Joseph T. Jones

Joseph T. Jones
Joseph T. Jones (circa 1900)

Joseph T. Jones (June 11, 1842 – December 6, 1916) was an American entrepreneur who built his fortune as an oil producer. He funded construction of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad in Mississippi, co-founded the City of Gulfport and developed its seaport.

Joseph T. Jones was born to Albanus A. and Jane (Thomas) Jones in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 11, 1842.

In 1861, at age 19, Jones enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was assigned to Company H, 91st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Jones served as Quartermaster Sergeant, Second Lieutenant, and First Lieutenant. At the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, Jones was appointed acting Captain.

In June 1864, at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Jones was wounded in both feet. He was sent home to Philadelphia to recover from his wounds and was discharged in September 1864.

Although crippled from war wounds, Jones used his war-time savings and bank loans to begin drilling for oil in western Pennsylvania in 1865. After 12 dry holes, Jones finally hit oil in 1867. Jones fortune began to change in the Bradford oil fields with the development of more than 500 oil-producing wells and incorporation of the Bradford Oil Company. To move crude oil to railheads, Jones invested in oil pipelines which produced greater dividends than the oil wells. By 1883, Jones was known as the largest crude oil producer in the United States. In the 1890s, Jones began investing in oil ventures in West Virginia, thereby increasing his wealth.