Robert T. Jones
(1939-1941)
"Arizona voters had entrusted the governorship to assorted career politicians, a pair of judges and one physician. In 1938 they turned to a businessman, Robert T. Jones, who owned drug stores in Phoenix and Tucson. Hitler's invasion of Poland was only a few months in the future and already the nationa and the state were talking about the specter of World War II. Many of Jones' concerns during his single term were with the conversion of Arizona into a massive military training camp.
Arizona was slowly emerging from the Great Depression when Jones took office in January, 1939, and government spending for military preparedness would soon hasten the return to prosperity. Jones promiesed a fair deal for Arizona business and industry, and the state's commercial health revived during his administration.
Robert Taylor Jones was born in 1884 at Rutledge, Tennessee, and he never lost all of his southern accent. As a young man he learned civil engineering the hard way, by working on construction projects in Mexico and on the Panama Canal. In 1909 he came to the Arizona Territory, helped build track for the Southern Pacific Railroad in southeastern Arizona. There he worked in teh mines and on railroads before establishing a drug store in the town. Later he opened a drug store in Tucson and a larger one in Phoenix. His growing interest in Democratic politics led to his election to the Arizona Senate. Outgoing and popular, he built a strong political base and launched his campaign for governor in 1938, winning the Democratic primary, which was then tantamount to an election. After completing his term in 1941 he returned to business. From 1951 to 1953 he headed the Arizona Office of Price Stabilization. He opened the Jones Western Store in Phoenix in 1953, and also operated a cattle ranch near Chandler. Gov. Jones died in Phoenix June 11, 1958."
Goff, John F. Arizona
Biographical Dictionary. Black Mountain Press. Cave Creek,
Arizona 1983.
p. 266
Biography of Robert T. Jones.
CB BIO JON,ROB T
