THE JONES STORY (1845 - 1958)
CHAPTER EIGHT - Jones and Beloit
Beloit Iron Works of Beloit, Wisconsin, was one of the large organizations who had given serious consideration to acquiring the Company. In 1956 they made a preliminary study and concluded that they were not ready to make an offer because of other expansion plans. In the meantime there were other studies by well known firms . in addition to Textron, mentioned earlier. However, Harley felt that Beloit offered a natural tie with the pulp and paper industry to a degree that matched his objectives better than any other company. Studies made by other firms and an independent appraisal finally developed a course, leading to an offer which was accepted by the directors of both companies in November 1958. Thus in the year in which Beloit was celebrating their 100th Anniversary, they acquired a firm older than theirs by thirteen years. Both firms were family owned or closely held, they both started by building machinery for the paper industry and with minor deviations, had continued serving that industry in different ways throughout their entire history.
E. D. JONES AND SONS COMPANY was reported by the Springfield Republican at the time of its hundredth anniversary to be one of six manufacturing firms in the United States which had remained continuously in one family for a century.
During S. Harley Jones' term as President (1945-1958) which was shorter than any of his predecessors, he accelerated the Company growth and enhanced its value faster than in any other period in its history. During this period of rapid changing technology and economic values it is nearly impossible to find a fair base for comparison. By 1958, the number of employees engaged in production of machinery for paper mills was double the number for the same purpose in the best years of his predecessors. However, the nature of the machinery being built had changed and the machine tools used in production were much better. In dollars, the volume was six times those of the best previous years, but here again the value of the dollar had changed. Not only had the product changed, but the market changed also, especially in foreign countries. In years past there had been ap occasional sale in the foreign field, enough to have the name E. D. JONES AND SONS COMPANY known; suddenly it became a by-word wherever paper was made.
Following the sale, Beloit set up a separate corporation, wholly owned, which was then called the E. D. JONES CORPORATION, S. Harley Jones as President. Within sixty days after the sale, decision was reached to build a new plant and to dramatically increase both sales and engineering personnel. By the spring of 1959 plans were completed and ground breaking took place for a new plant off South Street in Dalton. In January 1960,the plant had been completed, people and equipment moved to the new location.
The abandoned property on Depot Street, astride McKay Street and along Clapp Avenue, was sold to the City to be razed and leveled for a parking lot. Hence, what was once the location where Gordon McKay built his first shop in 1844 and where E. D. JONES (AND SONS CO.) and their successor had thrived for ninety-two years ended as a manufacturing site. All that remains to give identity to the spot are a few white marble slabs, along Depot Street, near England's store, part of the exposed foundation of the machine shop building built in 1894 and an entrance off West Street to the parking lot — the remnants of McKay Street.
Photo at left- Aerial view of present plant of Jones
Division,Beloit Corrporation.Click photo to enlarge.
The sale of E. D. JONES AND SONS COMPANY to Beloit did not completely terminate the company started by Harley's grandfather, as that company continued as a financial institution retained by the same shareholders. Only its purpose as a manufacturer has been discontinued.
A feature article, quoted in part, "Name in the News" in the Berkshire Eagle, May 7, 1960, speaks of S.Harley Jones as follows:-
"As the third-generation leader of the E.D.JONES CORP., S. (for Samuel) Harley Jones undoubtedly was given a leg up to the company presidency by chance of birth. However this fortunate circumstance is by no means the sole reason he gained that status in 1945 and still holds the office today — two years after the Beloit (Wise.) Iron
Works bought the Berkshire company. Beloit is a bustling family firm which to the paper machinery company is what Crane is to the distinctive paper industry.
In the new E. D. JONES plant in Dalton this third generation JONES is presiding over the most dynamic growth Since his grandfather, Edward Dorr Griffin JONES, founded it 115 years ago and built it to a leading position in the paper mill machinery manufacturing field. Employment has doubled in the past 18 months and the new facility is built for expansion up to four times its present size.
With his added corporate responsibilities there developed a sense of community responsibility which had previously only shown itself in serving on the city's Airport Commission, reflecting his personal interest in flying. The deep feeling he had and has for the Berkshire community was evidenced by his conditioning the sale to Beloit to a promise that the new plant would stay in the county.
Mr. Jones thus has carried on the family tradition outside of the plant. His aunt, Mrs. Edward A. Jones, donated the Jones wing at Pittsfield General Hospital. The PGH addition currently under construction will have an auditorium donated by the E. D. JONES CORP. Mr. Jones was chairman of the industrial division in the recent highly successful PGH drive and headed the endowment division in the equally flourishing Boys' Club fund campaign. He is a trustee of the Berkshire County Savings Bank, a director of the Agricultural National Bank and a director and member of the Finance Committee of the Berkshire Mutual Fire Insurance Co. He is a hardworking member of the Boys' Club Board of Directors.
For recreation he favors partridge hunting, and gets his fill in Berkshire County behind his own English pointer; trout fishing ranks in second place - he's a dry fly purist - and he has been known to take pleasure in trying to part some of his friends from their money across the poker table.
At 53 - he'll be 54 May 29 - S. Harley Jones looks a good many years younger. He carries a trim 165 pounds on his six-foot frame and could probably find steady work modeling for madras shorts. However, he frankly enjoys being president of E. D. JONES and appears to be a fixture in that position for the foreseeable future.
This fact is a tribute to his effectiveness as the working manager of a successful firm. There were many people who thought that Harley Jones would not continue to be the operating head of the company after its sale to Beloit interests in 1958. As is frequently the case when a larger firm buys a smaller family-owned operation, it was anticipated in uninformed circles that Mr. Jones might be elevated to the position of Chairman of the Board with nothing to do but clip coupons.
Such, however, is not the case, Beloit bought more than the JONES name. They also bought the talents of S. Harley Jones and the effective team he heads. Those who know and work with Mr. Jones closely feel that he had the capabilities to end up as President of E. D. JONES if his name had been Smith."
The implication back of this outburst of praise is far more than just a sincere personal tribute. Fifteen years before there had been doubt about S. Harley Jones' ability to provide company leadership. Only two years before, there was concern about the sale of the Company.
Now the local paper voiced the feeling of close friends and the community, that in their midst was a champion. This article followed an "Open House" tour of the new JONES plant and there is, for the first time, a realization of the faith which Beloit has in this business and the expectations for the future, and that they, Beloit, have fulfilled their verbal promise far beyond the greatest expectations.
Two family owned firms, both started more than a century before to serve different phases of the paper industry, had thus joined and were on their way into the second century. E. D. JONES AND SONS COMPANY, the older of the two, had survived the vicissitudes in the hands of one family. Beloit Iron Works (now Beloit Corporation) much the larger of the two firms, now in the hands of the third generation of the Aldrich - Neese families, had set about an ambitious program of expansion. Their faith in the paper industry in particular, and their desire to invade other industries with suitable high grade equipment gives promise for a brilliant future to their Pittsfield acquisition.
Photos below - Group of company products-1958. Click any photo to enlarge.
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