Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones, clergyman, b. in Bettws parish, Glamorganshire. South Wales, 14 Jan., 1735; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 7 Feb., 1814. He was a son of Rev. Thomas Jones, who brought him to Philadelphia, 22 July, 1737. In 1738 Thomas, with a small colony of Welsh Baptists, founded the Tulpehoken Baptist church, Berks county, where he labored for many years. Samuel was graduated at the College of Philadelphia in 1762, and was ordained as a Baptist minister, 8 Jan., 1763. He became pastor of the Southampton and Pennepek (now Lower Dublin) churches, but in 1770 devoted his whole time to Pennepek, where he remained until his death in 1814. For many years he also conducted an academy. In 1769 Brown conferred on him the degree of A.M., and in 1786 that of D.D., which latter was also granted him in 1788 by the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Jones was one of the most active members of the Philadelphia Baptist association, and when it was incorporated in 1797, he was chosen president of the board of trustees, remaining so during his life. He was the author of "The Doctrine of the Covenants" (Philadelphia, 1783); "A Treatise on Church Discipline" (1797); "A Selection of Psalms and Hymns" (Burlington, N.J., 1800); "A Brief History of the Imposition of Hands on Baptized Persons" (Philadelphia, 1804); and "A Century Sermon before the Philadelphia Baptist Association" (1807).

Source: Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. VI, ed. by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1888, p. 690.

Contributed by: Nancy.