HON. H. R. JONES, judge of the thirty-ninth judicial district of Texas, was born in Warren county, Mississippi, about ten miles from Vicksburg, on the 29th of December, 1854. His father, Thomas J. Jones, was a Mississippi planter and was a native of that state, in which he died in April, 1868. The family is of Welsh lineage and the parents of Thomas J. Jones removed from South Carolina to Mississippi, where they established their home at an early day. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Tamsey Whatley, and was also of Welsh descent. Her people settled in Alabama at an early period in its development. Mrs. Jones died in 1874. She was the mother of ten children, four of whom were born by a previous marriage and six of her marriage to Mr. Jones. She was Mrs. Vaughan, a widow, at the time she gave her hand to Thomas J. Jones.
H. R. Jones, whose name introduces this review, was reared on the plantation owned by his father, who prior to the Civil war was a wealthy planter and slave owner but like thousands of others in the south his financial circumstances were greatly reduced owing to the loss of his slaves and most of his personal property. This made it necessary for H. R. Jones, like many other young boys of the period, to earn his own living. He was able to attend the country schools of the neighborhood for a limited period but by far the greater part of his education was received through experience, observation and study in his leisure hours. He has planned for his own advancement and has accomplished it in spite of difficulties and obstacles and to-day he occupies an honored position as a representative of the bar. He began his law studies when about twenty-four years of age, obtaining books and pursuing a private course of reading which covered quite an extended period. He arrived in Texas in 1886, reaching Haskell on the 15th of February of that year. Soon after he arrived here he secured a license entitling him to practice in Texas courts and immediately afterward entered upon his chose life work. He formed a partnership with R. C. Lomax under the firm name of Lomax & Jones, attorneys and land agents. This partnership continued until September, 1891, since which time Mr. Jones has been alone in practice. He soon gained a distinctively representative clientage, manifesting his ability to cope with the intricate problems of jurisprudence. In the fall of 1891 he was elected county judge of Haskell county and served for one term of two years and in 1902 he was elected county judge of Haskell county and served for one term of two years and in 1902 he was elected district judge of the thirty-ninth judicial district, which position he now fills. The district is comprised of seven counties, as follows: Haskell, Jones, Fisher, Throckmorton, Kent, Scurry and Stonewall. Judge Jones’ career on the bench is in keeping with his record as a man and lawyer, being distinguished by the utmost fidelity to duty and a masterful grasp of every question which is presented to him for solution.
Judge Jones was married February 15, 1891, to Miss Connie Killough, a native of Washington county, Texas, who has been reared, however, at Brenham, this state, her father, C. P. Killough, having been an early settler of that hostility.
While living in Mississippi before coming to Texas Judge Jones served for several terms as justice of the peace in Warren county and was also supervisor of the county for a number of years, acting as president of the board during a part of that time. During the cotton exposition held in New Orleans in 1884 he was appointed an honorary member of the state board of commissioners by Robert Lowry, governor of Mississippi. In political matters he has always taken an active interest and is a firm supporter of the Democracy. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias fraternities and belongs to the grand lodge of the former and has served in two sessions as a member of the committee on legislation for the state of Texas. His superior intellectual force, native ability and developed talents have made him a valued representative of the legal profession in western Texas and his position in the public regard is one given only in recognition of genuine personal worth as well as professional ability.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), p.