JONES, John Paul, was born in 1747, at Arbigland, in the parish of Kirkbean and stewarty of Kirkcudbright. He was a natural son of Craig of Arbigland; but his reputed father was John Paul, a gardener in that gentleman's service. The agnomen of Jones was assumed by himself
Jones, at the outset of what may be called his public career. At the age of twelve he went to sea, and traded for some years to America. In the course of these voyages he made himself so thorough a master of seamanship and navigation, that, according to a local account, "he was allowed to be unmatched on that coast (the west coast of Scotland) for skill in sea matters." For some time he was engaged in the slave-trade, from which, however, after a few voyages, he retired in disgust. On his way back to England the captain and mate of the vessel in which he was, both died. At the request of those on board, Jones took the command, and brought the vessel safe into port. For this service, the owners made him captain of the ship, and in a few years he realized a handsome fortune. In 1773 he settled in Virginia on a property which had fallen to him on the death of his elder brother, a planter and merchant in that state. When the war of the American Independence broke out, he offered his sword to the revolted colonies, was made captain of a small ship of war, and in six weeks had made no fewer than sixteen prizes. In 1777 he set out for France, and was appointed to the "Ranger," with which he made a descent on the north coast of England, seized the fort of Whitehaven, burnt some of the shipping, and for some weeks kept the adjoining shores of England and Scotland in constant alarm with his single ship. Two years later he set sail on a similar expedition to the east coast, reached the Firth of Forth, and very nearly executed his threat of burning every ship in the harbour of Leith. A strong wind drove him out to sea, and saved the town. Altering his tack, he turned his prow southwards, and off Flamborough Head fell in with the homeward-bound British fleet from the Baltic, convoyed by two powerful men-of-war. After a desperate and bloody battle, one of these struck its flag to Jones' own ship, which was itself so much shattered in the action, that it went to the bottom next day. This victory raised his fame to its acme; and on his arrival in Paris he was presented by Louis XVI. with a splendid sword, enhanced in value by a very flattering inscription. For a while he reigned as the lion of the day in Paris, followed the fashions, and desired to be thought a man of ton. An Englishman then resident in the French capital described him as "a smart little man of thirty-six; speaks but little French, and appears to be an extraordinary genius; a poet as well as a hero." A contemporary Scottish account describes him as a "short, thick, little fellow, about 5 feet 8 inches in height, of a dark swarthy complexion." Jones, it seems, had already wrought hard to supply the defects of a neglected education, and talks in his letters of the "midnight studies" in which he was then engaged. On his return to America, Congress voted him a splendid gold medal, and passed a resolution commending his "zeal, prudence, and intrepidity." When peace was concluded, Jones returned to France as American agent for prize-money. A few years later he entered the Russian service with the title of rear-admiral, and was in the fair way of rising still higher when the jealousies and petty intrigues of his brother officers induced him to quit it altogether. It was in vain that Catherine tried to retain him by temptations of no ordinary value. He returned once more to Paris, where the great events of the Revolution prevented him from getting a hearing for his claims. The last days of his life were spent in poverty and neglect, embittered by lingering and painful diseases. An attack of dropsy finally carried him off, July 18, 1792.