Butte County
Biographies
MAJOR A. F. JONES
Major
A. F. Jones was a lifelong resident of California and a distinguished
representative of the bar of Oroville, which was the scene of his legal
activities for an extended period. He aided
in framing the laws of the state and was widely recognized as a man of high
ideals and marked public spirit. As a
pioneer in dredger mining and in the development of the citrus fruit industry
of northern California he aided in bringing to light its natural resources and
wrought ever along lines of progress and improvement.
Born
in the Antelope Valley of Colusa County on the 14th of February,
1858, Major Jones was a son of George F. Jones, a native of Hillsboro, New
Hampshire. The grandfather, Foster
Jones, who was of Welsh and English descent, married a Miss Adams, whose
father, Captain John Adams, was a farmer of Chebecco, which later became Salem,
Massachusetts. The demise of Foster
Jones occurred in 1852 and his wife died on the home ranch in the ‘70s. Their son, George F. Jones, engaged in
merchandising in the east as a young man and started for California in 1849,
making the trip around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel which arrived at San
Francisco in 1850. He at once made his
way to the gold fields, devoting his attention to placer mining for a time, and
then became proprietor of the Canyon Hotel near Redding, on the San Francisco
Portland stage road. He conducted that
hostelry until 1854, when he removed to Colusa County, casting in his lot with
the early cattlemen of the Antelope valley, where he spent three years. In 1857 he was elected sheriff of the county
and established his home in Colusa.
Having served his term, he opened a store in Colusa and was identified
with its business interests until 1864.
He then located in Chico, which has a few inhabitants at that time, and
there he engaged in general merchandising until his death in 1873. Mr. Jones was an enterprising, capable and
far-sighted business man who prospered in his various undertakings and at the
same time stimulated the growth and upbuilding of the districts in which his
activities were centered. He was long
survived by his widow, who in her maidenhood was Miss Sidney McIntosh, a native
of Cynthia, Kentucky. She crossed the plains
to California in a covered wagon in 1851 in company with her parents, Jacob and
Rebecca McIntosh. Her father became the
owner of the Lone Tree Ranch in Colusa County, near what is now Hamilton City,
in Glenn County, and it was on that farm that Miss McIntosh was married to
George F. Jones. Eight children were
born to them: Mrs. John R. Robinson,
Callie Jones, A. F. Jones, Mrs. J. H. Wheeler, Mrs. Isabelle W. Howard, Mrs. C.
E. Tinkham and James H. and Alice Jones.
The
early educational advantages of Major Jones were afforded by the public schools
of Chico and the Golden Gate Academy at Oakland. After a year’s attendance at the Sheffield
Scientific School he enrolled as a student in the Yale Law School, which
awarded him the degree of LL.B. in 1879.
The same year he was admitted to practice in the superior courts of
California and in January, 1880, entered upon his career as an attorney in
Oroville, where he followed his profession for many years, establishing an
enviable reputation as an advocate and counselor. At first he was associated with John Gale,
with whom he continued for three years, or until his partner’s removal from the
state. In recognition of his legal
acumen he was elected district attorney in 1882 and proved well qualified for
the office of a public prosecutor, severing for two years. In 1886 he was chosen to represent his
district in the state senate and was reelected in 1888 for another term of two
years. He exerted a strong and
beneficial influence in the deliberations of that law-making body and was made
chairman of the judiciary committee of the senate, also acting in other
important capacities during his tenure of office. A loyal Californian, he did his duty by the
whole state but never neglected the interest of his constituents and conscientiously
fulfilled the trust reposed in him. It
was his first bill that created the Chico State Normal School and it was he who
originated and inserted the clause in the county government bill which provided
a small tax to be applied to the foundation of a county law library. At first this was a measure for Butte County
alone but a couple of sessions later it was made general for the entire state.
After
completing his service as state senator Mr. Jones gave his attention to the
practice of law and to the management of his private interests. A man of notably keen discernment, he early
recognized the advantages of dredger mining and in partnership with Wendell P.
Hammon built the first dredger on the Feather River, four miles below Oroville,
in 1890. They assumed all the
responsibility of the undertaking but later were joined by other investors in
forming an organization known as the Oroville Dredging Company. Interesting considerable foreign capital in
the project about 1904, Mr. Hammon consolidated several dredgers and their
companies and incorporated the Boston and California Dredging Company, for
which Major Jones was the attorney, while Messrs. Hammon and Jones remained the
largest stockholders until 1906, when they sold their interests in the
concern. At the outset the dredgers were
operated by steam but later electricity was used as the motive power. An Australian named Postlethwaite designed
their first boat, which was built after his plans by the Risdon Iron Works, and
next came to Bucyrus Dredger, made by the Bucyrus Company of Indiana.
Keenly
interested in California’s advancement along horticultural lines, Major Jones
was one of the original twenty who founded the Oroville Citrus Association and
established the citrus fruit business on a paying basis in this district. With his associates he launched the orange
industry in Butte County and won for the local products wide and favorable
recognition. He organized the Thermalito
Colony Company, and with Major Frank McLaughlin and E. W. Fogg, he was head of
that project to subdivide lands and colonize the Thermalito tract for the
development of orange growing. The
association planted twenty acres of oranges and lemons, also some pomelo and
shaddock about 1887. This was the first
commercial grove in northern California or north of Tehachapi. Before that there were only a few orange
trees in yards but afterward the industry grew rapidly, so that six or more
packing-houses were required to handle the citrus fruits grown in Butte County. In this connection it is interesting to note
that the first raisins produced in the United States were grown and packed by
C. L. Durbin in Messila valley, twelve miles from Oroville, and were marketed
by Hon. George C. Perkins in his store at Oroville back in the late ‘50s. As the years passed Major Jones made
judicious investments in local property and was the owner of the Jones Block,
one of the large and substantial business edifices of Oroville.
At
Oakland in 1880 was solemnized the marriage of Major Jones and Miss May S.
Evans, a native of Marysville, California, and a daughter of O. M. and Jane H.
(Baldwin) Evans, the former born in Maine and the latter in Connecticut. Crossing the plains in 1850, Mr. Evans cast
in his lot with the pioneer miners and builders of Marysville. His daughter May prepared for educational
work as a student in the San Jose Normal School and taught in the schools of
Butte County for two years. After her
marriage she became prominent in club work, serving for a time as vice
president of the California Federation of Women’s Clubs. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born a son and two
daughters: George F., who served as
district attorney and as judge of the superior court of Butte County and who
biography appears elsewhere in this work; Grace, who is Mrs. W. S. Hall, of
Chico; and Leslie, the wife of R. H. Butler, of Fresno.
Major
Jones was grand president of Oroville Parlor of the Natives Sons of the Golden
West. His Masonic affiliations were with
Oroville Lodge, No. 103, F. & A. M.; Franklin Chapter, No. 20, R. A. M.;
Oroville Commandery, No. 5, K. T., of which he was a past commander; and Islam
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco.
He also had fraternal connections with the Knights of Pythias, the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. O. E. For a considerable period he was a forceful
factor in the councils and the Democratic Party, becoming a state elector on
the Judge Parker ticket, but in his later years maintained an independent
attitude in politics and supported the candidates whom he considered best
qualified for office, irrespective of party ties. He was active in the work of the Chamber of
Commerce and a leading spirit in all movements for the upbuilding and benefit
of his community. In educational matters
he was particularly interested and gave liberally of his time, efforts and
influence in furthering the development of the local schools. For many years he served as president of the
board of trustees of the Oroville Union high school district and was a member
of the board of education for more than a decade. The grammar school building and more
especially the new Union District high school building in Oroville stand as
monuments to his untiring labors for better educational facilities. His deep love for his city was evinced by
effective service in its behalf and few careers have matched his in usefulness
to the community in which he resided for more than four decades, here passing
away in 1920, when sixty-two years of age.
In social intercourse he was genial, sincere and sympathetic and in
business he was the personification of its highest ethic, while in the practice
of law he never deviated from the most advanced standards of the
profession. He was endowed with those
qualities which men most admire and enjoyed to the fullest extent the respect
and confidence of all who knew him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J. W. Major, History of
Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 Pages 315-318. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies