A master craftsman and soldier who served in pivotal battles like Saratoga and endured the winter at Valley Forge, Jethro Jones represents a broader, often overlooked legacy of Black patriots who helped secure American independence.
Mr. Jones was a free Black man born in the 1740s. He fought in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.
At age 44, he joined the Continental Army in 1777 and served at important battles like Saratoga, Valley Forge and Monmouth.
Jones was honorably discharged in 1783 at West Point, with papers signed by General Henry Knox. In 1818, when he was 85, he began receiving a military pension.
Jones was also one of the first known African American toolmakers. He learned the trade from Caesar Chelor, a freedman who had trained under a well-known cabinetmaker in Massachusetts.
He lived in Blandford, Massachusetts from the late 1700s until his death in 1828 at age 95. Mr. Jones was recently honored with a historic marker in the town of Blandford.