Joseph Stevens Jones (September 28, 1809 – December 29, 1877) was an American actor, playwright, theater manager, and surgeon.
[2] He was the son of Mary Ann (née Stevens) and Abraham A. Jones, a sea captain who worked for the Russian American Company in Alaska.
[3][1] His father died in 1819 in Unalaska, leaving Jones and his four siblings to be raised by his mother in Boston.
Jones debuted as an actor at the age of eighteen in the role of Crack a production of the comedy The Turnpike Gate in Providence Rhode Island.
[1] His best-known play is Solon Shingle; or, The People's Lawyer, the story of the trial of Charles Otis, a poor clerk framed by a coworker for stealing.
[1] Owens was a great success in the role, making his final performance as Shingle in New York in 1884.
[11] His The Carpenter of Rouen; or, A Revenge for the Massacre of St. Bartholomew was produced across the United States and in England.
[10] Jones points to the weakness of the copyright laws, that several of his plays have been performed throughout the States without remuneration to himself.
[3] Jones was also a member of the Mechanic Light Infantry, and was connected for many years with the old First Regiment as a surgeon.
[2][3] After being ill for a year, Jones died on December 29, 1877, from pneumonia at his residence in Boston, Massachusetts.
[2][13] In 1916, The Bostonian Society in the Old State House acquired a bust on Jones, made by Pietro Gariboldi.