William Jones (1753-1822)

He was born in Newport, Rhode Island. In January 1776, he was commissioned as Lieutenant in the Continental Army and was promoted to Captain by September. He served with General Washington's Main Army and fought in the Battles of Harlem Heights, White Plains, Assunpink Creek, and Princeton. Returning to Rhode Island in 1777, in the following year he was commissioned as Captain of Marines aboard USS Providence. He is credited with coining the phrase "a few good men" when advertising for Marine recruits in Boston in 1779. He was captured at the Siege of Charleston in May 1780, and after being exchanged served until the end of the war.

In 1783, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace and an Original Member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati. He was elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly (1785) and for two terms was Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives (1809-10, and 1810-11). In 1811, he became the only Federalist ever to serve as Governor of Rhode Island. He held office until 1817, defeated when seeking a seventh term and afterwards retired from public life. He was a Fellow of Brown University, President of the Peace Society, a Member of the Rhode Island Bible Society, and a Member of American Antiquarian Society. In 1787, he married Anne, daughter of Samuel Dunn of Providence, and they had one daughter through he is the great-grandfather of Gov. Elisha Dyer.