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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Jefferson County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Hon. Met L. Jones, one of the leading attorneys of Jefferson County, was born in Hardeman County, Tenn., on June 2, 1840, and is a son of Dr. William Jones, of Virginia, whose father, Leonard Jones, was also a native of the same State and of English descent. Dr. William Jones was one of the pioneers of Hardeman County and accumulated considerable fortune in that place. In 1862 he moved to Memphis and practiced his profession in that city until 1873, when he was stricken with yellow fever and died at the age of fifty-five years. He was a man of great energy, and a thorough student, being one of the most scholarly men of his time, and was almost entirely devoted to his profession. His wife, before her marriage, was Miss Naomi Robertson, a daughter of Col. Charles Robertson, of North Carolina, who commanded a regiment under Gen. Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. Met L. Jones passed his boyhood days on a farm and remained with his parents until seventeen years old. He then attended Woodland Academy, a select institution founded by Prof. Gwynn, and from there he went to Andrews College at Trenton, Tenn., and remained until his nineteenth year. Upon leaving college he went to Savannah, Tenn., and studied law for two years under the supervision of Judge Elijah Walker and C. S. Robertson, the latter an uncle. He next located at Hampton, Calhoun County, Ark., where he practiced his profession from May, 1860, to May, 1861, the date of the State’s secession, and from there went to Wilcox County, Ala., where he remained until joining the Fourth Alabama Regiment, and then hurried on to the battle of Manassas. He continued with the army in Virginia until the surrender, with the exception of four months spent in the Trans-Mississippi department, taking part in the battles at Bull Run, Manassas, at the capitulation of Harper’s Ferry, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, White Oak Swamp, Chickahominy, Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg and Gettysburg, and at the second battle of Manassas he was wounded in the head by a minie ball which has left a permanent indenture in the skull. He was again wounded at the battle of Malvern Hill by a bullet in the thigh which yet remains in his body. Mr. Jones first entered the army as a private, but his gallant actions in battle won for him the rank of first lieutenant of Company C, Fourth Alabama Regiment, then major of his regiment and later on lieutenant-colonel, afterward being appointed to staff duty in the department of Henrico, Va. While at Malvern Hill he commanded a squadron, and at Gettysburg his service was strictly that of a soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia. After the war was over he returned to Hampton and resumed his practice in Calhoun and the adjoining counties, his clientage being one of the largest in that section of Arkansas. He remained here until January, 1870, and then, in order to place better facilities before his children in the way of social, educational and religious matters, he moved to Pine Bluff, and in 1872 formed a partnership with Judge William M. Harrison. Two years later the latter gentleman was elected to the supreme bench, which necessitated a dissolution of the firm. In 1874 he entered into partnership with Judge David W. Carroll, which continued until 1878, when the latter was elected to the office of state chancellor, since which time Mr. Jones has practiced alone. He has always been in the front rank of his profession, and has in every instance relied upon his own judgment in every case he has handled, and instead of committing his clients to other lawyers, has followed their cases up to the Supreme bench in person. In all complicated matters he has striven to adjust differences without having recourse to the courts, and has settled a great many important cases with serious detriment to his own purse temporarily. He has never had an opposing counsel to ask his indulgence in a case but what he has granted it, unless seriously conflicting with his client’s interests. While making law his principal business, Mr. Jones has paid some attention to farming, and owns several large tracts of land, rendering him, financially, one of the most solid men of the State. In politics he is a Democrat and a leader among his party. He was a presidential elector for Seymour, and a delegate at large from Arkansas to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis in 1876, as also at every State convention since the war. In 1866-67 he served as a member of the House of Representatives, but it is against his nature to seek public office, being devoted to his law library and the quiet of domestic life. Mr. Jones was married near Camden on August 27, 1860, to Miss Rebecca Roberts, of Wilcox County, Ala., a daughter of Alfred Roberts, one of the largest planters of that State. Mrs. Jones is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and an earnest, devoted Christian, while her husband, although not a member of any particular church, is a believer in the Bible and its teachings. Four children have been born to their union: William, Stella, Nona and Met L., in whom the parents take great pride, and are giving them the best education to be obtained. In secret societies Mr. Jones is a member of I. O. O. F., Knights of Honor, Knights of the Golden Rule, Forresters and Royal Arcanum.

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This family biography is one of 136 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Jefferson County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Jefferson County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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