John Jones (abolitionist)

John Jones (1816 – May 27, 1879) was an American abolitionist, businessman, civil rights leader, and philanthropist. He was born in North Carolina and later lived in Tennessee. Arriving in Chicago with three dollars in assets in 1845, Jones rose to become a leading African-American figure in the early history of Chicago.

In Chicago, Jones opened a tailoring shop. He led a campaign to end the Black Codes of Illinois and was the first African-American to win public office in the state. Jones became a notary public in 1869, was the first black man in the state of Illinois to serve on a grand jury in 1870, and the 1871 was elected to the Cook County Commission. He is believed to have been the first African–American to win public office in Illinois. He became become one of Chicago's wealthiest men through his successful tailoring business.

Along with his wife, Mary Jane Richardson Jones, he was a dedicated abolitionist and philanthropist, turning their home into a stop on the Underground Railroad. The Jones' household was a center of abolitionist activity in the pre–Civil War era; the couple helped hundreds of people fleeing slavery. Jones died in 1879 of kidney failure.