Edward David "Ted" Jones, Jr. (December 18, 1925 – October 3, 1990), the son of the founder of Edward Jones Investments, later ran the firm and built its signature small town brokerage system. He devoted his last years along with his wife Pat Jones to establishing the Katy Trail State Park and the Prairie Fork Conservation Area in Missouri.
Biography
editJones was born in St. Louis, Missouri and studied agriculture at the University of Missouri.[1] After serving with the Merchant Marines in World War II he returned to the University of Missouri and in 1947 worked as a page on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.[2]
He returned to St. Louis in 1948 to work for his father Edward D. Jones.[3] Jones instituted the firm's branch office business model and oversaw the opening of the first one-person branch office in Mexico, Missouri.[4] He was managing partner of the firm from 1968 to 1980 during which the firm expanded to over 300 branch offices.[5][6]
Differing from other firms that went public, Jones kept the company a privately owned partnership, only allowing employees to purchase shares in the company instead of opening stock purchases to the general public.[7]
In the last 10 years of his life, he donated $2.2 million for Missouri to acquire property along 200 miles of abandoned Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad rail tracks to form a bicycle path for the Katy Trail State Park.[8][9] The eastern terminus of the park is the confluence of the Missouri River and Mississippi River.[10] In 2004 the park at the confluence was named Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park in honor of Jones and his wife.[11]
In 2015 Edward "Ted" Jones, Jr. was inducted into the "Hall of Famous Missourians" during a ceremony at the state capitol.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Edward "Ted" & Hilda "Pat" Jones". State Historical Society of Missouri. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
Edward "Ted" Jones Jr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 18, 1925, to Edward D. Jones Sr. and Ursula Griesedieck… As the war drew to a close, he enlisted in the US Army through 1946. Upon his honorable discharge, Ted went back to the University of Missouri, intending to major in agriculture.
- ^ "Edward "Ted" & Hilda "Pat" Jones". State Historical Society of Missouri. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
After graduating from the Taylor School in St. Louis in 1943, Ted took summer courses at the University of Missouri in Columbia before enlisting in the US Merchant Marines during World War II…After a year of study, however, his parents withdrew him from the university and secured a job for him as a page, or young assistant, at the New York Stock Exchange.
- ^ Matthews, Curt (October 31, 1967). "Broker Says Current Speculation is Numbers Game Without Values". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
It was not until Jones's son, Edward D. Jones Jr., returned from duty after World War II and entered his father's business that the company began establishing branch offices on 'Main Street, USA.' The firm now counts 56 branch offices, ranging from Tennessee to Idaho. The younger Jones, 42, a graduate of the University of Missouri, set up an office in Mexico, MO in 1948. Since then he has directed expansion of the firm's small town branch operations into a high volume business.
- ^ "Clipped From St. Louis Post-Dispatch". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1967-10-31. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
- ^ Shook, Robert (2021). The Business of America is Business. Phaidon Press. p. 297. ISBN 1838664130.
In 1968, after twenty years as a financial advisor, Ted, then 42 years of age, succeeded his father and became the firm's second managing partner.
- ^ Reddig, William (February 21, 1982). "EDWARD D. JONES, COUNTRY BROKER". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
Two years ago, he turned the direction of the company over to John W. Bachmann, 43, who had run the Columbia, Mo., office for seven years…Firms are sometimes also measured by how many offices they have, and there, Jones, with 377 now, is second only to Merrill Lynch.
- ^ Shook, Robert (2021). The Business of America is Business. Phaidon Press. p. 297. ISBN 1838664130.
Ted maintained that the firm's owners should work for the company and even denied his two sisters a share because they did not work there. By being privately owned, the firm's management can make decisions based on what is best for its clients, rather than having to concern themselves with meeting Wall Street earnings targets or being held accountable to shareholders. To this day, the firm's parent company, The Jones Financial Companies, L.L.L.P., has remained a limited liability limited partnership, owned only by its associates and retired associates. It is not publicly traded.
- ^ Conger, Phil (June 19, 1991). "Take a ride on Missouri's 'Katy Trail'". Bethany Republican-Clipper. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
Boosted by a $2 million gift from the late Missouri philanthropist Edward D. "Ted" Jones Jr, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has acquired the 200-mile-right-of-way of the old 'Katy' line and has begin developing two pilot trail projects, including the 37-mile segment at Rocheport.
- ^ Wagman, Jake (April 20, 2011). "A bridge naming, this time without the fracas". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
"The new bicycle and pedestrian lane on the Missouri River bridge near the state Capitol has been named for Pat Jones, whose late husband, Ted Jones, was the managing partner of Edward Jones Investments. (His father, EdwardD. Jones, founded the St. Louis company.) The lane, on the northbound side, will make it easier for bikers and hikers to travel between Jefferson City and the Katy Trail.
- ^ "EDWARD "TED" AND PAT JONES–CONFLUENCE POINT STATE PARK". Missouri Life Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
A drone view of the confluence shows the waters of America's two great rivers as they begin to mingle. The Mississippi is on the right, and the Missouri is on the left. The point is a rocky spit of land…The park is named in honor of Edward "Ted" Jones and his wife Pat, who donated funds for the establishment of Katy Trail State Park. The Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones–Confluence Point State Park was dedicated on Sunday, May 9, 2004, with a replica pirogue and Lewis and Clark expedition reenactors present for the event. This was most appropriate, as that great Voyage of Discovery began here at the confluence on May 14, 1804.
- ^ "EDWARD "TED" AND PAT JONES–CONFLUENCE POINT STATE PARK". Missouri Life Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
The park is named in honor of Edward "Ted" Jones and his wife Pat, who donated funds for the establishment of Katy Trail State Park. The Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones–Confluence Point State Park was dedicated on Sunday, May 9, 2004, with a replica pirogue and Lewis and Clark expedition reenactors present for the event. This was most appropriate, as that great Voyage of Discovery began here at the confluence on May 14, 1804.
- ^ "Edward 'Ted' Jones honored at Missouri Capitol". The Rolla Daily News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2017-09-12.