Colusa County
Biographies
EDWARD W. JONES
EDWARD W. JONES. - Both
through the promotion of important business enterprises and through his
efficient service as a public official, the late Edward W. Jones constituted an
influential factor in the development of the city and county of Colusa.
Liberally endowed by nature with the qualities that bring popularity and
prominence, he attained a high position in the regard of others and was honored
with the confidence of associates to an unusual degree. Along commercial lines
his interests centered in the grain business, which under his management
developed important and far-reaching dimensions and furnished the nucleus of
all his later successes. It was conceded among the residents of his county that
he possessed high business qualifications, as well as principles of honor and
integrity that elevate the citizenship of any community.
On a farm in Madison county, Wisconsin, Edward
W. Jones was born July 23, 1848, being the oldest among the five children of
James Winslow and Hannah (Heathcote) Jones, natives
of England, the former of Welsh extraction. His father was brought to America
in infancy and grew to manhood in New York state,
later removing to Wisconsin, where he conducted a farm. The discovery of gold
in California led him to change his plans for the future. In 1850 he crossed
the plains to the coast, where he soon acquired interests in mining, farming,
and speculating. Besides holding interests in California mines he aided in
developing Nevada silver mines. Included in the holdings that he acquired were
different bodies of land in Colusa county, including a
large ranch in Colusa. Both he and his wife passed their last years in Colusa county, where he died in 1869 and she in February of
1903.
In 1859 Edward W. Jones was brought to California by way of
Panama. After a short attendance at public schools he was sent to the State
Normal School in San Francisco, from which he was graduated at the age of
eighteen years. On leaving school he became a clerk in his father's mercantile
store and on the death of the father he turned his attention to the grain
industry, which under his capable supervision developed into the leading
business of its kind in Colusa. From time to time he acquired farm property,
owning not only considerable land in Colusa county,
but also two thousand acres of fine wheat land in the state of Washington. His
exceptional business ability was everywhere recognized. Such was the opinion of
his judgment that many sought him for advice prior to making investments.
However, his activities were not limited to the field of commerce and
property-holding. Devotion to the progress of his city and county was ever one
of his leading characteristics. A leader in the local work of the Republican party, he served as chairman of its county central committee
and as a member of the state central committee.
Though the county was a Democratic stronghold and he a stanch, unwavering advocate of Republican principles, his
popularity was so great that he was elected to various offices of trust and
responsibility, all of which he filled with a fidelity and intelligence
characteristic of him in every walk of life. For one term he served as county
treasurer. From January, 1895, to January, 1899, he held the office of county
sheriff. For seventeen years he served in the capacity of city trustee and
for twenty years, under his efficient labors as school director, the welfare of
the public school of Colusa was carefully promoted. Religion added its
beneficent influence to the rounding of his character. For years he was a devoted
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and a contributor to its
maintenance, as well as to other movements for the uplifting of humanity.
Socially he was connected with the Union League Club of San Francisco, and
fraternally was a Knight Templar Mason.
In Colusa County, June 14, 1871, occurred the marriage of Edward W.
Jones and Ellen A. Morris, who was born near Smartville,
Yuba county, California, a daughter of John S. Morris, and a sister of Mrs.
Susan Drake, represented elsewhere in this volume. Her paternal ancestors were
of Welsh extraction and were represented in the colonial history of
Connecticut. At Morris Cove, New Haven, Conn., may still be seen, in a fair
state of preservation, the house owned by Amos Morris and occupied by him after
his return from the Revolutionary war, in which he served. Mrs. Jones was
educated in public schools and seminary at Marysville. Since the death of her
husband, which occurred December 3, 1899, she has managed the estate. In
connection with Messrs., Brown and Zumwalt she owned
about three thousand acres in Colusa county, suitable for subdividing into
small homesteads, and besides was also financially interested in the storage
warehouses on the Sacramento river at Colusa, owned by a corporation known as
the Colusa Warehouse Association. Like her husband she has for years been a
faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and active in its
societies. Born of her marriage were five children, namely: Pearl, who died at
the age of fourteen years and five months; Edna F. Cochran, of Colusa; Eleanor
L, who resides with her mother; and Edward W., who died at the age of seven
years and ten months. Lucille Mendenhall, a daughter of a relative by marriage,
has been reared by Mrs. Jones since early infancy.
It would be unjust to the memory of Edward W. Jones to close this
review without making a permanent record of the testimony of those who knew him
best as to his character and standing as a citizen and a friend. It has been
said of him that no man who ever made his home in Colusa county possessed
principles of greater integrity. Throughout his career he appeared to be
prompted, in his dealings with his fellowmen, by a spirit of unselfishness, of
sincerity, of candor and of fairness, these splendid characteristics extending
into the most trifling details of his association with others. He was
never known to take an undue advantage of another but, on the other hand,
frequently permitted himself to be the loser by reason of his unwillingness to
perform any act that might be regarded by others as an indication of an
ungenerous spirit on his part. His acts of charity were performed without
ostentation, and they were numerous and timely. He was nevertheless a prudent
and sagacious man, weighing well the consequences of each step; and while
generous to those who had no claim upon him, he was actuated by a sentiment
which demanded that he be just to his family. His public spirit and regard for
the welfare of his people were frequently demonstrated in no unmistakable
manner. No worthy and well-considered project for the promotion of the best
interests of the public was presented to him without receiving his sanction and
assistance, and he not infrequently took the initiative in such movements. He
was a noble, high-minded, useful citizen and friend, who deserves a place of
prominence in the history of the state.
Transcribed
by Sally Kaleta.
Source: “History of
the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by
J. M. Guinn. Pages 251-252. Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2014 Sally Kaleta.
Golden Nugget Library's
Colusa County Biographies