11 October 2012

Bill Jones, The Avenger, Also Killed A Detroiter

In a search for a William Jones in Maryland, the following news item was found:

New York Times 12 Oct 1908

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11. -- Noted for having attempted to avenge the death of President Garfield by shooting at Guiteau, the assassin, William Jones, locally known as "Bill Jones, the Avenger," a farmer, to-night shot and killed John A. McPherson of Detroit. at Bates Farm, near Brookland, on the outskirts of this city.

Even though he wasn't the right William Jones, the Detroit connection was intriguing.

William Jones gained notoriety when he shot at President James A. Garfield's assassin, Charles F. Guiteau, on  Guiteau's return to jail.  Jones, thinking that he had killed Guiteau, fled Washington, D.C. and was captured near Fredericksburg, VA.

In 1900, William Jones' wife, Catherine, filed a petition for the restraint of her husband.  In 1911, Mrs. Jones' sanity was the subject of a court case.  Catherine Bates Jones, who was born in 1827, died March 4, 1912.  She was living in Washington, D.C. with her parents, Thomas and Catherine Bates, in 1850, and with her mother in 1860.

William Jones, born in June of 1851 in Pennsylvania, died September 16, 1916.

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