Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 102] an employee in the repair shops of the Pennsylvania R. R. at Lawrence Junction, residing on West Pine Street, Mahoningtown, was born in the city of Pittsburg, March 12, 1869. His parents were Joseph W. and Margaret (Theiken) Jones, and his grandparents were Presley N. and Mary (Coates) Jones, the latter a native of England. The father of Presley N. was of Quaker stock, his ancestors having come over with William Penn; he was familiarly known as "Old Tom" Jones. He came to Pittsburg at a very early date, when the Indians had not left the country, and still terrified the settlers with their bloody depredations. "Old Tom" established a ferry between Pittsburg and Allegheny City, and the profits of this very successful and lucrative venture he invested in real estate on the south side, which in time became a valuable heritage to his descendants. His son, Presley N., was a man of magnificent size, and commanding presence, well-proportioned and possessed of very great bodily strength and energy; in his prime he weighed 380 pounds, but did not appear to be very stout. For many years, until bridges were built over the river connecting Allegheny City and Pittsburg, he operated the ferry lines that his father had established, and accumulated a comfortable fortune. Two children were born to him: Presley, a prominent and able attorney, who was a leading counsel in the famous Kring case in St. Louis; and Joseph W., the father of our subject. Joseph W. was born near Pittsburg, Aug. 1, 1846, and for a number of years was captain and pilot on the river steamers of the Hawling's line. His wife was born near Pittsburg, and was a daughter of Michael and Margaret Theiken, the former a merchant of Pittsburg.
George J. Jones was the third in a family of seven children born to his parents. He passed the years of early manhood in Pittsburg, and completed his education at the age of sixteen in the Peebles School in the Twenty-third Ward. Desiring to give the boy a good start in life by providing him with a trade, his father apprenticed him to a boiler-maker in Pittsburg, with whom he remained four years. The two succeeding years were passed in railroading, being employed as a brakeman on the passenger train that ran between Pittsburg and Wheeling, West Virginia, on the B. & O. R. R. In the summer of 1889, he gave up his job as brakeman, and accepted a situation in the boiler works of Thomas Morrison of Washington, Pa., where he worked until December, 1891, coming to Mahoningtown on the 20th of that month, and commencing work for the Pennsylvania R. R., as a trusted employee of the repair shops, located at Lawrence Junction. He is a trained mechanic, and skilled in all that pertains to his trade; his services, consequently, do not go begging, but command a good price, which he has never failed to obtain. He is young still, and with the many years that seemingly are promised to him, it will be no surprise to his friends to see him rise to the highest positions that are open to a wide-awake, ingenious man, whose knowledge of machinery is so exact and intimate.
He forsook the state of "single blessedness" for happy married life on Oct. 29, 1889, in Washington, Pa., on which date he was married to Addie J. Martin, the fifth child in a family of six born to Benjamin F. and Julia (Zedeker) Martin, the latter a daughter of Louis and Harriet Zedeker; Benjamin F. Martin, who was a son of Joshua Martin, a millwright, who lived in Martinsburg, was a carpenter by trade, but also followed the pursuits of farming. Kenneth Wray and Percy Martin are the names of their two manly sons. Mrs. Jones is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is bringing up the children in the faith of that church. In his political views, Mr. Jones is a Republican of deepest dye. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Co.'s Relief Association. He belongs to the two following secret orders: Amazon Lodge, No. 336, Knights of Pythias, of Mahoningtown; and Improved Order of Heptesoph, Zingooqua Conclave, No. 164, of Washington, Pa.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 26 Apr 2001