author
John P. (John Percival) Jones
1829–1912
A silver-mine millionaire turned long-serving U.S. senator, this nineteenth-century public figure wrote forcefully about money, silver, and national policy. His works offer a direct window into the fierce economic debates of the Gilded Age.
1 Audiobook
Money: Speech of Hon. John P. Jones, of Nevada, on the Free Coinage of Silver; in the United States Senate, May 12 and 13, 1890
by John P. (John Percival) Jones
About the author
Born in England in 1829 and brought to the United States as an infant, John P. Jones built an unusually varied career as a miner, businessman, and politician. He became wealthy through Nevada silver mining and went on to serve for decades in the U.S. Senate, representing Nevada.
Much of his writing grew out of that public life. The works associated with his name are mainly speeches and political arguments, especially on currency, silver coinage, and related economic issues. That makes him less a literary author in the usual sense than a vivid historical voice from a period when questions about money and national power were intensely contested.
He is also remembered beyond print for helping found Santa Monica, California. For readers today, his books and speeches are most valuable as firsthand documents from an era shaped by western expansion, mining wealth, and big arguments over the American economy.