Born 8 May 1893 in Canonsburg, Washington, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Anna Jane (Skiles) Jones — married 1913 in Canonsburg, PA

Descendants

Died 3 Mar 1967 at age 73 in Washington, Washington, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: H. Lawrence Jones [send private message]

Biography

Harry attended school until the eighth grade, spent time as a boxer, wrestler and found employment at Standard Chemical Company and W.S. George Pottery, located in the swamp land along Chartiers Creek between Canonsburg and Houston, along the street car line that connected Washington, PA with Pittsburgh, PA. While working at the chemical company, Harry was present during the Madame Currie experimentation with radium. During his retirement Harry was examined at MIT for any residual effects of any radium exposure. To the best of family knowledge there weren't any effects, but it has remained a family joke than any strange behavior by descendants had its origin at the plant. The researchers also brought a detector to the house on Pike Street and found a significant hit on a vise Harry had in the basement work shop. They liberated the vise that had once held radium, that Harry had originally liberated from the plant many years before.

Harry married Anna Jane Rathbone , the oldest of numerous children to John Rathbone , a coal miner, and Laura Carson. Anna Jane Rathbone spent 1913, 1914, and 1915 at the W.S. George Pottery where she was a decorator, painting flowers on the dinnerware, especially the cups, which she remembered as being particularly difficult because of the fine handiwork involved. It is only supposition, but both Harry Nelson Jones and Anna Jane Rathbone worked at the pottery during that period, so it is likely they met there. Harry and Anna commissioned a house to be built in Houston in 1927. It stands today at 18 E. Grant St in Houston, across the street from the Houston Presbyterian Church, to which the family were members. Harry Loyal Jones was born at 10 E.Pike St in an apartment in 1915 prior to the construction of the family home.

Harry Nelson Jones was known throughout the community as an extremely social person with a wide range of friends and acquaintances. He was known for his wit and propensity for placing nick names on people that stuck to them for life. Thus his son Harry became Jimmy and his son Raymond became Mike. Although Anna was a proud member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union Harry never let that keep him from visiting the local pub on occasion. During extremely hard economic times during the Depression, Harry continued his employment putting his three children through high school. Each of the children inherited Harry's love of reading and learning, and each attended post high training, Jimmy at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh, Flossie at Allegheny General Hospital School of Nursing, and Mike at Westminster College. After formal retirement in 1960 Harry then took employment at a local laundromat as custodian, and it was while walking to work that he collapsed with a heart attack and died. Thus, Harry began work at age 13 and continued to do so until the day of his death 64 years later. It has been his example of work, love of the written word, fascination with current events, sense of humor, and involvement with his friends and neighbors that set the example for his many descendants.

Sources

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194932810/harry-nelson-jones
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 February 2021), memorial page for Harry Nelson Jones (8 May 1893–3 Mar 1967), Find a Grave Memorial no. 194932810, citing Oak Spring Cemetery, Canonsburg, Washington County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by RCCar (contributor 49595960) .