Jones, Joseph, 1833-1896

Joseph Jones (6 Sept. 1833-17 Feb. 1896), physician and scientist, was born in Liberty County, Georgia, the son of Charles Colcock Jones, a major planter and prominent minister to the slaves, and his first cousin, Mary Sharpe Jones. Joseph Jones was educated at South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina), Princeton College (now University, B.A., 1853), and the University of Pennsylvania (M.D., 1856). Jones developed a lifelong interest in scientific research during his college years and chose teaching over private practice in order to have time for his original investigations. Between 1856 and 1861 he taught chemistry at the Savannah Medical College, natural sciences at the University of Georgia, and medical chemistry and pharmacy at the Medical College of Georgia. Jones' reputation as a leading student of health conditions in the nineteenth-century South was launched during these years. In 1859 he married Caroline Smelt Davis of Augusta, Georgia. The couple had three children.

The Civil War interrupted Jones's budding scientific career. After six month's service with a local militia unit, he accepted a Confederate surgeon's commission. But Jones was a most unusual medical officer. Viewing the hostilities as an immense laboratory from which to learn valuable medical lessons, he prevailed upon Surgeon General Samuel P. Moore to allow him to investigate health conditions in the Confederacy's principal armies, hospitals, and prisons. He presented his findings to Moore in masterful reports; those on gangrene and Andersonville Prison are the best known.

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