Note 104 — JOURNAL & LETTERS

Dr. Walter Jones of "Hayfield" in Lancaster County, was known as "the luminary of the Northern Neck." He was the son of Colonel Thomas Jones, a planter-businessman of Williamsburg and Hanover County. His mother, Elizabeth Cocke, was a niece of Mark Catesby, the well-known English naturalist. Dr. Jones had been educated at the College of William and Mary and he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. At the former institution he became a fast friend of Thomas Jefferson and of Bathurst Skelton, whose widow Jefferson later married. Jones achieved distinction both in the field of medicine and in politics. In 1777 he was appointed physician-general of the Middle Department, but declined the office, which was later filled by Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. Jones was made a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1774. He served as a member of Congress for a number of years. Dr. Jones' wife was Alice Flood, the daughter of William Flood, the well-known physician and turfman of Richmond County.