Arrangement: The collection is arranged chronologically by topic. It consists of 38 manuscripts boxes, 79 bound manuscripts volumes, and 8 oversized folders. There are additional printed pamphlets and monographs in the collection representing the work and life of Joseph Jones. For access to printed material, please contact a LaRC staff member. The collection is 45 linear feet.

Date Acquired: 06/00/1966

Subjects: Andersonville Prison., Confederate States of America -- Armed Forces -- Medical care., Jones, Joseph, 1833-1896., Jones family., Medical education -- Louisiana -- New Orleans., Medicine -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century., Physicians -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century., Tulane University. School of Medicine., United Confederate Veterans., United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate., United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865., University of Nashville. Medical Dept.

Forms of Material: Articles., Clippings (information artifacts), Correspondence., Lectures., Lists (document genre), Medical records., Muster rolls., Notebooks., Pamphlets., Photographs., Publications., Reports., Rosters.

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection consists chiefly of correspondence, manuscripts and personal papers of Joseph Jones, a physician and professor of medicine of Georgia and Louisiana. Many of the documents are from the Civil War period, including Jones' medical investigations. Jones conducted studies of the diseases and injuries in Confederate hospitals and prisons, particularly Andersonville. An important result of these investigations was an extensive number of medical reports, hospital records, and casualty statistics that he collected and compiled.

Biographical Note

Joseph Jones was born September 6, 1833, the second son of Charles Colcock Jones, Sr., a Presbyterian minister from Liberty County, Georgia. He attended the College of New Jersey at Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania. Jones began teaching in 1856 at Savannah Medical College, and later at the University of Georgia as well as the Medical College of Georgia. In 1858 he married Caroline Smelt Davis of Augusta, Georgia. Jones served in the Confederate military forces as Surgeon Major throughout most of the war. He conducted studies of the diseases and injuries in Confederate hospitals and prisons, particularly Andersonville. Because of his activities at Andersonville, Jones was summoned as a witness at the trial of Henry Wirz.

After the Civil War, Jones joined the faculty of the University of Nashville Medical School. Two years later, he accepted a position at the University of Louisiana (later Tulane University). His wife died in 1868, and in 1870, he married Susan Raynor Polk, daughter of the Episcopal bishop of Louisiana. Joseph Jones' children were: Mary Cuthbert (from his first marriage), Frances Devereaux, Hamilton Polk, and Laura Maxwell. In 1872 Jones was appointed to the Chair of Chemistry and Clinical Medicine at the University of Louisiana, which he held until 1893 when he resigned due to ill health. He died in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 17, 1896.

Subject/Index Terms

Andersonville Prison.
Confederate States of America -- Armed Forces -- Medical care.
Jones, Joseph, 1833-1896.
Jones family.
Medical education -- Louisiana -- New Orleans.
Medicine -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century.
Physicians -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century.
Tulane University. School of Medicine.
United Confederate Veterans.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
University of Nashville. Medical Dept.

Administrative Information

Repository: Louisiana Research Collection

Alternate Extent Statement: 45 linear feet

Access Restrictions: Collection is open to the public. No known restrictions.

Use Restrictions: Physical rights are retained by the Louisiana Research Collection. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Acquisition Source: Stanhope Bayne-Jones.

Acquisition Method: Gift.

Preferred Citation: Joseph Jones papers, Manuscripts Collection 172, Louisiana Research Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118.

Finding Aid Revision History: Added subject headings 4/16/2010. Finding aid information entered in Archon by LAC Group in 2011. Revised by LAC Group 9/26/11.

Other Note:

To access the collection's correspondence index, please click on the "Digital Content" link for a PDF copy.

OCLC Number: 567805901

Box and Folder Listing

Box 29: Printed articles written by Joseph Jones

Folder 1: "Observations on Malarial Fever" / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1858 June: Extract from the Southern Medical and Surgical Journal.
Folder 2: "Indigenous Remedies of the Southern Confederacy Which May Be Employed in the Treatment of Malarial Fever" / Dr. Joseph Jones., 1861 September, October: Extract from the Southern Medical and Surgical Journal. Volume 17, Numbers 9 and 10.
Folder 3: "Quinine as a Prophylactic Against Malarial Fever..." / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1867: Reprinted from the Nashville Journal of Medicine and Surgery. Nashville.
Folder 4: "Observations upon the Losses of the Confederate Armies from Battle, Wounds, and Disease..." / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1869 November: The Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal. Volume 8, Number 5.
Folder 5: Spontaneous Combustion / Dr. Joseph Jones, New Orleans, 1874
Folder 6: Letter of Joseph Jones to the Honorable B.H. Hill, entitled "Andersonville: The Relations of the 'Confederate Government' to Federal Prisoners", 1876 January 17: One broadside. Reprinted from a newspaper.
Folder 7: Medical and Surgical Memoirs / Dr. Joseph Jones, Volume I, New Orleans, 1876: One fragment consisting of the title page and part of the preface.
Folder 8: "Observations on African Yaws...; and on Leprosy...in Insular and Continental America" / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1877: Extract from the Proceedings of New Orleans Medical and Surgical Association.
Folder 9: "Medico-legal Evidence Relating to the Detection of Human Blood Presenting the Altercations Characteristic of Malarial Fever, on the Clothing of a Man Accused of the Murder of Narciss Arrieux, December 27, 1876, near Donaldsonville" / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1878 August: Reprinted from the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal.
Folder 10: "Compulsory Vaccination..." / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1878 January: Reprinted from the New Orleans and Medical and Surgical Journal.
Folder 11: Report of the Board of Health of the State of Louisiana...1880, Extracts containing Report of Joseph Jones, M.D., President... / Louisiana, Board of Health, New Orleans, 1881
Folder 12: Acts of the Legislature of Louisiana Establishing and Regulating Quarantine / Louisiana, New Orleans, 1880
Folder 13: Contribution to Teratology / Dr. Joseph Jones, New Orleans, 1888
Folder 14: Medical and Surgical Memoirs / Dr. Joseph Jones, Volume III, New Orleans, 1890: One fragment consisting of the title page and part of the preface.
Folder 15: Medical and Surgical Memoirs / Dr. Joseph Jones, Volume III, Part I, New Orleans, 1890: One volume fragment consisting of pages 135-142, containing articles, statistics, and other data pertaining to vaccination against small pox.
Folder 16: Same as Folder 15
Folder 17: Reviews, advertisements, et cetera, of Joseph Jones' Medical and Surgical Memoirs, 1876-1890
Folder 18: "Address to the Members of the Regular Medical Profession of Louisiana" / Dr. Joseph Jones, President of the Louisiana State Medical Society, 1887 November 14
Folder 19: "Inquiries upon Hospital Gangrene" / Dr. Joseph Jones, 1864
Folder 20: Other items pertaining to courses taught by Dr. Joseph Jones and others at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, 1860
Folder 21: "Preservation of Wood from Decay and the Destructive Action of Marine Animals" / Investigations of Joseph Jones, M.D., undated

Tulane University Special Collections