Thomas Atkinson Jones, Jr. was born in Asheville (Buncombe County), North Carolina, on November 27, 1892. Jones was an attorney in Asheville. In 1916, he joined the North Carolina National Guard and was subsequently deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border as part of the Punitive Expedition into Mexico (1916-1917). During World War I, he served several assignments stateside before being deployed overseas where he took part in engagements in the Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine, and Picardy. He received an honorable discharge in December 1919. Jones died in Oteen (Buncombe County) on September 11, 1963.