Charles Alvin Jones

Born on August 27, 1887, in Newport, Perry County, Pennsylvania, Jones attended the Newport schools, Mercersburg Academy and Williams College, then received a Bachelor of Laws from Dickinson School of Law (now Penn State Dickinson Law).[1] He was admitted to the Perry County bar in 1910, before entering private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1910 to 1939.[1] He served in the American Ambulance Service with the French Army in 1917.[1] He served in United States Naval Aviation as an ensign from 1918 to 1919.[2] In 1938, Jones ran for Governor of Pennsylvania as the endorsed Democratic candidate, but lost to Arthur James by nearly 300,000 votes.[3]

Jones was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 14, 1939, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge John Warren Davis.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 18, 1939, and received his commission on July 25, 1939.[1] His service terminated on December 31, 1944, due to his resignation.[1]

Jones was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in November 1944 and took his seat on January 3, 1945, as the only Democrat on the court.[4] He served as a Justice until 1966, serving as chief justice from 1956 to 1961; he retired in 1961 due to deteriorating vision.[5]

Jones was briefly senior advisor to the Philadelphia law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.[6] Jones died on May 22, 1966,[1] in Wynnewood, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.[5]

Jones was survived by his wife, Isabella Arrott; they were married in 1918.[7] He was also survived by a son and daughter. Another son, Charles Alvin Jones Jr. was killed during World War II while serving as a Marine aviator in the Pacific.[8]

• Charles Alvin Jones at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Morgan, Alfred L. "The Significance of Pennsylvania's 1938 Gubernatorial Election", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 102, No. 2, April, 1978. Accessed March 27, 2015
• Pittsburgh Press, May 22, 1966, Section 3, pg.3. "Justice Jones Dies at 78".
• "Historical List of Supreme Court Justices" website of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
• Closed for Business: The Story of Bankers Trust Company During the Great Depression", A Digital History Project of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
• "'Good American Couple' Describes Candidate and Wife", Pittsburgh Press, February 27, 1938, pg. 2.
• Squadron Historical Summary, on the website of Marine Bombing Squadron 611. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
• "Charles Alvin Jones", Gettysburg Compiler, October 22, 1938. Retrieved March 28, 2015.