Los Angeles
County
Biographies
WILLIAM
BARTON JONES
The
career of Mr. William Barton Jones is a record of determination, achievement
and a meteoric rise to positions of importance.
Mr. Jones is the President and a major stockholder of Barton Instrument
Corporation, located in Monterey Park, which is one of the nation’s most
successful industrial instrument firms with international sales and reputation.
Early
preparation for this career was obtained in two leading technical schools of
the United States. Mr. Jones studied for
two years at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California; and then
transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
where in 1923 he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical
Engineering.
Mr.
Jones began his working career as an engineer with the Southern California
Edison Company and then C. F. Braun Company of Alhambra. After two years of employment working for
others, Mr. Jones reached the decision to become an entrepreneur—a decision
which persisted through many years of trials and struggles.
The
history of the Barton Instrument Corporation dates back to 1925 when Mr. Jones
entered the partnership of Hanson, Jones & Morey to develop and sell forced
air transformer coolers. This
partnership was succeeded by the firm of Morey, Jones & Lovell, Inc., which
in 1930 became known as Morey & Jones, Ltd.
Mr. Jones was the treasurer of this business arrangement until 1935 when
he became president.
During
the Depression years, the organization attempted to make and market a number of
products other than transformer coolers.
However, the product line that carried through the years was
differential pressure measuring instruments.
The first instrument, a simple, single glass tube manometer for
measuring water flow to cooling towers, was followed by many designs and
models.
In
all, 148 product designs were undertaken from 1925 to 1942. Culminating these years of engineering
effort, in 1943 Mr. Jones invented a “rupture-proof” dual-bellows instrument
that brought a completely new concept to the field of differential pressure
measurement.
In
1945 Mr. Jones merged Morey & Jones, Ltd. into a partnership with John K.
Lyon and William E. Palmer that went by the name of the Barton Instrument
Company. Then in 1946 Mr. Jones bought
out his partners and operated Barton Instrument Company as a sole
proprietorship until 1949 when the present business was incorporated.
In
addition to heading the Barton Instrument Corporation, Mr. Jones is active in
management and is a director of three other firms: Barton Europe, N.V. (the European subsidiary
of Barton Instrument Corporation with headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands),
Barton Sales Company of California, and a Los Angeles investment firm, the Coypass Land Company.
Mr.
Jones is the only son of Reginald H. Jones and Grace (Cole) Jones. He was born January 25, 1901, in Hollywood,
California. He went to Selma Avenue
Grade School in Hollywood and graduated from Hollywood High School.
On
June 13, 1935, Mr. Jones married the former Miss Gladys Estelle Hayes. Their son, Arthur Kenyon Jones, married Joan
Crook and they gave Mr. Jones three grandchildren: Michel, Kimberly and Bradley Cole. Their daughter, Judith, is a student at the
University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Mrs.
Jones is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, and a
member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Locally, she is a member of the Pasadena
Symphony Association, the Art Alliance of the Pasadena Art Museum, and the
Pasadena Philharmonic Committee.
The
State of California has recognized Mr. Jones as a registered mechanical
engineer since 1948. He is an active
member of the American Rocket Society, the Southern California Meter
Association, the Economic Round Table of Los Angeles, and serves on the Board
of Affiliates for Claremont Men’s College.
In 1961 the Instrument Society of America bestowed the honor of “Fellow”
to Mr. Jones in recognition of his contributions and service to the
industry. Long an active member of ISA,
Mr. Jones recently served as a member of the Finance Committee. He has been a director of the Merchants and
Manufacturers Association of Los Angeles for the past three years.
Socially
Mr. Jones is a member of the Valley Hunt Club of Pasadena and the University
Club of Los Angeles. He is a former
member of the Bachelors of Los Angeles, an alumni member of Phi Kappa Sigma
fraternity and an active member of the M.I.T. Club of Southern California. Based on personal experience, Mr. Jones is a
firm advocate of the private enterprise system and actively supports and
participates in many movements aimed at protecting this system, individual
freedom and constitutional government.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 582-583, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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BIOGRAPHIES