From 1851 to 1856 the Reverend George Jones accompanied Commodore Matthew C. Perry on the American expedition to open isolationist Japan to foreign trade. Although he is self-effacing in his report on the mission, his participation contributed in no small measure to its success.

Jones was born on a farm near York, Pennsylvania, on 30 July 1800 to Robert and Elizabeth Dunnman Jones. After graduating from Yale College in 1823, he taught for two years at a school he organized in Washington, D.C. The call of the sea proved too strong to resist, and in 1825 he became secretary to Commodore Charles Morris, commander of the U.S. Navy frigate Brandywine. He also taught navigation to the midshipmen aboard the ship. After transporting the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette home to France from a visit to the United States, the Brandywine sailed to the Mediterranean. There Jones transferred to another frigate, the...