Jehu Glancy Jones

Jehu Glancy Jones (October 7, 1811 – March 24, 1878) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Often called " Glancy" he was a top adviser on Democratic Party affairs to his close friend James Buchanan, especially when President-elect Buchanan was picking his cabinet in 1856-1857. After he was defeated for reelection, Buchanan appointed him Ambassador to the Austrian Empire.

J. Glancy Jones
United States Minister to the Austrian Empire
In office
December 15, 1858  November 14, 1861
Preceded byHenry R. Jackson
Succeeded byJohn Lothrop Motley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 8th district
In office
February 4, 1854  October 30, 1858
Preceded byHenry Augustus Muhlenberg
Succeeded byWilliam High Keim
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 9th district
In office
March 4, 1851  March 3, 1853
Preceded byWilliam Strong
Succeeded byIsaac Ellmaker Hiester
Personal details
Born(1811-10-07)October 7, 1811
Caernarvon Township, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 24, 1878(1878-03-24) (aged 66)
Reading, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic
Signature

Biography

J. Glancy Jones was born in Caernarvon Township, Pennsylvania. He attended Kenyon College, studied theology and was ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal Church in 1835 and withdrew in 1841. He later studied law, was admitted to the bar in Georgia in 1841 and commenced practice at Easton, Pennsylvania. He was district attorney for Berks County, Pennsylvania, from 1847 to 1849. He was a delegate to the Democratic State conventions in 1848, 1849, and 1855, and served as president in 1855. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1848 and 1856 and served as vice president in 1848.

Jones was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1852. He was elected to the Thirty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry A. Muhlenberg. He was reelected to the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means during the Thirty-fifth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1858, and resigned October 30, 1858. On November 1, 1858 he was appointed Minister Resident to the Austrian Empire by President James Buchanan, and served from December 15, 1858 to November 14, 1861.[1] After his service he resumed the practice of law, and died in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1878. Interment in Reading's Charles Evans Cemetery.

In terms of his legacy to American history, biographer Michael Todd Landis states:

Leading Northern Democrats such as Jones and Buchanan were not romantic defenders of working men, as some scholars have claimed; nor were they moderates striving to save the Union from extreme sectionalism. Rather, they were proslavery activists whose willful actions had direct and disastrous effects on the nation. Their policies enraged free-state voters and caused the fatal split in the Democratic Party that resulted in Lincoln’s election, which, in turn, triggered disunion. They were culpable and responsible—a fact that should not be forgotten or overlooked.[2]

Notes and references

  1. "FORMER U.S. AMBASSADORS TO AUSTRIA". U.S. Embassy in Vienna. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  2. Landis, 2016

Sources

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
William Strong
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district

1851 - 1853
Succeeded by
Isaac E. Hiester
Preceded by
Henry A. Muhlenberg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district

1854 - 1858
Succeeded by
William H. Keim
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Henry R. Jackson
U.S. Minister to the Austrian Empire
1858 - 1861
Succeeded by
Anson Burlingame
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