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Mark your calendars! You are invited to help celebrate the dedication of a roadside historic marker honoring Blandford resident and Revolutionary War veteran Jethro Jones on Saturday October 11th at 1pm. The dedication’s featured speaker will be Jocelyn Jones Arnold, the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Jethro Jones. This event is open to the public and will take place at the junction of Blair Road with Jones Road in Blandford, with a receptionfollowing at the Blandford Historical Society building.
A project of the Mercy Warren Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Jethro Jones historic marker was funded by NSDAR and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation as part of a multi-year “Revolutionary America 1775-1783” roadside marker series, which draws attention to people and places of interest significant to Revolutionary America, including the contributions of less known patriots who helped secure the nation’s independence.
Considered one of the earliest known African American tool makers, Jethro Jones studied in Medway and Wrentham, MA under Caesar Chelor, the freed slave of cabinet maker Frances Nicholson. Today, Jones’s signed woodworking planes are highly sought after at auctions, and examples of his work are on display at Colonial Williamsburg and the Smithsonian Museum. Jethro Jones served with the Provincial Troops during the French and Indian Wars from 1758-1763. In 1777, at age 44, he enlisted in the Revolutionary War. Jones was at the Battle of Saratoga, where he witnessed the surrender of British General Burgoyne. He trained at General George Washington’s winter encampment at Valley Forge in 1778, and he was at the Battle of Monmouth. In 1783 Jones was honorably discharged from the Continental Army at West Point, with his discharge papers signed by General Henry Knox. In 1818 when Jones was 85 years old, he received a Revolutionary War pension. Jones resided in Blandford, MA from the late 1700s until his death in 1828 at age 95. His grandson, William Jones of Sheffield, MA, served in the famous 54th Massachusetts regiment, one of the first African-American regiments in the Union Army.
Mercy Warren Chapter, together with the Blandford Historical Society, which wrote a letter of support for the marker, hope that this historic marker will not only honor Jethro Jones, but also bring attention to the sometimes forgotten history of the black community in the rural Hilltowns since the Colonial era.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Jethro Jones Rd, Blandford, MA 01008, United States, East Otis, United States