author

George Jones

1800–1870

A clergyman, teacher, and traveler, this 19th-century writer moved between the pulpit, the classroom, and the deck of a Navy ship. His books and official reports capture moments when the United States was looking outward to the Mediterranean, China, and Japan.

1 Audiobook

Excursions to Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Balbec From the United States Ship Delaware, During Her Recent Cruise With an Attempt to Discriminate Between Truth and Error in Regard to the Sacred Places of the Holy City

Excursions to Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Balbec From the United States Ship Delaware, During Her Recent Cruise With an Attempt to Discriminate Between Truth and Error in Regard to the Sacred Places of the Holy City

by George Jones

About the author

Born in 1800, he became an Episcopal minister and later served as a United States Navy chaplain. He is especially remembered for his long naval career and for teaching at the United States Naval Academy, where he was an early chaplain, librarian, archivist, and instructor in English studies.

His writing grew directly out of that unusual life. He published travel writing including Excursions to Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Balbec and also took part in Commodore Matthew Perry’s 1852–1854 expedition to Japan, contributing to the record of that mission and other scientific observations made during the voyage.

He died in 1870. Today he stands out as a figure whose work joins religion, education, naval service, and first-hand travel narrative, giving modern readers a vivid window into American life and exploration in the mid-19th century.