William Jones (1761–1831)
In 1813 Bushrod Washington wrote Secretary of the Navy William Jones on behalf of "a young gentleman of uncommon merit" who was seeking an appointment as a naval officer.
William Jones was born on 29 March 1761 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A shipyard apprentice, he fought at the battles of Trenton and Princeton and served in the Continental Navy. In the post-war years Jones was a successful merchant in Charleston, South Carolina, and Philadelphia, where he married Eleanor Young (1765–1828) in 1783. His political career began with a single term as a U.S. representative from Pennsylvania (1801–03).
Edward K. Eckert, "William Jones: Mr. Madison’s Secretary of the Navy," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 96, Number 2 (April 1972), 167–82.
Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 106.
"To James Madison from William Jones, 9 May 1801," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-01-02-0206. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 1, 4 March–31 July 1801, ed. Robert J. Brugger, Robert A. Rutland, Robert Rhodes Crout, Jeanne K. Sisson, and Dru Dowdy. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986, pp. 149–150.]
"From George Washington to William Jones and the Philadelphia Board of Health, 10 September 1798," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0466. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 2 January 1798 – 15 September 1798, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, p. 600.]
"From Thomas Jefferson to William Jones, 18 March 1801," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-33-02-0298. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 33, 17 February–30 April 1801, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006, pp. 351–352.]
William Jones in Pennsylvania, U.S., Veterans Burial Cards, 1777–2012 (Ancestry.com).
William Jones at Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
William Jones at Naval History and Heritage Command.
William Jones at Find a Grave.
William Jones Jr at FamilySearch.