavery government.

Jones was a native of the state of Virginia. There, he befriended many pro-slavery settlers, and on March 30, 1855, he had a hand in disrupting elections in Bloomington, Kansas. When Jones investigated, he chose not to arrest Coleman for Dow's murder but instead arrested Branson on charges of disturbing the peace. Branson, however, was eventually rescued by free-staters, causing the pro-slavery faction to seethe with anger. The group, led by Jones, made their way to Lawrence with the intention of eradicating the free-staters. Meanwhile, the citizens of Lawrence, bracing for the impending battle, raised up a militia of 800 men. But despite the mustering of armies, the Missourians never attacked, and the pro- and anti-slavery factions were encouraged by the governor to make peace in December 1855. Soon thereafter, the Missouri army reluctantly left the area.

Sack of Lawrence

On April 23, 1856, Sheriff Jones entered into Lawrence and attempted to arrest members of the extralegal Free-State legislature. Jones's presence in the city caused emotions to flare, and soon, violence erupted; according to author Duane Schutlz, "One man grabbed [Jones] by the collar; another punched him in the face." After the shoot-out, Federal Marshal J. B. Donaldson proclaimed on May 11 that the act had interfered with the execution of warrants. This led to a grand jury declaring that Lawrence's Free State Hotel was actually built to use as a fort. Consequently, Sheriff Joneswho, in addition to his desire to uphold the pro-slavery laws, had an ax to grind with the free-statersassembled an army of about 800 southern settlers to enter Lawrence, disarm the citizens, destroy the anti-slavery presses, and dismantle the Free State Hotel. This occurred on May 21, when Sheriff Jones and a gang of Southern sympathizers sacked Lawrence. Dr. Robinson’s house on Mount Oread was taken by the federal marshal as headquarters (before being razed), the newspaper printing presses were destroyed, the Free State Hotel was burned down, and the town was looted.

On January 7, 1857, He soon thereafter left Kansas Territory altogether. The three collaborated on a misleading pamphlet entitled "Report of the Mowry City Association, Territory of Arizona, for 1859", which exaggerated Mowry City's mineral resources and claimed that it would be the future site of the territorial capital of Arizona Territory (at that time, the name "Arizona" was applied to the southern half of New Mexico Territory, from the Staked Plains of Texas to the Colorado River border of California). After gold was discovered in 1860 near Pinos Altos, Mowry City started to grow, but the Bascom Affair and the outbreak of the American Civil War led to nearby Apache peoples attacking all white settlers, including those in Mowry City. This led to the end of the settlement.