Although the title page of "Cape Fear Sketches" named only "the author" as its creator, the manuscript contains personal references sufficient in number to identify John D. Jones as that individual.

The evidence supporting that conclusion is presented in my edition of "Cape Fear Sketches" as a comparative biography between "the author" and John D. Jones.

They were both born in the same place "near Wilmington;" both lived at Love Grove, a plantation near Wilmington; both studied at the University of North Carolina; both were cavalrymen in the War of 1812; both served as New Hanover County's Clerk of Superior Court; both traveled to New York in 1817.

This Powerpoint presentation outlines the creation of John D. Jones' "Cape Fear Sketches," records incidents of his life and those of his family, and describes how the manuscript found its way to the Alabama Archives.

John D. Jones held a license to practice law. For a time he was a Customs Service official in Wilmington, became President of the Bank of Cape Fear, and was later one of the bank's directors. He was a planter, and a member of North Carolina's House of Commons.

His elder daughter, Cornelia, married Gen. Waddy Thompson of Greenville, S.C. John D. Jones died in there in 1854.

The page, John D. Jones' Grave, contains photographs taken in the grave yard of Christ Church Episcopal in Greenville, S.C.