William Giles Jones

Who was William Giles Jones?

William Giles Jones was a United States federal judge.

Born in Powhatan County, Virginia, Jones attended Hampden–Sydney College and the University of Virginia before reading law to enter the bar in 1830. He was in private practice in Virginia from 1830 to 1834, then worked as a clerk in the United States Land Office in Demopolis, Alabama, resuming his private practice in Greene and Eutaw, Alabama from 1836 to 1843. He was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1843, thereafter relocating his private practice to Mobile, Alabama from 1843 to 1860. He again served in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1849 and in 1857.

On September 29, 1859, Jones received a recess appointment from President James Buchanan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama vacated by John Gayle. Formally nominated on January 23, 1860, Jones was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 30, 1860, and received his commission the same day.

His service was short-lived. On January 12, 1861, he resigned, thereafter becoming a judge of the District of Alabama for the Confederate States of America for the duration of the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Following the war, he was in private practice in Mobile from 1866 until his death in that city in 1883.