Jones, Rosalie, 1883-1978

Rosalie Gardiner Jones (February 24, 1883 – January 12, 1978) was an American suffragette. She took the "Pankhursts" as role models and after hearing of the "Brown Women" she organised marches to draw attention to the suffrage cause. She was known as "General Jones" because of her following.

Born in New York City, Jones grew up on Long Island, New York, and eventually attended Adelphi College. She subsequently received a law degree from Brooklyn Law School, would go on to study at several schools in Washington, D.C., becoming the first woman to receive a Doctorate of Civil Law from American University in 1922, and unsuccessfully running for Congress office in November 1936 as a Democrat. She was married for nine years from 1927-1936 to Clarence Dill, a Senator from Washington.

As a major contributor to the women suffrage movement, she clashed with her mother on several issues. Where Mary Elizabeth was a part of the New York State Anti-Suffrage Association, Rosalie was an active suffragist and Nassau County President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Styling herself "General Jones," she exemplified both her ideology of doing the work and leading her "soldiers of the suffragette movement" by organizing numerous women marches and individual efforts to raise awareness on women's voting issues. Her suffrage marches and wagon trips included a protest march from New York City to Albany, another through Ohio, numerous tours through Long Island in a yellow "Votes for Women" wagon, and a New York to Boston wagon trip and march.

In 1936, Jones ran for Congress, but was unsuccessful. She lived much of the rest of her life on Long Island, “composting her garbage, raising goats, defying traditions, and fighting with her neighbors and relatives.” She spent her last years in Brooklyn, where she died on January 12, 1978. Despite the challenges she had with her family over the years, General Rosalie Jones’ ashes were scattered outside of her mother’s tomb at St. Johns Episcopal Church, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.