HORACE E. JONES, M. D. It is eminently fitting that the career of Dr. Horace E. Jones be presented in this volume, for he has been a practitioner of medicine for upwards of forty years and his entire professional career has been passed within the borders of Madison County. During his long and honorable career in Anderson he has been successful not only in a material way, but has established himself firmly in the esteem and affection of a wide circle of sincere friends, and as a man who has always had the welfare of his community and its people at heart is accounted one of Anderson ‘s most valued citizens. He was born in Henry County, Indiana, July 2, 1845, a son of Dr. Thomas and Mary C. (Conwell) Jones.
Thomas Jones; M. D., was born in Wayne County, Indiana, in 1823, and early in life decided upon the medical profession as the medium through which he should strive for success. Accordingly, after preparation, he entered the Ohio Medical College, and after his graduation therefrom settled in Henry County, where he continued in practice until 1846, when he came to Madison County and established his home and practice at Pendleton. In about the year of 1854 he came from there to Anderson, and this city thereafter continued his home and the field of his activities until his death, in October, 1875. He became widely and favorably known in his locality and had man; friends both in and outside of the medical profession. He married Ma y C. Conwell, whose father, Isaac Conwell, was one of the pioneer settlers of Union County, and her death occurred in November. 1911, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. Her parents were formerly from Maryland.
It is not unusual for the men in a family to follow similar vocations, and especially is this true in the field of medicine, where son follows father, showing the same abilities and inclinations. At any rate such was the case with Dr. Horace E. Jones, although he first had some military experience. When sixteen years of age he enlisted as chief bugler of the Second Indiana Cavalry, and, with it, participated in numerous engagements, including the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Corinth. He was then appointed a midshipman at the U. S. Naval Academy in 1863 from which he graduated in 1867 and served in the navy till 1871. Having rounded out nearly nine years of continuous military service, he resigned his commission in the navy,, returned to his home, and took up the study of medicine in his father’s office. After some time spent under the elder man’s preceptorship he entered the Ohio Medical College, his father’s alma neater, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was graduated from that institution in 1873, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He at once returned to Anderson, and since then has been in the enjoyment of an excellent professional business. The Doctor has the ability, the ready sympathy and the natural inclination for all the branches of his profession, and may indeed be said to be one who has chosen well. He possesses a fine medical library, and with this and the leading medical periodicals, keeps himself abreast of the discoveries and advancements which so prominently characterize the science of medicine. He has made a number of wise business investments, and is the owner of much valuable city and farm property, including his modern residence at 138 West Tenth street, one of the leading residence thoroughfares of Anderson. A Democrat in politics, for three years he was a member of the school board. His fraternal connections are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the latter of which he is a past grand master, and he also enjoys membership in Major May Post, No. 244, G. A. R.
In 1873 Dr. Jones was married to Miss Mary C. Cockefair, of Cambridge City, Indiana, and a son and daughter have been born to this union. Thomas M., the son, is a graduate of the Indiana State University and of the Johns Hopkins University, medical department, and is now engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Anderson. The daughter, Nellie, is the wife of Ralph Clark, of Chicago.