Author Talk: John Hanc, “The Unknown Jones”

Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/04/2013
12:30 pm

Location
Cold Spring Harbor Public Library

Category(ies)

• Lecture
• Library

Newsday writer John Hanc, author of Jones Beach: an Illustrated History, will discuss the mysterious and fascinating man behind the beach who died 300 years ago this December.  The legacy of Thomas Jones, a 17th century swashbuckler and entrepreneur, lives on not only in Jones Beach, but right here in Cold Spring Harbor. The general public is welcome to attend Hanc’s lecture with a book sale and signing to follow.

Thomas Jones was either a New World aristocrat major of some repute or a scandalous pirate, or perhaps both.  Hanc describes Jones as “…an outlaw, rebel, soldier, entrepreneur, and landowner, who went on to establish an empire on Long Island’s south shore.” Jones married the granddaughter of a prominent Quaker who presented him with a large track of land in what is now Massapequa, where he built the first brick house on Long Island. He was appointed the Ranger General of the Island of Nassau, which gave him the monopoly of fish hatcheries and whale whaling stations on Long Island, including a large operation on the South Shore barrier beach that now bears his name.  Three hundred years after his death, Thomas Jones is remembered most readily for the large tract of land he owned which we know now as Jones Beach State Park, often called the “crown jewel” of the New York State Park System. 

For more information or to register for this free program open to the public, visit the Cold Spring Harbor Library Information Services Desk, call 631-692-6820 ext. 200, or access our website at www.cshlibrary.org. Registration is appreciated but not required.

For Library hours and more information, call 631-692-6820 x200, visit www.cshlibrary.org or download our free mobile app, CSH Mobile.