"Admiral John Paul Jones had his faults. Who has not? But on the whole he was one of nature's noblemen. His energies were sincerely and intensely devoted to the good of humanity; He was ambitious. But it was a noble ambition, to make his life sublime. He was a man of pure lips and of unblemished life. His chosen friends were the purest, the most exalted, the best of men. He had no low vices." -John S.C. Abbott, Preface, 1874 American historian John S.C. Abbott wrote The Life and Adventures of Rear-Admiral John Paul Jones-Commonly called Paul Jones (1874) as part of his American Pioneers and Patriots series. John Paul Jones (1747-1792) became an American naval hero in the American Revolutionary War after his victory over British ships of war off the east coast of England in 1779. Jones was also known as the "Father of the American Navy."