Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

People

Location

1021 5th St, Las Vegas, NM 87701, USA

Lat/Long

35.60039, -105.21727

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

Andrieus Aristieus Jones held a number of positions throughout his political career, including Mayor of Las Vegas, New Mexico from 1893-94, Special US District Attorney from 1894-98, Assistant Secretary of the Interior from 1913-16, and as a US Senator of New Mexico from 1917 until his death in 1927. As a Senator Jones served as the chair of the 1917-18 Senate Committee for Woman Suffrage and supported equal voting rights for women. During his time on the committee two historic votes were brought before the Senate in 1918 and 1919 to establish women’s right to vote, though ultimately these two bids failed to meet the two-thirds support required, falling short by two votes and then one vote, respectively. However, on June 4^th, 1919 the Republican Party established a majority in the Senate allowing Jones, a Democrat, to successfully vote in favor of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which would later be ratified as the 19^th Amendment following Tennessee’s approval in August 1920.

Prior to his political career Jones worked as a teacher in Tennessee and as a principal in New Mexico. During his stint as a principal, Jones concurrently studied law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1888 and soon after began practicing in Las Vegas, NM, where he would be elected as Mayor in 1893. Although his first attempt for a seat in the US Senate in 1912 was unsuccessful, he was soon nominated as Assistant Secretary of the Interior in the Woodrow Wilson administration. Here, his political trajectory continued to climb, and in 1916 Jones was elected as a US Senator. He took his oath of office in March of 1917.

Along with his role as chair of the Senate Committee for Women’s Suffrage, Jones also served on a number of other committees, including appropriations and finance. In 1927 Jones passed away while still in office due to a heart ailment. Following the death of the respected politician, the Knoxville Journal reported on December 22 of 1927:

Under the shadow of the death of one of its most beloved members—Senator Andrieus A. Jones of New Mexico—the Seventieth Congress adjourned today for its Christmas recess. Final meetings of the two houses until January 4 were brief, practically all business being suspended as a mark of respect to a member whose period of service covered more than a decade.

Jones was interred in the Jones family plot in Las Vegas, NM—the city where his political career first began. This marker is located at the Senator’s former home, and commemorates his support of the women’s suffrage movement and his role as chair of the Senate Committee for Woman Suffrage.