Ed Jones

Ed Jones (April 20, 1912 – December 11, 1999) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Tennessee from 1969 to 1989. He was also the Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture from 1949 to 1953. He was inducted into the Tennessee Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2011.

Personal life

Ed Jones was a native of Yorkville, Tennessee, the eldest of three boys born to Will "Gabe" Jones and Sibbie Hortense Pipkin. He graduated from the University of Tennessee Junior College (now the University of Tennessee at Martin) in 1932 and attended the University of Tennessee, majoring in agriculture. His father was a laborer who worked odd jobs for local farmers. He instilled a strong work ethic in Jones from an early age, requiring him to work after school and on Saturdays.

When Jones' father was unable to pay his medical bills, he began doing odd jobs for Dr. Finis Ewing Wyatt, the local country doctor. Jones would marry Dr. Wyatt's daughter, Llewellyn, in 1938, and they had two daughters: Mary Llewellyn Jones (died 1977), and Dr. Jennifer Jones Kinnard, a retired nephrologist. Ed and Llew Jones inherited the dairy farm after the death or Llew's parents and renamed it "Oak Haven Farm." On May 22, 1980, Congresswoman Marilyn Lloyd of Tennessee welcomed Jones into the "grandparents club" with an address on the House floor shortly after the birth of his only grandchild, Meghan Elisabeth Kinnard. Known professionally as Meg Kinnard, she's a political and legal affairs reporter for The Associated Press. thumb

Jones was a dairy farmer and remained so throughout his lifetime – even during his 20 years in Congress. In the late 1990s, Jones developed dementia after open heart surgery, and died on December 11, 1999, in Dyer, Tennessee.

Business and professional activities In 1934, Jones took a job as a dairy inspector for the state of Tennessee. He remained as inspector until 1941 when he began working as a supervisor for the Tennessee Dairy Products Association. In 1944, he became an agricultural agent for the Illinois Central Railroad, a job he held until 1969, except for four years when he was Commissioner of Agriculture. This public role was pivotal in helping to make him a public figure in West Tennessee.

Jones co-sponsored over 100 bills that successfully entered into law during his tenure in Congress. Jones was the primary author of five bills that passed into law, all of them on agriculture. Among those bills was the Egg Research and Consumer Information Act of 1974, which lead to the creation of the American Egg Board.

Legacy He served as a member of various agriculture-related boards and committees. Jones continued to operate his farm near Yorkville until shortly before his death on December 11, 1999. He was one of the few members of Congress in the late 20th century who was an active farmer instead of merely listing it as an occupation. In 2011, he was inducted as the 13th member of the Tennessee Agricultural Hall of Fame in recognition of his service to Tennessee.

His congressional papers (1969–1988) are housed in the special collections of the Paul Meek Library at UT Martin. They include 121 linear feet of paper files organized in five series, Correspondence, Legislation, Projects, Committees, and Public Relations. The collection includes over 250 audio tapes for two periods, (1969–72) and (1987–88). thumb The Ed Jones Congressional Papers at the Paul Meek Library, The University of Tennessee at Martin.