William Jones (8 October 1753 – 9 April 1822) was the Federalist Governor of Rhode Island from 1 May 1811 to 7 May 1817, succeeding James Fenner and preceding Nehemiah R. Knight.
Biography[]
William Jones was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1753, and he served in the Continental Army during the early stages of the American Revolutionary War before serving in the US Marine Corps and being captured at the Siege of Charleston. After the war, he became a justice of the peace and served in the State House during the 1800s. Jones, a Federalist, served as Governor from 1811 to 1817 and opposed the "unjust" War of 1812; he was Rhode Island's only Federalist governor. He died in 1822.