George Jones

The Reverend Prof. George Jones (July 30, 1800 – January 22, 1870) was a minister of the Episcopal Church, United States Navy chaplain, academic, and writer. He is remembered as the first chaplain and head of English studies at the United States Naval Academy and for his participation in the landmark 1852–1854 expedition to Japan under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry. Background and early life Jones was born on his family's estate near York, Pennsylvania, in 1800, the youngest son of Robert and Elizabeth Jones. He was educated at Yale University, where he graduated as the 1823 class valedictorian. After two years teaching in Washington, D.C., he served as schoolmaster on board the Navy frigates USS Brandywine and USS Constitution and as secretary to Commodore Charles Morris. Jones was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 16, 1831, thereafter serving as a parish priest in Middletown, Connecticut.