| Major Thomas Jones…Welsh | | | | In 1702, Lord Cornbury, Governor of New York, |
| Privateer..Namesake of Jones Beach State Park, New | | | | commissioned Major Jones Captain of the Militia in |
| York By Albert Walker | | | | Queens County, New York on Oct. 20; in that same |
| The family of Major Thomas Jones, sometimes | | | | year on Oct. 14, 1704, he was appointed High Sheriff |
| styled the chevalier, and of whose descent from a | | | | of Queens, and on April 3, 1706 he was appointed |
| noble Irish family, which intermarried with one from | | | | Major of the Queens County Regiment. |
| Wales, is supposed to have originated in | | | | Governor Hunter, of the Province of New York |
| Merionethshire or Glamorganshire. However that may | | | | appointed him Ranger General of the island of Nassau |
| be, the characteristics of the Welsh race are plenty | | | | (Long Island),which gave to him the monopoly of the |
| discernable in almost every member of the family | | | | whale and other fisheries from the north to the |
| and are very marked in all of those who may have | | | | south shore of Long Island. This commission was |
| become prominent in any walk of life. | | | | dated Sept. 4, 1710. |
| Thomas Jones, who fought at the Battle of the | | | | Major Jones died Dec. 13, 1713, and was buried in a |
| Boyne, Aghrim and at the capitulation of Limerick, | | | | small grave yard on the banks of the then called |
| served under William III of England and under James | | | | brick House Creek, now called Massapequa Creek. |
| II of Ireland, having served as a Major in the army of | | | | The issue of Major Jones and his wife Freelove was |
| the dethroned Monarch, which had formerly been | | | | 7 children. A brown headstone marked the spot on |
| from England, but of Welsh extraction, had long been | | | | which the following inscription written by himself, |
| seated in the north of Ireland. | | | | "Here Lyes Interd The Body of Major Thomas Jones, |
| Major Jones was born about 1665. In 1692, Major | | | | Who Came From Straubane, In he Kingdom of |
| Jones was t the island of Jamaica at the time of the | | | | Ireland, Settled Here and Died December, 1713." |
| great earthquake of July 7th, being engaged in one | | | | From Distant Lands To This Wild Waste He Came |
| of the numerous expeditions under the "Letter of | | | | This Seat He Choose, And Here He Fixed His Name |
| Marque," which so many of the English and Irish | | | | Long May His Sons This Peace Full Spot Injoy |
| officers of James II sought service after the defeat | | | | And No Ill Fate his Offspring Here Annoy. |
| at the Battle of the Boyne. In that same year Major | | | | For many years after his death many fictions existed |
| Jones arrived in Warwick, Rhode Island and at this | | | | about Thomas Jones. The exercise of his commission |
| place met and married Freelove Townsend, the | | | | to sail as a Privateer under "Letters of Marque," from |
| daughter of Thomas Townsend. free love was born | | | | the French ports, leading to the slander that he was |
| Dec. 29, 1674. Thomas Townsend was the son of | | | | a pirate. These myths were cherished for over a |
| John Townsend, a prominent Quaker, who came to | | | | century after his death through ignorance and |
| New Amsterdam early in the 17th century about | | | | superstition, and through ignorance and superstition |
| 1635., from Norwich, England. The family were of | | | | that these fables extended into the middle of the |
| great antiquity, their lands being granted them from | | | | past century and today… In 1929, the large |
| William the Conqueror. Thomas Townsend, the father | | | | tract of land given to Thomas Jones and his wife |
| of Freelove Townsend, gave to Thomas Jones and | | | | Free love , along with subsequent purchases by |
| his bride a large tract of Land which had formerly | | | | Major Jones, officially became Jones Beach State |
| belonged to the Massapequa Indians, on the south | | | | Park, as part of the New York State Park System |
| side of Long Island. To this vast estate Major Jones | | | | through the dedication from Governor Franklin D. |
| and his wife removed in 1696, where he built a | | | | Roosevelt, and the nautical vision of Robert Moses. |
| substantial brick house at the head of the creek. | | | | |