James Thomas and Capt. William R. (Billy) Jones)
Compiled from various sources, J. B. McVey, 2008
James Thomas was a childhood
friend of Capt. William R. Jones - a man who was legendary for his
accomplishments in the steel-making trade. As General Manager of Andrew
Carnegie's Edgar Thompson Works, Jones and his men set many records for steel
production.
James Thomas William
Jones
Captain William R. Jones was three
years younger than Thomas - born February 23, 1839, in Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania. He was of Welsh descent, his father, the Rev. John C. Jones being
born in Brecon, Breconshire, Wales on February 12, 1805. With his wife,
Magdalene, who was born in Ystradgynlais, Breconshire, Wales on February 26,
1809, and two children, he emigrated to America in 1832, and first settled in
Pittsburgh. The family removed from Pittsburgh to Scranton, arid later to
Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre and finally to Catasauqua.
Owing to his father's ill
health William R. Jones was compelled to commence work during the year of 1849,
at the age of ten years. He was apprenticed to the Lehigh Crane Iron Works in
the foundry department and later was placed in the machine shop of the company,
under the tutelage of Hopkin Thomas. By the time he arrived at the age of
fourteen, in 1853, he was receiving the full wages of a regular journeyman
machinist. Among his fellow trainees was James Thomas who would learn the iron
making trade under the tutelage of the master - his father Hopkin.
Hopkin Thomas
By the age of twenty, Jones
decided to look for greener pastures. He and James Thomas left Catasauqua and
for several months they entered the employ of William Millens, who operated a
machine shop at Janesville, Luzerne County. In 1856, they moved to
Philadelphia, and worked as machinists in the shops of I. P. Morris &
Company, where they worked on two large blast engines for the Lehigh Crane Iron
works, and they were sent to Catasauqua with the force of men to erect the
same. After the completion of this work William R. Jones returned to
Philadelphia while James pursued the iron making trade in the Lehigh Valley.
Both men achieved success, and
in the process visited one another and remained close friends. James Thomas returned to Catasauqua in 1879
as president of The Davies and Thomas Company. Capt. Jones became the General manager of CarnegieÕ Edgar
Thompson Works in Braddock, Pa in 1875.
The Davies & Thomas Works
When Captain Jones became
superintendent of the Edgar Thomson Works and had just completed the erection
of Furnace F, he invited James's daughter, Mamie (then 20 years old), who was
visiting the Jones family, to light the new furnace on October 17, 1886. This furnace produced 224,796 tons of
iron in 2 years and 7.3 months which established a national production record
before being blown out. This fact
induced Captain Jones to send a special invitation to Miss Thomas to relight
Furnace F on September 25, 1889.
The furnace was called Mamie in her honor. An elegant ring with a sapphire and two brilliant diamonds
was presented to Mamie to commemorate the occasion.
Mary C. (Mamie) Thomas
In 1887, Captain Bill Jones
and James Thomas arranged a gathering of the friends who had lived in
Catasauqua thirty years past. The meeting took place at Onoko Glen and on the
preceding day, the group went to Mauch Chunk and took a trip over the
"Switchback Railroad. From there the group went on to Onoko Glen, where a
fine dinner was partaken of at the Wahnetah Hotel, after which the evening was
spent in reminiscing.
One artifact of the relationship
between the James Thomas family and the Bill Jones family is known to still
exist – an elaborate vase now (2008) in the possession of A. Newton
Bugbee of Catasauqua, Pa.
Vase gifted to the Thomas family by W. R. Jones
Two years later, on Thursday
evening, September 26, 1889, Captain William R. Jones accompanied
Superintendent James Gayley to Furnace C. at the Edgar Thompson to determine
the cause of a malfunction.. Several of the employees were tapping the cinder.
In an instant a section of about a foot in dimension about seven feet above
their heads, fell out, and a stream of hot coal and metal poured upon the
group. Captain Jones in his endeavor to escape fell, between a stone wall and a
cinder car, striking his head on the car. His face and hands were also severely
burned. One of the employees at once shut off the blast to the furnace, and the
flame ceased. James Tolan, formally of Catasauqua, was in the machine shop
nearby, and when he saw Captain 'Bill" Jones lying amongst the cinder, he
ran in and carried him out. Captain Jones was carried to the company office
where he conversed in a dazed manner, while physicians were dressing his burns.
He was then taken to the Homeopathic Hospital in Pittsburgh and upon his
reaching the hospital his mind commenced to wander, and he remained in a
semiconscious state until he died at 10:30 o'clock Saturday night, September
28, 1889.
It was reported that ten
thousand workmen; widows and orphans; and the greatest steel manufacturers of
the country came to pay their last respects to this very popular steelman..
From the Lehigh Valley were Superintendents John Fritz and Owen Leibert, of the
Bethlehem Steel Works; Samuel, John and David H. Thomas, of the Thomas Iron
Works; George Davies and James Thomas of Davies and Thomas Company; Daniel
Milson of Catasauqua. The honorary pallbearers were Andrew Carnegie, New York;
Henry C. Frick, Pittsburgh; Robert W. Hunt, Chicago; Owen Leibert, Bethlehem;
Andrew Hamilton, Johnstown; and James Thomas.
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