Jones was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota to Edwin S. Jones and Harriet M. James. His father was a lawyer and judge who founded the Hennepin County Savings Bank and a mortgage investment firm. Jones attended Minneapolis Public Schools and the
University of Minnesota, graduating in 1883 and working in his father's investment firm thereafter. In 1898, Jones was elected to the Minneapolis City Council; he served as the council's president beginning in 1900. When mayor
A. A. Ames fled the city in 1902 to avoid prosecution for corruption, Jones became the city's acting mayor and enacted a series of reforms to rein in the liquor, gambling and prostitution businesses which had proliferated under Ames. While he did not stand for re-election in the fall of 1902, he ran again in 1904 and won a second term where he continued his reforms. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1906. Jones died on August 3, 1927, at Abbot Hospital. He was buried in
Lakewood Cemetery. ==Electoral history==