 In 1757 , Jones was appointed by Thomas Fairfax , 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , to serve as Clerk of Court for Hampshire County . Jones was on close terms with Lord Fairfax , and George Rockingham Gilmer described Jones as a " kinsman , friend and executor of Lord Fairfax " . Despite the county 's establishment in 1754 , it was not until 1757 that formal record @-@ keeping was actualized in Hampshire County , due in part to the French and Indian War . While Archibald Wager was likely the first appointed Clerk of Court for Hampshire County , Jones was the first operational appointee to serve in the position . According to historian Wilmer L. Kerns in Hampshire County , West Virginia , 1754 – 2004 ( 2004 ) , Jones was " well @-@ organized " and had the " best penmanship of any clerk in the history of the county , in spite of being totally blind in his right eye " . Historians Hu Maxwell and Howard Llewellyn Swisher described Jones 's handwriting as " unmistakable " in their History of Hampshire County , West Virginia ( 1897 ) . 
