Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones (1735-1814) was born on 14 January 1735 at Cesen y Gelli, Glamorganshire, South Wales. He was the son of the Revd Thomas Jones and Martha Morris Jones. His parents emigrated to Philadelphia in 1737 and founded the Baptist church at Tulpehocken, PA. Samuel graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1762 and was ordained in 1763, serving as pastor of congregations at Southampton and Pennepack, Buckinghamshire County, PA. In 1770 he gave up the congregation at Southampton and thereafter served only at Pennepack. He also conducted a private seminary for many years out of his home. He was one of the founders of Rhode Island College (now Brown University) and was offered the position of President of the College upon the death of James Manning, but he declined. He was the first President of the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Baptist Association after its incorporation in 1797 and authored The Doctrine of the Covenant, A Treatise in Church Discipline, A Selection of Psalms and Hymns, and several sermons. He was awarded MA and D.D. from Brown and from the University of Pennsylvania. He married Sylvia Spicer of Cape May, New Jersey, and died in Philadelphia on 7 February 1814. Like William Rogers, Jones also served as a chaplain during the Revolutionary War. He supported himself as well, like Robert Robinson, by maintaining his own farm. His home was behind the chapel at Pennepack and was buried there. Only one child survived into adulthood, his daughter Sarah, who married Robert Henderson, a merchant in Philadelphia, and after his death, the Revd Theophilus Harris, who was originally from Wales and later settled in Alexandria, VA., and Philadelphia.