Edward Wadsworth Jones (1840–1934), known also as E. W. Jones, was an officer in the American Civil War, a miner in Idaho and Utah and an entrepreneur in Los Angeles, California. He was a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of that city in the 19th century.
Personal
Jones was born November 28, 1840, in
New Hartford, Connecticut, and spent his youth in
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, where he studied at the
state university
A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, territory or federal district. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country.
State univer ...
.
[''An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California,'' Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company (1890), page 519]
/ref>
In 1863 he married Ellen Carter Spencer of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
[
In 1871 Jones settled with his family in ]Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
for ten years, spent a year in New York and finally moved his household to Los Angeles in August 1882.[
He died December 8, 1934, in the family home at 1540 South Wilton Place in the Arlington Heights district, leaving a son, Edward Conde Jones of Paris, France, and two daughters, Mrs. J. Forsyth of Los Angeles and Mrs. Louise J. Dobbins of Monterey, California. Cremation services were at Rosedale Cemetery.][
]
Military
At the outbreak of the Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
Jones helped enlist a number of men who formed a military company
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure. ...
and elected him captain. He began his service of more than three years in the 19th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, which became the Second Connecticut Artillery. His unit was with the Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confede ...
and in the Shenandoah Valley; at Cedar Creek he was in command of his regiment and was mentioned by General Philip Sheridan
General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close as ...
in his memoirs. Jones rose to the rank of major, then was breveted as lieutenant-colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...
for his "gallant and meritorious conduct."[
]
Vocation
Jones operated a mining company in Idaho and Utah between 1871 and 1881. Its rich silver mines in the Salmon River region were the most profitable, with around $600,000 to $800,000 of ore extracted. He spent most winters in Salt Lake, but in 1876 and 1877 he went to El Salvador to examine the mines there.[
As an ]entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
, Jones was in 1886 the president of a syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...
formed to build a "first-class hotel in the style of the Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara," on Sixth Street between Hill and Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. It was to be on the site of Saint Vincent's College, which was planning a move to the northwest corner of Grand and Washington. The property instead became the location of the original Bullock's
Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...
department store.
Jones was also a horticulturist
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, and in 1919, at the age of seventy-six, he sought a passport to visit Italy, writing in his application:
The applicant has been a grower of oranges, lemons, walnuts, grapes and other fruits for about thirty years . . .; knows something about the labor problems of this State; is aware that we are losing hundreds of our best laborers, who are returning to their Italian homes; has spent many months in Italy up to the beginning of the war ">orld War I speaks and reads the Italian language fairly well; enjoys improved health there and has friends in that country. He hopes and expects to sow seeds for our and their labor improvement, without which improvement California will suffer.
Politics
Jones represented the 3rd Ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
on the Los Angeles Common Council
The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and ...
beginning December 7, 1885, and was reelected for another one-year term in 1886.
Memberships
He served for three years as the first president of the newly organized Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce is Southern California's largest not-for-profit business federation, representing the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in L.A. County, more than 1,400 member companies and more than 722,430 employ ...
beginning in 1888, and then on the board of directors from 1893–95.["Jones Rites Conducted," ''Los Angeles Timex,'' December 9, 1934, page 24]
/ref> He also served on the board of the Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...
."The Library," ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 6, 1890, page 4
/ref> Jones was the president of the Historical Society of Southern California.[
]
References
External links
''Retiring Address of President E.W. Jones,'' Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California: (1890)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Edward Wadsworth
American horticulturists
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members
19th-century American politicians
1840 births
1934 deaths
Military personnel from Connecticut
People of Connecticut in the American Civil War
People from New Hartford, Connecticut
University of Tennessee alumni