Delegate To Congress From Territories
Jones represented the Michigan Territory as a delegate in Congress from 1835 until 1837. His constituency included all of what is now the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. He then became the first Congressional delegate from the Territory of Wisconsin, which was formed from a portion of the Michigan Territory. In that position he successfully persuaded voting members to support the designation of areas of Wisconsin Territory west of the Mississippi River as Iowa Territory. He continued to represent the Wisconsin Territory until January 3, 1839, when he was succeeded by James D. Doty.
President Martin Van Buren appointed him as Surveyor-General of the Wisconsin and Iowa Territories, where he served (most likely in Dubuque, in Iowa Territory) from early 1840 until the end of the Van Buren administration in 1841. In 1845, following the election of another Democrat, James K. Polk, as president, he was reappointed Surveyor-General of Iowa Territory, one year before the southeastern eastern area of Iowa Territory became the State of Iowa.
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