Edward F. Jones

Edward Franc Jones (June 3, 1828 Utica, Oneida County, New York - August 14, 1913 Binghamton, Broome County, New York) was an American merchant, manufacturer, author and politician from New York.

Biography
He was the son of Lorenzo B. Jones and Sophronia (Chapman) Jones. He was educated at Leicester, Massachusetts. In 1850, he married Mary A. Tarbell, of Pepperell, Massachusetts.

He fought with the 6th & 26th Massachusetts Regiments in the American Civil War. On February 24, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Jones for the award of the honorary grade of brevet brigadier general, United States Volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, for meritorious services during the war. The U.S. Senate confirmed the award on April 10, 1866. In 1862, he married Susan Annie Brown, from Boston. In 1865, he opened a scales manufacturing plant at Binghamton, and became widely known as "Jones of Binghamton" for his new means of advertising. He created the slogan "Jones pays the freight" or "Jones, he pays the freight", meaning that, unlike his competitors, he would not charge anything for the delivery of his scales to the buyer.

He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1886 to 1891, elected on the Democratic ticket with Governor David B. Hill in 1885 and 1888.

In 1905, he published the novel Richard Baxter: A Story of New England Life of 1830 to 1840.

He was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His home at Binghamton, known as the Gen. Edward F. Jones House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.