Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the James K. Jones Papers, #387, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Prior to 1940

Additional Descriptive Resources

A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historical Collection.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Arkansas--Politics and government--To 1950.
• Democratic Party (Ark.)--History--20th century.
• Democratic Party (U.S.)--History--20th century.
• Gold mines and mining--Nevada--History--20th century.
• Jones, James K. (James Kimbrough), 1839-1908.
• Jones, James Kimbrough, 1867-1922.
• Oil and gas leases--United States--History--20th century.
• Oklahoma--Social life and customs.
• Petroleum industry and trade--Mexico--History--20th century.
• Petroleum industry and trade--West (U.S.)--History--20th century.
• Petroleum pipeline industry--Oklahoma--History--20th century.
• Railroads--Arkansas--History--20th century.
• Railroads--West (U.S.)--History--20th century.
• Real property--West (U.S.)--History--20th century.
• Standard Oil Company.
• United States--Economic conditions--1865-1918.
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Claims.
• United States. Congress. Senate--History.

James Kimbrough Jones (1839-1908) was a United States Senator from Arkansas, 1885-1903; and Washington, D.C., attorney for oil developers in Oklahoma.

The collection includes legal, political, and business correspondence (including 21 letterpress copybooks) of James Kimbrough Jones; and of his son, J. K. Jones Junior (1867-1922), lawyer for oil pipeline companies. The collection covers only the last years of the elder Jones's political career but includes letters from prominent national and Arkansas Democrats. The bulk of the papers concerns the oil industry in Oklahoma and other states. The Joneses represented developers seeking to lease government and Indian lands and appeared before Congress, executive agencies, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and federal courts for oil pipeline firms, most of which were connected with the Standard Oil Company. Also included are papers relating to other business interests: oil in Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, and Texas; Nevada gold mines; railroads in Arkansas and other western states; real estate in Arkansas, Texas, and South Dakota; oil and mining in Mexico; and Civil War claims of Arkansas citizens against the federal government. Correspondence includes letters from many prominent early oil entrepreneurs and gives a picture of society in Oklahoma in the early 20th century.