by Town Historian Al Dumas
As I was walking in Monticello the other afternoon, I wondered how John Patterson Jones felt over two centuries ago, when he put the final nail in the first house built in Monticello on December 7th, 1804. I think about how cold and tiring it would have been, likely working sunrise to sunset to complete his home – the sky darkening earlier each night. But he must have felt so proud, officially establishing the Village of Monticello as he finished crafting his home.
As the co-founder of the Village of Monticello, along with his brother, Samuel Frisbee Jones, John had been busy building years before he built the first house in Monticello. In partnership with William A. Thompson (yes, you guessed it – the founder of the Town of Thompson), the Jones Brothers had founded the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike Company in 1801. The three men and their crew built the turnpike that connected and created towns and villages along its route as it connected the Delaware and Hudson Rivers.
In 1803, the Jones brothers purchased an 1,800+ acre tract of land. John and a dozen other men built a sawmill and other infrastructure to assist in the building of the village. The group left the area during the winter of 1803, returning in the spring of 1804 to continue their work. After a kerfuffle with William Thompson, who wanted the turnpike to head into his town of Thompsonville, the Jones brothers got their way: yes, the turnpike instead headed towards the soon-to-be Village of Monticello!
The Jones brothers kept on building until September 4th, 1804, when John set out to begin building the first home, which was completed just a few months later on December 7th. The new village grew from this new house, at the location of Broadway and St. John Street where the Chase Bank is now located. The bank was built in April 1954, after the demolishing of the Jones’ residence. By 1813, 20 homes had been constructed and then the Village of Monticello was officially incorporated on 20 April, 1830.
John Jones went on to become the first Sullivan County Clerk, upon the formation of Sullivan County on March 27th, 1809. Jones also served in the New York State Senate from 1835-1838. He died in 1858 and is buried in the St. John Street Cemetery in Monticello.
Maybe the next time you’re on Broadway, you might imagine how it looked over 200 years ago around this time of year. Think of the excitement you would feel, having the power to build a village from the ground up!