Yakima-Whatcom County WA Archives Biographies.....Jones, Hon. Linn E. January 16, 1875 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com November 12, 2009, 1:11 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 233 - 234
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     HON. LINN E. JONES, who stands for good government in city and state, is 
a member of the upper house of Oregon's law-making body and has promoted much 
constructive legislation. In municipal affairs he has also played an important 
part and for more than a quarter of a century his name has figured prominently 
in business circles of Oregon City in connection with the drug trade. He was 
born January 16, 1875, in this city and is a member of one of its honored 
pioneer families. His father, Griffith W. Jones, was a native of Wisconsin and 
having lost his mother when eleven years old he left home when his father 
remarried. In 1845 he crossed the plains with a wagon train of which William 
Barlow was captain and for many years resided with the Barlow family. His 
education was completed in Oregon and while attending school he began working 
for Judge White, who at that time was the proprietor of the old Cliff House. 
Mr. Jones profited by his opportunities and steadily advanced, becoming 
thoroughly conversant with the hotel business. His ability won for him the 
position of steward when he was a young man of about twenty and for many years 
he was employed in that capacity on vessels navigating on the Willamette and 
Columbia rivers. He was on the old steamer Senator when it was blown up at 
Portland and received injuries which kept him in a hospital for three years. 
Later while at the dock in Oregon City where the boats were being loaded and 
unloaded at the locks, the gangplank on which he stepped slipped and he fell 
to the rocks below, a distance of about forty-five feet, and he was in a 
hospital two years after this accident. He married Sarah Elizabeth Ellen Mead, 
a native of Missouri and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Absalom Mead, who made the 
overland journey to Oregon in 1854, settling on a donation land claim in the 
Waldo Hills district. Mr. Jones passed away in 1911, and his widow is now 
living in Salem, Oregon. To their union were born six children: Herman K., who 
died at Astoria, Oregon, in 1925; Nettie, who is Mrs. O. D. Austin, of Albany, 
this state; Linn E.; Lela, the widow of Charles E. Bier and a resident of 
Salem, Oregon; Oda, who is the wife of J. B. Ballantyne, of Portland; and 
James M., who is a bachelor and lives in Los Angeles, California.

     In the acquirement of an education Linn E. Jones attended the public 
schools of Oregon City and at the age of eighteen years entered the employ of 
Caufield & Huntley, local druggists, for whom he worked for twelve years. 
During that time he studied at home and after completing a correspondence 
course passed an examination before the first state pharmaceutical board. For 
a year he was then manager of a drug store at Yakima, Washington. Locating in 
Bellingham, he purchased a drug store, of which he was the proprietor for a 
year, and on the expiration of that period returned to Oregon City. In 1902 he 
became associated with Thomas P. Howell and for six years the firm of Howell & 
Jones were the owners of a pharmacy in the Gardi building. At the end of that 
time Mr. Howell sold his interest in the concern to Mr. Jones, who 
incorporated the business under the style of the Jones Drug Company, and it is 
still operated under that name. In 1917 Mr. Jones moved to the present 
location, 701 Main street, and his has long been regarded as the city's 
leading pharmaceutical establishment. He has a highly specialized knowledge of 
the business, which has constituted his life work, and owes his success to 
concentrated effort, good management and close adherence to a high standard of 
commercial ethics.

     In 1902 Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Erma Le May Laurence, 
who was born in Missouri. Her parents, T. S. and Sarah (McGee) Laurence, went 
from Texas to Missouri, whence they came to Oregon when she was a child, and 
are now living in Portland. Mrs. Jones received her higher education in the 
Oregon Agricultural College, of which she is a graduate.

     Mr. Jones is an adherent of the republican party and when a young man of 
twenty-one was called to the office of city treasurer, serving for about three 
years. For six years he represented his district in the lower house of the 
general assembly of Oregon and established an enviable record as a legislator. 
Mr. Jones is an ardent champion of the cause of prohibition and at the time of 
his election there was a bitter contest between the wet and dry parties. He 
occupied a seat in the house during three sessions of the state legislature 
and subsequently was the choice of his fellow citizens for the office of Mayor 
of Oregon City, which he filled for four terms, exerting his influence to 
secure for the municipality needed reforms and improvements. Mr. Jones is now 
serving his first term as state senator and has furthered many beneficial 
measures, taking an especial interest in the corrupt practice act and the bill 
governing the state railroad commission. As president of the Chamber of 
Commerce he is working systematically and effectively for the growth and 
progress of his city along industrial lines, and something of the nature of 
his recreation is indicated by his identification with the local Golf Club. He 
is a Kiwanian and his Masonic relations are with Multnomah Lodge, No. 1, F. & 
A. M., and Clackamas Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M. Of the Knights of The Maccabees 
and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks he is a charter member, and his 
fraternal connections also extend to the Loyal Order of Moose, the United 
Artisans, the Knights & Ladies of Security, the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen and the Woodmen of the World. Mrs. Jones is a past worthy matron of 
the Eastern Star, and also belongs to the Woman's Club. Although they are not 
church members, Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been active in many movements for 
religious uplift and moral progress, and their worth to the community is 
uniformly conceded.

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