Born in Guernsey, Noble County, Ohio, Nov. 23, 1836, being a son of Thomas and Sarah (Robinson) Jones, natives of Fayette County, Pa. He was reared in Noble County, Ohio, receiving his education in the common schools. He worked upon the farm until he reached the age of manhood, and in the summer of 1861 enlisted in the 78th Ohio Infantry, going with his company to the regimental encampment, but was rejected by the examining surgeon. He subsequently joined the Ohio militia, and assisted in the capture of Gen. Morgan, who made his famous raid through that State. In 1864 Mr. Jones came to Mahaska County, and engaged in farming near Beacon, where he had purchased 200 acres of land, which he retained and cultivated till the fall of 1883. He then sold the same to the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company for a handsome sum, it being underlaid with coal. Mr. Jones was married in Knox County, near Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1859, to Miss Elizabeth A. Phillips, a daughter of Willis and Elizabeth Phillips. She was born in that county in 1836, and died in Ohio in 1872. He was again married, to Naomi C. Shaw, a daughter of Joseph and Hila Shaw. Mr. Jones is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity. Politically he is a Republican, and an active and influential member of his party, in the success of which he evinces a deep interest. He was elected to represent Mahaska County in the Twenty-second General Assembly, 1888.