Benjamin Franklin Jones (industrialist)

Benjamin Franklin Jones (8 August 1824 – 19 May 1903) was Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1884 to 1888, succeeding Dwight M. Sabin and preceding Matthew Quay.

Biography

Benjamin Franklin Jones was born in Claysville, Pennsylvania in 1824, and he was originally involved in the river barge industry, and he purchased a share of the American Iron Works in 1851. Jones went on to form the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, a steel mill heavily dependent on river transportation, and, from 1884 to 1888, he served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. In this capacity, he chaired the presidential campaign of James G. Blaine, a member of the conservative wing of the party. Jones died in 1903.