Thomas Atkinson Jones was born in Danville, Virginia, on October 8, 1860. A longtime resident of Asheville (Buncombe County), Jones was an attorney who served as Buncombe County criminal court judge (1893-1895), judge of the Asheville police court (1904-1906), and as a member of the General Assembly (1917). He died in Asheville on January 30, 1930.