Above is the John Paul Jones House 1993
Left is theJohn Paul Jones House 1937
From the Archives
Our area is abundant with historic homes and businesses. The Central Rappahannock Research Center contains thousands of files and photos for the researcher. Deeds, plat maps, and photos help us to understand how our area developed. One of our most famous residents was John Paul Jones, a naval hero of the American Revolution. What bought him to Fredericksburg? The answer lies in family ties.
The historic residence now known as the John Paul Jones house was built around 1758.
William Paul and John Paul were the sons of a Scotch gardener on the estate of Lord Selkirk at Kircudlright, Scotland.
During the decade in which John Paul Jones was making a career for himself at sea, his brother William prospered sufficiently to purchase from Thomas Blanton, a carpenter, in 1770 “for one hundred and twenty pounds, an acre or one- half of the lot or land lying and, being in the town of Fredericksburg, and designated in the plot of said town by the number or figures 258, the same being one-half, or south end of said lot, and purchased by the said Thomas Blanton of Roger Dixon, Gent, and bound on the main street, called Caroline street, and the cross street, called Prussia, together with all houses, buildings, gardens, ways, profits, hereditaments, and appurtenances whatever.”
This lot is designated on the map of the town to-day as Lot 258. It stood on a substantial parcel at the corner of Caroline Street and Lafayette Boulevard (then called Prussia Street), with a lot frontage of approximately 90 feet. There, William lived and worked until his death.
The last four years of his life were trouble-ridden. He was in court more than once, presumably suing clients. About the time he acquired the house, he also acquired a wife, Fanny, and a stormy marriage it was.
In September, she departed from their new home, and he took an ad in the Virginia Gazette–published in Williamsburg and distributed throughout the colony “forewarning all persons from trusting her and from harboring or concealing her if they would avoid being prosecuted.”
Fanny, however, responded in October in the Gazette with a declaration, co-signed by 10 leading merchants in the town, that she had run up no debts. “Neither am I concealed,” she wrote, “but appear as usual, and I am resolved to recover what is legally due from William Paul.”
Then in November, William Paul filed a complaint against Edward Davis, his indentured servant, who had run away and been captured. (The court added another five years to his servitude.
In the spring of 1772, William Paul fell gravely ill. He executed a will, leaving all of his property to his sister, Mary Young, and her two oldest children in Abigland, in the Parish of Kirkbeen, in Stewarty of Galloway, North Briton, and their heirs forever. He died in 1773, and his executors, (as appointed by him) were William Templeman and Isaac Heslop. Both executors now refused to serve. One of them was ordered to make an inventory, but this was never done, and neither would put up the required surety bond to be responsible for the modest estate.
In November 1774, John Atkinson qualified, it is supposed at the instance of John Paul Jones, who had arrived and moved into the home. How long he lived in the home in not known.
Finally, after John Waller, the clerk of the court committed to putting up the surety bond himself, Charles Yates stepped forward to accept the responsibility, perhaps as a compassionate gesture.
An unpretentious stone marks the remains of William Paul, in the burial ground of St. George’s Church.
In 1941, the Daughters of the American Revolution held a dedication ceremony and installed a plaque marking the home as the only house in America lived in by John Paul Jones. Over the years, the house (now a private residence) has also served many other purposes including a Safeway grocery store, a bakery, and a lighting shop. Pictures from the archives shown above help document the changes over time.
Why John Paul changed his name to Jones was probably known only to him. Many writers have undertaken to explain it, but without success, and the mystery is yet unsolved.
