Jones, Thomas Ap Catesby

Jones, Thomas Ap Catesby

(1790–1858) naval officer; born in Westmoreland County, Va. His naval career (1805–50) included service in the War of 1812 and the drawing up of a treaty with King Kamehameha III of the Sandwich (now Hawaiian) islands in 1826. He was temporarily relieved of his command after he seized Monterey, Calif., in 1842 before formal hostilities had begun between the U.S.A. and Mexico. He served in the Mexican War, but was court-martialed in 1850 for the misuse of funds.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.