John Edward Jones (December 5, 1840 – April 10, 1896) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He was the eighth Governor of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. He was a member of the Silver Party.

Biography

Jones was born in Merthyr Tydfil,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and his family moved to Iowa in 1856. His early education was in the common schools of his native Wales. He graduated from the

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

in 1865. He married Elizabeth Weyburn on November 25, 1880, and they had two children, Edith and Arvin.

Career

As a young man, Jones worked as a miner, a farmer, and a teacher. In 1867, he worked on building the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

. Settling in

Eureka, Nevada Eureka is an unincorporated town and census-designated places in and the county seat of Eureka County, Nevada, United States. Reprint. Originally published: San Francisco : H. Keller, 1879. With a population of 480 as of the 2018 American Commu ...

in 1869, he was involved in organizing the Nevada Militia in 1876 where he served as Major. Jones worked

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

until 1883, when he was appointed Deputy Internal Revenue Collector. From 1886 to 1894, he was Surveyor-General of Nevada, serving two terms. Jones resigned that post, in 1894 and ran for Governor of Nevada on the Silver Party ticket. He won the election and took office in 1895. During his tenure, irrigation programs were supported and the state's first public library was established in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. Diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 1895, he took a leave of absence, leaving Lieutenant Governor Reinhold Sadler in his office. He traveled to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

to try to heal.

Death

Jones, losing his battle with cancer, died while still holding office on April 10, 1896, in San Francisco at the age of 55. He is interred at Lone Mountain Cemetery, Carson City, Nevada.

References

External links

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Biography

John Edward Jones 1895-1896
at the Nevada State Library and Archives
Nevada Governors' Biographical Information
at the Nevada State Library and Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John E. 1840 births 1896 deaths American surveyors Governors of Nevada Silver Party state governors of the United States Democratic Party governors of Nevada Deaths from cancer in California Nevada Silverites 19th-century American politicians People from Merthyr Tydfil Welsh emigrants to the United States Iowa State University alumni People from Eureka, Nevada